Vampires don’t exist. Coggs says so, and he can only tell the truth or will, quite literally, die. So that’s that. Except it isn’t as some chap has just turned up at the office of The Stranger Times and he has fangs. And doesn’t seem to enjoy daylight very much. So, what’s all that about then? Just your average day for assistant editor Hannah and her colleagues.
Following his outstanding début in the series – which established the Manchester-based newspaper as being on the front line of an often-shaky accord between powerful, supernatural factions and whose staff encounter werewolves, demons and scary solicitors daily – C. K. McDonnell’s sophomore novel This Charming Man is intriguingly brilliant.
And its greatest strength is in its engaging and enthralling characters, both new and old. The author revels in their personalities, their foibles and flaws as they guide you hilariously through an urban fantasy landscape bursting with myth and magic; all often hiding in plain sight. McDonnell weaves a twisted web, and you may forget the odd snippet of minutiae in the world-building, but not to worry as that puts you in the same space as lead protagonist Hannah, and that’s OK.
Perhaps more Gaiman or Adams than Pratchett, McDonnell has a gift for describing the fantastical as delectably formulaic. Of course, that dog can speak, and why wouldn’t a police detective have an eyeball in his head so powerful people can spy on his world?
If you enjoy your fantasy peppered with wit and deft creativity, then McDonnell’s books will sit comfortably on your bookshelf next to those revered genre alumni.
This Charming Man is published on February 17th.
