Marla Mason, former chief sorcerer of the city of Felport, now part-time death goddess, claws her way out of her own grave and immediately resolves to be a better person. This she does by killing as many supernatural monsters as she can get her hands on before the month is up and she has to go back to the underworld.
A bit of explanation first: this is the seventh book of a completed series spanning ten books (plus several short stories and novellas comprising sundry pre- and interquels). Books one through four were published by Bantam Spectra, but books five through ten were published through a combination of crowdfunding, self-publishing, and an independent press. Books five and six are also available to read for free online. I didn’t know this, and jumped from book four to book seven, which was... a little confusing. What happened to all of the cliffhangers? Why did Marla get exiled? Why did she start the book dead?
After getting over that speedbump, though, this was a fun, fast-paced read. Marla is, unusually for an urban fantasy heroine, angst-free and bullishly straightforward. She’s made mistakes, bad ones and lots of them, but she doesn’t wallow in regret. Instead she works to remedy her mistakes, usually through the direct application of magic and/or violence. This doesn’t always work out—some problems are subtle and/or complicated enough that this approach only worsens them. While Marla’s genuinely well-intentioned, her good deeds come with plenty of collateral damage, which only gives her more problems to solve. It’s an entertaining little downward spiral she’s on.
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