Some Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Witchy, Vampire, Werewolf Stuff

I read and enjoy a variety of genres.  Back in March, I found Melissa F. Olson's Boundary Witch series and greedily gobbled up the first 4 books in the series.  The other day, wanting more of the urban fantasy genre, I turned again to Olson.  This time it was her Scarlett Bernard series.   

From description:  "Scarlett Bernard knows about personal space: step within ten feet of her, and any supernatural spells or demonic forces are instantly defused—vampires and werewolves become human again, and witches can’t get out so much as a “hocus pocus.” This special skill makes her a null and very valuable to Los Angeles’s three most powerful magical communities..."


The thing about urban fantasy (aside from contemporary urban settings, mystery, monsters, and magic) is that no matter how dire the situation, our protagonist wins--even if it is only temporary.  Because there is always the next adventure and mystery and monster.

Some of the characters in Dead Spots (which was Olson's debut series) appear later in her Boundary Witch series, so I was already a little familiar with Scarlett and several other characters.  

It was fun finding out about nulls and Scarlett's background, as well as more about Jesse Cruz (human detective) and  the vampires and werewolves of LA.  Scarlett, a null who defuses magic, is a cleaner for crime scenes involving Old World magic.  Initially, these are fairly mild situations, but then...things start to get wild, and Scarlett, who works for a group of vampires, werewolves, and witches, finds herself cleaning up more and more horrific crimes.  Worse, someone is trying to set Scarlett up as the villain.

Trail of Dead.  Who is killing witches and why?  And OOPS, Scarlett's mentor was supposed to be dead.  

Once again, Scarlett must work with human detective Jesse Cruz to find the murderer.  

Scarlett made a bad decision in the previous book--for all the right reasons, but without any concept of the consequences, and it destabilizes Will's wolf pack.

A rogue werewolf , the appearance in LA of the feared Luparii wolf-hunters from France, and a Bargest keep things rolling in The Hunter's Trail.





Of course, these books are not great literature, but they are fun and full of action.  I like the Boundary Witch series better, but the Scarlett Bernard series is Olson's first foray into urban fantasy and is still quite good.  This was supposed to be a trilogy, but Olson does return to Scarlett and friends in future books.  

Looking for some interesting October/Halloween books?  Try Olson's urban fantasy!