Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan Howard, 288 pagesThis book is the second in a series, the first of which I read a few years back. The main character, Johannes Cabal, is a darkly humored necromancer and in the first book, he has been without his soul in order to learn necromancy. However, he wants it back and must earn it back by getting others to give up theirs, while running a carnival.
This installment in the series was a little steampunk, which was a change of pace from the first book. The second book is set mostly on a zeppelin onto which Cabal has fled, to attempt to escape a crime. He ends up having to participate in the solving of several murders and is almost murdered himself. Along to help him is Leonie Barrow, a woman he met in the first book.
The author tried to throw in some poor attempts at romance for Cabal in this one, which I found unnecessary, as it breaks from Cabal's character. It is attributed to him having his soul back, but still, unnecessary.
The best part about the Cabal books are the humor. Cabal is extremely sarcastic and he's not only a necromancer, but also an un-apologetic killer when necessary. I suppose he's somewhat sociopathic. I've discovered I really do enjoy books about sociopaths.
