Burning Water by Mercedes Lackey

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

It started with cattle mutilations.  Then the attacks began targeting people, often leaving bloody and shocking crime scenes. Detective Mark Valdez begins to wonder if the perpetrators are members of some strange cult, Satanic or otherwise.  With no solid leads in sight, he asks to call in someone he knows who might be able to give the police some insight into what’s going on.

Diana Tregarde’s day job is romance novelist, but she’s also a practicing witch and an investigator of supernatural events.  She catches the next flight to Dallas, but even Diana isn’t prepared for what she and Mark may be facing.

Most people know Lackey as the author of the long running Valdemar series, but she’s also the author of several others. Burning Water is the first in a nifty urban fantasy series which came out in the late 80s/early 90s which is about the time I first read this book. While shifting books on my shelves I came across the first three books and realized I hadn’t finished reading the series, so I decided to re-read the first one to see if it held up before tackling the other two.

I found I really enjoyed it the second time around.  There are a few minor things that are dated but none of that affected my enjoyment.  There are a some graphic scenes but those aren’t drawn out and are connected to the ultimate solution.  I also liked the information about folklore and other belief systems. Some reviewers have said Diana is just too perfect, or that the book is too talky. There are sections in which the characters discuss religion and philosophy, but I found it interesting and not preachy.  As to Diana’s goodness, I’m good with it—yes, pun intended. 

I liked the pacing.  While there were times I wanted the characters to be quicker on the uptake, there was a reason for that—and I suspect the author was using that device to ratchet up the tension a bit, letting the reader know what was going on in a way that the main characters couldn’t. When it all comes together, the story moves rapidly to a satisfying conclusion.

Although Lackey just wrote three novels in the series, she has done a few novellas that are available as ebooks.  I may take a look after I finish the others.

Books in the series are:

1.       Burning Water

2.      Children of the Night

3.      Jinx High