BOOK REVIEW: Black Magic Woman by Justin Gustainis ★★★☆☆

After reading a series of super dramatic sagas I wanted to try another genre. Urban Fantasy was on the list and so from the library, my eyes caught this title.

Gustainis has currently written five Quincey Morris books alongside three Occult Crimes Unit Investigation books. This is the first book in the Quincey Morris series (Morris and Chastain Investigation).

There are two main parallel stories in this book. Morris is the great grandson of Quincey Morris from Bram Stoker’s Dracula (but he is like a modern day Van Hellsing) and alongside his consultant, white witch Libby Chastain, are hired to free the LaRue family from a deadly curse that appears to date back to the Salem witch trials. The prologue, set in Salem Village Colony of Massachusetts, June 1692, gives the basis of the modern day LaRue curse, were Goodwife Carter is accused by Bridget Warren for witchcraft, later hung. The second parallel story shows African American FBI agent Dale Fenton and South African policeman Van Dreenan are hunting down a ‘witch’ responsible for a string of child murders and mutilations.

I got my fix of the urban horror setting. From vampires attacking a small Texas town, turning some of the townspeople into ravenous monsters, to a black witch descendent killing the last living descendent of a woman who testified against hers at the Salem Witch Trials to even South African practitioner murdering children to make an item of power to sell to a rich American businessman.

I actually liked the chemistry (not really romantic) between Morris and Chastain. He’s the good guy she has the good humour but both are fiercely loyal. I also like how they were introduced into the novel as opposed to getting stuck into the main case. Morris helps two men overthrow a hoard of vampires in Texas and Chastain helps strip conmen, fake spiritualists and fraudulent 'healer' priests using her white magic. I think they make one hell of a team.

I don’t want to say it’s really clichéd an all but most of the characters weren’t that developed and at times the story seemed like a string of scenes from an action movie. However, I don’t want to be too harsh because this is just the first book in the series and maybe Gustainis would give the two protagonists more of a back-story and flesh out the characters in the later books.

While the parallel story of the two detectives was mediocre, I really thought they would have some interaction with Morris and Chastain’s investigation, alas there wasn’t as such. Van Dreenan calls Libby, which goes to her answering machine and she later does a locator type spell for him, which as a reader you don’t even read about. So the characters never interact. The reader is aware of the two stories connection but the characters that play the part don’t, which to me seemed a bit weird, I guess. I think I’m over thinking it.

To summarise it all, this was an okay book. I know many feel that more could have happened, but I think it set a great foundation for future character and story development for the next book in the series. If you’re a fan of simple detective novels with less mystery, where the main character on a goose chase and eventually gets the bad guy, then Black Magic Woman is your kind of book. However, if want a detective book with some romantic elements –you’ll have to miss out on.

Rating 3.5/5
Publishers: Solaris
Publication Date: January 29th 2008
Genre: Urban Fantasy/ Ghost Horror