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The Detective (Johannes Cabal #2)

by Jonathan L. Howard (Goodreads Author)

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 1,903 ratings · 237 reviews

Johannes Cabal, necromancer of some little infamy, returns in this riotously clever and terrifically twisted tale of murder and international intrigue.

In this genre-twisting novel, infamous necromancer Johannes Cabal, after beating the Devil and being reunited with his soul, leads us on another raucous journey in a little-known corner of the world. This time he’s on the r...more

Hardcover, 288 pages

Published July 13th 2010 by Doubleday (first published July 10th 2010)

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Aug 04, 2010 Amanda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humour, review-copy, fantasy, crime, series

Johannes Cabal the Detective is the second book about the eponymous necromancer. I read the first book, Johannes Cabal the Necromancer, at the beginning of this year, and was enormously enamoured with the bitingly sarcastic gentleman in question. In fact, it has remained my number one read of 2010 despite fierce competition from other titles, and so I was almost nervous about picking up this second novel about Johannes Cabal in case it did not live up to the first.

I am pleased to report that Joh...more

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Apr 04, 2011 James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"The condemned cell stank of cats.

There were no rats or cockroaches, for which Johannes Cabal - a necromancer of some little infamy - was grateful. But the cost of vermin control was an army of cats who crept in and out of his cell and wandered throughout the dungeons of the Harslaus Castle with complete impunity. Even the cell doors had cat flaps cut into them. It was no secret that the warders had a much higher opinion of the animals than they did of the inmates. When Cabal had been given his...more

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Aug 27, 2010 Bryce rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For fans of Johannes Cabal the Necromancer, a warning: This book is very different from the first. Different tone, different type of comedy, and (dare I say it?) even a different side of Johannes Cabal.

At first, the differences put me off. Especially the imaginary geography/political situation and all the steampunk elements. I was hoping for another madcap supernatural adventure, but got instead a mixture of Sherlock Holmes and William Gibson. But once I stopped trying to shoehorn the book into...more

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Jul 30, 2010 Tammy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comic-fantasy, mystery, witches-and-magic-users, zombies, steampunk

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 26, 2010 Stephen Theaker rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Count Marechal would see the Mirkarvian empire restored, but the emperor died three hours ago – before a crucial speech could be given. Thus Johannes Cabal escapes execution for necromancy (and related book theft), but the episode ends badly, and Cabal escapes on an aeroship – the Princess Hortense, on her maiden cruise – in the guise of Herr Gerhard Meissner, docket clerk first class, Department of Administrative Coordination. There are murders; Cabal investigates.

This was very enjoyable. Both...more Count Marechal would see the Mirkarvian empire restored, but the emperor died three hours ago – before a crucial speech could be given. Thus Johannes Cabal escapes execution for necromancy (and related book theft), but the episode ends badly, and Cabal escapes on an aeroship – the Princess Hortense, on her maiden cruise – in the guise of Herr Gerhard Meissner, docket clerk first class, Department of Administrative Coordination. There are murders; Cabal investigates.

This was very enjoyable. Both narrator and character are quietly funny, and there's a touch of the Stainless Steel Rat about Johannes, both in his humour and his disdain for the law (and at one point it is said of him that you should "set a monster to catch a monster"), though he does not share his science fictional counterpart's regard for human life – having defeated an enemy, he thinks it best to kill them while they are "handy and vulnerable".

Nor does he share the Rat's interest in women. Indeed, he "usually carried a faint scent of formaldehyde around with him, which had the effect of depressing any amorous intent of any woman with a working nose", so the attention he attracts from femmes fatales during the voyage (enforced absence from his laboratory having done much for his odour) comes as a surprise and a challenge.

There are also echoes of Keith Laumer's Retief tales: Cabal is a capable man on a world of militaristic idiots, sadists and popinjays, a world with one foot stuck in the 19th century. Unlike Retief, Cabal has a capable, intelligent woman to deal with: Leonie Barrow, a criminologist from his past with the uncanny, infuriating ability to awaken his "feelings" and "conscience". Their uneasy unfriendship provides many of the novel's best moments.

Special mention must go to the wonderful cover, a striking piece of art and design by Michael Windsor. The back cover reproduces the first three paragraphs of the novel, showing a classy and I think justified confidence in the author's writing, which is sparky, amusing and dramatic.

The last thirty pages of the book offer a bonus feature: "The Tomb of Umtak Ktharl", an entertaining novella which succeeds the events of the nove(less)

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Jun 07, 2013 Lindsay rated it 5 of 5 stars

My favorite immoral scientist is back in a worthy sequel. Not without its flaws, it felt some portions dragged a little, but ultimately a excellent adventure that was very darkly funny, clever, and exciting. Cabal is still the antihero who does terrible things, though not as many evil things because his soul and conscience prevent him (to his chagrin) of doing so. I enjoyed that in this book we actually get a good look at him practicing necromancy and also some glimpse of his past which shaped t...more

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Jun 20, 2012 Elf M. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Johannes Cabal: The Detective is the follow-on book to Jonthan L. Howard's Johannes Cabal: The Necromancer. Cabal is the necromancer of the title, a psychopathic little man in the pale, blond tradition of Elric or Dexter, obsessed in his own little way, like Victor Frankenstein, with uncovering the secrets of Life with a capital L, and woe betide those who get in his way. Necromancy is a condemned subject, and those who practice it are summarily executed, but Cabal isn't interested in raising a...more Johannes Cabal: The Detective is the follow-on book to Jonthan L. Howard's Johannes Cabal: The Necromancer. Cabal is the necromancer of the title, a psychopathic little man in the pale, blond tradition of Elric or Dexter, obsessed in his own little way, like Victor Frankenstein, with uncovering the secrets of Life with a capital L, and woe betide those who get in his way. Necromancy is a condemned subject, and those who practice it are summarily executed, but Cabal isn't interested in raising armies of the dead or extracting obscure secrets, so he doesn't understand why people dislike him. Still, as so many people seem to want to shoot him he's gotten better at shooting back. As he himself puts it, he is a scientist "in the ongoing march of humanity from protoplasm to— I don't know, to be honest. Something slightly better than protoplasm would be a start."

I haven't read The Necromancer, and I didn't need to. Howard has written a wonderful little steampunk adventure with its own rules of science, magic, and the universe at large, as Cabal is arrested attempting to steal an obscure book on Necromancy from a library in some obscure Teutonic princedom-turned-republic, has a thrilling escape, and winds up on a quasi-zeppelin luxury liner fever-dreamedly mixed with the SHIELD helicarrier circa 1988, on which murders, assaults, and intrigues lead our anti-hero into a quagmire of personal and political webs. He meets a charming old foe who becomes something of an ally, and an excellent foil for conversation and quippery.

Quippery is at the heart of this book. Howard has a problem: he never met a cliche' he didn't like, and he'll use them at the drop of a hat. I winced, repeatedly, as expressions and metaphors long drained of vitality, much like Cabal's subjects, meandered across the page. And yet, if you forgive Howard his laziness, you'll get past them all for a rollickingly funny story about a high-functioning and brilliant psychopath working his way with relentless logic from one end of a conundrum to the other. Conversation is wicked, pointed, and hilarious; Cabal's own thoughts morbidly precise and smile-inducing.

Aside from cliche's, Howard occasionally head-hops without much warning. His book is rife with anachronisms, as when Cabal raids several morgues clearly run by men much more modern than the clothing, language, and setting imply. But these are actually quibbles. It could have been a much more precise book, I suppose, but it would be hard to imagine the precision necessary to all the fun it provides.(less)

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Jun 16, 2012 Tina Rath rated it 4 of 5 stars

This sequel to Johannes Cabal the Necromancer sees Cabal re-united with his soul, and with stirrings from what he thinks could be a conscience, but neither are allowed to incommode him noticeably. Being what he is, his wish to obtain a book, specifically Principia Necromantica, from Kranz University Library in Mirkarvia leads not to the Interlibrary Loans Desk at his local library, but to the University itself at half past one in the morning, and from there to a cat-redolent condemned cell at Ha...more

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May 26, 2012 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Laura by: Karl

Shelves: being-human, cthulhu, hero-s-journey, monsters

Cabal is an odd duck. A necromancer who hates death with a burning passion that illuminates the dark night of his soul and puts him in all sorts of Rincewind-like situations that he handles in an almost completely un-Rincewind-like way. The books are delightful, in much the way the recent BBC reboot of Sherlock Holmes is delightful. Though Cabal doesn’t have a “live in” (as Moriarty sneeringly describes Watson) to keep him human. Mostly human. He used to have a vampire, but I think he killed him...more

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Sep 17, 2011 Erin rated it 1 of 5 stars

I didn't care for the sequel to Johannes Cabal the Necromancer. The first book was brilliant; archly amusing, gruesome, and, at its heart, rather sad. While it did rely heavily on bits and pieces borrowed from other writers (mostly Bradbury and Lovecraft), Howard put those pieces back together to create something unique.

The sequel? Not so much. Abandoning the supernatural trappings of the first book wouldn't have been so bad, except that Howard also jettisoned most of what made his first book a...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Don't worry, Johannes Cabal is still a necromancer - technically. But don't go looking for the Devil to pop up demanding his in this book. Johannes is indeed primarily a detective, though unwillingly so, in this second book of the series. And it's best to think of Johannes Cabal the Detective that way - a book in a series - because it doesn't really qualify as a sequel. Sure, the characters are there, the setting is there, and so is the humor and wit that made the first book so very enjoyable; b...more Don't worry, Johannes Cabal is still a necromancer - technically. But don't go looking for the Devil to pop up demanding his in this book. Johannes is indeed primarily a detective, though unwillingly so, in this second book of the series. And it's best to think of Johannes Cabal the Detective that way - a book in a series - because it doesn't really qualify as a sequel. Sure, the characters are there, the setting is there, and so is the humor and wit that made the first book so very enjoyable; but stripped of its otherwordly ties, the plot of the Detective seems strangely disconnected from its predecessor. Furthermore, none of the questions left open at the end of the Necromancer are solved, or even addressed, in this book. While definitely connected to the first book, the Detective seems more like an odd stepping stone, just a place to land in between point A (the Necromancer) and point B (which I am hoping will be a/the third book).

Whether or not you will enjoy the Detective really hinges on whether you were in Necromancer for the occult tones or the humor. The latter, and you'll come away satisfied that Johannes is as bitter and sarcastic as ever; the former, and you may find the book a chore rather than a pleasure. There is a teeny-tiny bit of supernatural action in the form of a small story tacked on at the very end - but it feels (and is presented) like an afterthought, as if an editor came back to Howard with the finished script and gently reminded him that, Yes this plot is very nice and all, but remember how the first book was, you know, dark and occult-like, and don't you think it might be a good idea to give a nod to that somewhere? It's a shame the nod comes post-plot, but at least it exists.

I would give the book 3.75 stars if I could; good, yes, but just short of its predecessor. Though the humor and characters I loved from the Necromancer are all there, and I don't regret purchasing or reading the book, the Detective feels like I've stepped into another series entirely. It's like walking onto the bridge of the Enterprise and finding Harry Potter there in the captain's chair; you're not entirely put off but you are wonding what on earth is going on and why it's happening. Still, two books in is far too early to feel betrayed by anything, so I eagerly await another book from Howard. (less)

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Jun 12, 2011 Gena rated it 5 of 5 stars

When we last saw Johannes Cabal, a necromancer of some small fame, he’d ditched his sinister traveling freak show, regained his soul from Satan and actually did something a bit noble. Not that any of that has changed the fellow. He still practices the art of raising the dead, is still looking out for himself first and still getting into trouble. This time he has been called to the small country of Mirkarvia and promised a priceless necromancer text to breathe a little animation into its dead Emp...more When we last saw Johannes Cabal, a necromancer of some small fame, he’d ditched his sinister traveling freak show, regained his soul from Satan and actually did something a bit noble. Not that any of that has changed the fellow. He still practices the art of raising the dead, is still looking out for himself first and still getting into trouble. This time he has been called to the small country of Mirkarvia and promised a priceless necromancer text to breathe a little animation into its dead Emperor. Unfortunately the deal he makes with Colonel Marechal leaves something to be desired, namely the fact that they don’t plan to reward Cabal with anything but a swift death.

In the ensuing chaos, and the Mirkarvian revolution which follows, Cabal finds himself impersonating a minor Mirkarvian civil servant on a state-of-the-art aeroship heading to the neighboring country of Katamenia. His easy plan to escape and get his precious book back to his laboratory slips further and further away as one of the dirigible’s passengers plunges to his death, sending the whole aeroship plunging into delicious plots of espionage! Cabal faces discovery of his true identity and imminent death at any given moment but still has time to solve a crime, detect the real purpose of the journey and antagonize Leonie Barrow, a woman from his recent past and one who desires to put an end to his immediate future. In the end even Cabal’s diabolical skills are put to the test in an effort to save himself and if anyone else survives along the way it doesn’t matter to him. No one ever accused him of being honorable, altruistic or even nice.

The second Johannes Cabal novel is just as irreverent and amusing as the first. Jonathan L. Howard has a way of making this unlikable character likable even when he’s doing awful things. His plot moves right along and doesn’t bog down, which happened in the first book, and the areoship gives it a nice steampunk feel even though this is not classic steampunk fiction at all. It’s by turns hilarious and thrilling and the mystery will keep you engaged. I would recommend this book to all sci-fi fans and anyone who likes a good thrilling yarn.
(less)

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Dec 03, 2010 Josh rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: laugh-out-loud-funny, fiction

Better than the first book. I loved Necromancer, but my only quibbles were with some wonky pacing and a fairly one-dimensional (though still interesting) main character in Cabal. The sequel fixes these problems, and then some. Cabal is a much more sympathetic, much more interesting character, and the book clips along from beginning to end. The first book concerned Cabal's quest to get his soul back, and having soul intact gives him a conscience and depth that weren't here the first time around.

W...more

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Nov 22, 2010 Thomas Taylor rated it 3 of 5 stars

Johannes Cabal is at it again. If you have not read, Johannes Cabal: Necromancer, I recommend you start with that book as I enjoyed it more.

If you're expecting more satanic dark fun in this book, as you received from the first one, you will be disappointed. Johannes Cabal is thrust into international intrigue and a murder mystery aboard a zeppelin in this book, and honestly I felt the book suffered for it.

I still recommend reading it, as it was a fun read, but it definitely does not have the gr...more

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Apr 11, 2012 Frankenstein rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: necromancer, antihero

Before I begin, I'd just like to say - I like more Cabal without a soul.
BUT BY GOD! I love this series. It contains everything I could ever want in a book: blood, necromancy, murder, zombies, dark humor, and most importantly - a thoroughly detailed plot. I have to confess, the main reason that I like this series is because like the hopeful fool I am, I see (or envision) myself in the quixotic main character: Johannes Cabal. He is narcissistic, egocentric, cold hearted, emotionally deprived, and...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Rick rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really like the Johannes Cabal books, of which this is the second. They can be loosely qualified as Steampunk novels, given their early 1900s settings and the steam based technology that crops up from time to time; but this one is a fairly straightforward detective novel along the lines of the Sherlock Holmes stories - but with a nice, dark edge provided by Johannes Cabal's chosen profession as a Necromancer.
It would definitely help to read the first book in the series (Johannes Cabal; The Nec...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Zach rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A good story in its own right, but hardly any of the things I loved about the first Johannes Cabal were present. Johannes Cabal, necromancer, finds himself forced to flee from the small Germanic country of Mirkarvia (another one of the little things that bugged me--I kind of liked the undefined, vaguely WWI-England-ish setting of the last book rather than all the many fictional countries in this one and the confirmation that the last book was in England) after being arrested for necromancy. Caba...more A good story in its own right, but hardly any of the things I loved about the first Johannes Cabal were present. Johannes Cabal, necromancer, finds himself forced to flee from the small Germanic country of Mirkarvia (another one of the little things that bugged me--I kind of liked the undefined, vaguely WWI-England-ish setting of the last book rather than all the many fictional countries in this one and the confirmation that the last book was in England) after being arrested for necromancy. Cabal disguises himself as a civil servant and boards the Princess Hortense, a state-of-the-art airship that will take him out of the country. Not long into the trip, however, one of the passengers appears to commit suicide, though naturally the facts don't add up, leading to suspicions of murder. Cabal is drawn into the investigation (motivated by self-interest, of course) and butts heads with assassins, plot twists, and colorful characters. Like I said, it was a good story but very few of the supernatural elements from the first book were in place. The necromancer who serves as protagonist actually performs necromancy in just two brief scenes, and the only supernatural creature was in the afterword. After the first book had a necromancer, his vampire brother, dozens of demons, zombies, ghosts, and Satan himself playing major roles, the near-complete lack of supernatural elements was pretty jarring, and removed a lot of what I loved about the first book. Not to mention it affected my perception of Cabal himself: It was hilarious in the first book when he could stare down Satan or the general of Hell's legions with utter disinterest, disdain, and a smartass remark. Aimed at regular people in this one, it just kind of makes him an asshole.

Regardless, I still loved the dry humor throughout, the mystery was interesting, and the characters memorable, so it was still a decent read, just not what I expected. And on the plus side, the next book sounds like it will get back to the supernatural elements I liked so much.(less)

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Aug 05, 2012 Mary-ellen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Having never read the first book, I was in two minds about reading 'Johannes Cabal: The Detective'. My uncertainty proved unnecessary since this turned out to be a clever and suspenseful twisted tale of murder and intrigue. Being a novice in the fantasy genre, I was somewhat confused by the apparent lack of time and space of the story, but it was so well written that I thouroughly enjoyed my travelsthrough an unknown world.

The infamous necromancer is on the run from the local government. Having...more

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Oct 21, 2011 Chrismichelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of the best, wittiest and underrated books I have ever read. I bought this book because I read Johannes Cabal: Necromancer last year and I found it amusing and interesting enough to pick up its sequel, which I'm happy to say is even better, if a lot more different than its predecessor. In "The Necromancer" the focus was more on Cabal's diabolical agenda of gathering 100 souls for the Devil in exchange for the one he traded years before, the price he paid for the knowledge of the art of necro...more One of the best, wittiest and underrated books I have ever read. I bought this book because I read Johannes Cabal: Necromancer last year and I found it amusing and interesting enough to pick up its sequel, which I'm happy to say is even better, if a lot more different than its predecessor. In "The Necromancer" the focus was more on Cabal's diabolical agenda of gathering 100 souls for the Devil in exchange for the one he traded years before, the price he paid for the knowledge of the art of necromancy. Switching from the theme of evil carnivals and Faustian deals, this story is, as the title implies more of a mystery in the tone Doyle's Sherlock Holmes adventures and Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express" only instead of a train, it takes place on a Zeppelin and the Detective is actually a wanted criminal himself. You know Cabal is a master criminal because he starts off the story waiting to be executed for stealing a grimoire only to escape the situation by setting off a small coup and a possible undead breakout. Afterwards, he gleefully sneaks his way on board a luxurious aeroship and unwittingly into a den of political conspiracy and murder.

After regaining said soul, Cabal returns, still as brilliant, ruthless, cold and socially inept as ever but a subtle change has taken place within him between now and the first book- he's beginning to feel the occasional, annoying twinge of a conscience. And in the context of the story, this conscience appears to have manifested itself in the form of the lovely and infuriating Leonie Barrow, a woman from the past who has a grudge against Cabal for the petty reason in that he nearly got her soul eternally damned. I love Leonie Barrow, and second to Cabal, she is very much my favorite character in the book and one of my favorite female characters, hands down ever. Having matured from the wholesome, girl next door she was in the first book (most likely as a result of the horrors she experienced therein) in The Detective, she is the Irene Adler to Cabal's morally vacant Sherlock Holmes-- she is intelligent, dynamic, witty and far more savvy in social situations than the emotionally stunted Cabal and while she loathes Cabal's necromantic activities, she also can't help but admire the purity of his actions while simultaneously taking the piss out of him when he fails to observe the most obvious social mores. As for Cabal's feelings towards her, he is torn between admiring her for her intelligence and her uncanny resemblance to someone whose death was so traumatizing to him that it set him on the dark path to necromancy and his occasional instinct to kill her before she denounces him to the authorities. Add in the fact that despite his annoyance with her, he is genuinely concerned for her well-being, and you have a snarky duo with some seriously dysfunctional sexual tension.

The other characters from spoiled femme fatale, Lady Ninuka to the silly, patriotic Colonel Konstantin are nothing more than caricatures in the vein of Agatha Christie's usual suspects. They are a bit cartoonish even when a few of them are revealed to be more than what they seem. While not given the same amount of depth as Leonie or Cabal, still manage to be entertaining if only because the majority of them are priggish, self absorbed and make good fodder for Cabal or Leonie to skewer, or in Cabal's case, emotionally scar for life.

As far as plots go, it makes for a rather faithful homage to the Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, in that it involves locked rooms, scattered clues and everyone is a suspect with refreshing steampunk twist and more propensity for violence, with even a bit of an adventure story at the end. As mentioned above, it is a different creature from the previous novel, which was more plot driven as opposed to this which focuses more on character but please don't let that discourage anyone from this novel. Johannes Cabal the Detective is a great book, but better than that it is a unique book, that mixes steampunk, sharp black comedy, mystery, grand adventure, zombies, zeppelins and a honest to goodness, sympathetic, fascinating anti-hero that puts all other literary "bad boys" out in the field today to utter shame.(less)

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Jun 20, 2011 Brendan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, adventure-thriller, fiction, mystery, scifi

Johannes Cabal, the Detective relates more of Cabal's adventures, this time as he tries to escape the political chaos of a corrupt official and his coup d'etat. Cabal disguises himself as a minor diplomat and hides aboard a large airship on its way to an allied country filled with humanitarian foods. When one of the passengers dies in mysterious circumstances, his naturally inquisitive mind prods him to start investigating the death. When he's nearly killed as well, things really start to heat u...more Johannes Cabal, the Detective relates more of Cabal's adventures, this time as he tries to escape the political chaos of a corrupt official and his coup d'etat. Cabal disguises himself as a minor diplomat and hides aboard a large airship on its way to an allied country filled with humanitarian foods. When one of the passengers dies in mysterious circumstances, his naturally inquisitive mind prods him to start investigating the death. When he's nearly killed as well, things really start to heat up.

A few thoughts:

I think the airship on the cover of this book is attempting to appeal to the steampunk audience, but I wouldn't call this book steampunk. To whit, there's no clockwork mechanisms or steam mechanisms to speak of. It takes place in the Victorian era, but magic works somewhat, so there are a variety of different kinds of machines available, as well as necromancers (who are reviled everywhere). The airship in the book has a flat top and is powered by "etheric guides" instead of helium. Thus, the blimp on the cover is totally misleading, as the book is blimpless.
I like the structure of this book, which takes the character of Cabal and tosses him into a country manor murder (one of us here must have done it). The mystery itself works pretty well, and the characters are amusing and fun.
Howard does an excellent job threading the line with Cabal, making him a vicious monster with a conscience, and as such, the book works. He could do something really awful at any moment, but then he does nice things too. (I'm reminded of Kerr Avon from the BBC's Blake's 7, another self-interested genius with a tiny shard of gold in his heart.) The secondary characters in the piece also shine.
I like the short story at the end of the book, which continues Cabal's adventures and provides a kind of epilogue as well. It also shows Howard's skill with genre fiction, as it fits the British club story mode very well.
Continuing the genre thread I started in the first point above, it seems like "alternate history" makes sense, since the story takes place in a world where technology and magic intermix and make public appearances together. It reminds me of both Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series and Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series.

A good read. Perhaps more enjoyable than the Necromancer, if only because the narrative form of the detective book provides more structure for Howard to tell the story from. Or perhaps he's getting more sure with the voice of the character. Or maybe I'm just in a better mood. Delightful, anyhow.(less)

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Jun 21, 2011 Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have long held a desire to read the Johannes Cabal series of books after the cover of the second one caught my eye in a Barnes and Noble a few years ago (yes, I am a cover-whore). I remember picking up the first book and stumbling through the text and thinking "Ouch! Who would read this?!" due to its unique grammar structure and use of old and rarely used words. Needless to say I put the book down and never looked back.

That was until about seven months ago when I discovered Kindle samples and...more I have long held a desire to read the Johannes Cabal series of books after the cover of the second one caught my eye in a Barnes and Noble a few years ago (yes, I am a cover-whore). I remember picking up the first book and stumbling through the text and thinking "Ouch! Who would read this?!" due to its unique grammar structure and use of old and rarely used words. Needless to say I put the book down and never looked back.

That was until about seven months ago when I discovered Kindle samples and downloaded the first book's sample. I valiantly attempted a second climb through the digital pages...and subsequently failed. I think anyone would agree I made a brave attempt by passing the 100 page mark but I ultimately gave up. The book was just difficult to read and I could not wrap my head around this Cabal character.

A few weeks ago the second book's cover caught my eye. My penchant love for anything steampunk proved the better of me and I downloaded the sample. The stars aligned. Pigs sprouted wings and took to air. Somewhere, an angel got their wings. I made it through the sample and actually enjoyed myself while reading the opening of the book. I risked everything and purchased the book.

The blurb:

In this genre-twisting novel, infamous necromancer Johannes Cabal, after beating the Devil and being reunited with his soul, leads us on another raucous journey in a little-known corner of the world. This time he’s on the run from the local government.

Stealing the identity of a minor bureaucrat, Cabal takes passage on the Princess Hortense, a passenger aeroship that is leaving the country. The deception seems perfect, and Cabal looks forward to a quiet trip and a clean escape, until he comes face-to-face with Leonie Barrow, an enemy from the old days who could blow his cover. But when a fellow passenger throws himself to his death, or at least that is how it appears, Cabal begins to investigate out of curiosity. His minor efforts result in a vicious attempt on his own life—and then the gloves come off.

Cabal and Leonie—the only woman to ever match wits with him—reluctantly team up to discover the murderer. Before they are done, there will be more narrow escapes, involving sword fighting and newfangled flying machines. There will be massive destruction, not to mention resurrected dead . . .

This structure of this book is a little odd, perhaps that is part of its charm. In my eyes the book is really three short stories. The first sets up how Cabal escapes a madman as he helps start a civil war. The second is a trip aboard a flying ship (I must note that the one in the book is most notably nothing like the one on the cover). The last 40ish pages are written in an entirely different vein and cover the occurrences immediately following the results of the second story.

All three tales are decently told, hold your attention, and play an interesting insight into what makes Cabal tick. Some of this information you will not want to know. Cabal is the best of the worst of anti-heroes ever put to page. He is cruel, evil, plotting, conniving, mean, but also intelligent, resourceful and to top it off, a necromancer. While it is mentioned far too many times to count, his skill is brought to bear but twice. More often than not his strongest power is simply his wit and intelligence.

My one main complaint with the book is that it appears to be striving to be a Sherlockian adventure complete with strange speaking sentence structure and the almost extreme overuse of archaic words that few alive will know the meaning of. Thank the Lord I use my Kindle App and can find definitions of words with a single tap, otherwise I would have been left wondering what a word meant probably about once ever three or four pages. I found this tedious and annoying at times. Frequently I felt like that little kid talking to their older brother who purposefully uses big scientific words simply to make me feel inferior to him.

I understand the female protagonist, Leonie, was present in the first book and she was a welcome addition to this tale. The perfect foil for Cabal, their dialogue was probably the one thing I enjoyed the most about the book. She loves him it is clear, but she hates what he is at the same time. The built up, and often hinted at, love story never fully develops. I think this was a wise choice for the author. If Leonie fell for Cabal I think it would jump the shark and make this just not as good a book. As is, this is a perfect sub-plot roller coaster to add just the right amount of flair to the tale.

This tale is truly an internal struggle for the reader as Cabal is the guy you love to hate, the one you shouldn't but do find yourself rooting for. He really is a terrible person, more often doing the right thing, the nice thing, only because it affords him a better position later. When the sh|t hits the fan, this would be the guy throwing the poo directly at you. Cabal, love him or hate him, he is an entertaining fellow.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, it was a good read, just one that took a bit longer and felt a bit more like a struggle to get through than others I have read. I would recommend it for those that like a little challenge and enjoy something a little different. I would add that reading the first does not seem to be a requirement to enjoy this book. There seemed to be some back story I missed from the first book about the relationship between Leonie (and her father) and Cabal, but this was nothing that seemed so important that it was necessary to have read before this book.(less)

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Oct 13, 2011 Hollowspine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Johannes Cabal on an airship!? In an Agatha Christie inspired romp Johannes cabal finds himself escaping death by going incognito on an Airship. But then mysterious suicides start cropping up. Locked-Room Murders and attacks in the dark! Will Cabal solve the crimes or become a victim himself?

Taking place right after Cabal's year-long carnival tour, this story revolves around more political and murderous plots. On an airship with a small group of nobles, bourgeois and military men everyone is a s...more

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Mar 10, 2013 Rui rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After reading some of the other reviews here on Goodreads I must say I went into “Johannes Cabal, The Detective” slightly afraid. The thing was I liked the previous book so much I was a bit worried that all that talk about “change of genre” and “difference of feel” actually meant “it went went downhill and we are just too attached to the first book to actually say that.” I needed not worry, though. The truth is that even if this work is not as brilliant as the first, yes, it still sports moments...more After reading some of the other reviews here on Goodreads I must say I went into “Johannes Cabal, The Detective” slightly afraid. The thing was I liked the previous book so much I was a bit worried that all that talk about “change of genre” and “difference of feel” actually meant “it went went downhill and we are just too attached to the first book to actually say that.” I needed not worry, though. The truth is that even if this work is not as brilliant as the first, yes, it still sports moments of brilliant writing, a great morally ambiguous protagonist and a fairly clever use of tropes that make it very worthy.

The thing is, this is not exactly a “sequel”, in the sense that it answers questions left open by the previous book but, instead, feels more like a “new episode” in Cabal’s life, and I can see how that might put some people off. Still it does expand on what we know of the character and gives him further background ( yes, it even confirms who the “mystery woman” at the end of the previous book is), but that is not the main point of this story.
We begin in media res, with Cabal in a jail awaiting execution, and proceed to see how he resurrects a dead “emperor” and ends up running off, hiding in a state of the art flying vessel, disguised as a boring civic servant (someone he secretly comes to loathe). Then fowl murder happens and Cabal’s mind is just too inquisitive to let it go.
In many ways this felt like an experiment to see in what other genres Cabal could run amok; if the previous book was a bit like “Lovecraft meets Something Wicked This Way Comes” this one is “Agatha Christie meets “steam-punk”" (or, better yet, "diesel-punk", as it’s suggested by TV Tropes… in fact I’d actually say “ether-punk”, just to nitpick and make up my very own word, but if I did so I’m willing to bet there would be no end to this so I better not go down that road.)

As I feared, without Horst, the emotional tension drops a few notches, but there are enough moments between Leone (yes, her) and Cabal to avoid the whole thing dropping into emotionless papier-mâché. In fact she turns out to be a bit more interesting here than I expected. I actually enjoyed her presence even though I thought at first it might be a bit forced to have her around. In the end she rather worked well as new partner for Cabal (think Watson to Cabal’s Holmes), taking some of Horst's duties as a character along the way.

Still, the fact is, there were a few things that didn’t seem to work as well as in the first instalment… with the change of genre Cabal seems a bit out of place (even though it could be argued that is the whole point of the genre shift) and, above all, the switch from a story with a somewhat episodic nature in the first book, to a fairly self contained plot, does hurt this a bit. I didn’t really notice until I missed it how much part of the fun in the previous novel came from seeing Cabal cope with each new problem that was presented to him along the track. In here there is just one large question begging for an answer: “Who is responsible for the murders aboard the flying vessel, and why?” (DUM-DUM-DUM).
Still this was a nice chance to see Cabal’s mind at work confronted with a logical puzzle, and I have to say I found the solution rather well played and smart.

Also the large amount of wordbuild (we finally learn, exactly, what kind of world is inhabited by Cabal, rather than the slightly ambiguous view we get in “The Necromancer”) might explain why there is a slight drop in character development here. But, yeah, as a murder mystery with political satire undertones the book works rather well. In fact it only fails when compared with the first novel and the short story at the end, which is, arguably, a bit closer to “The Necromancer” both in tone and subject matter, might show exactly what was missing in “The Detective”. Still, let’s face it, the first novel was so good that you could write something a peg or two lower down the awesomeness scale and still have a good book at hand. I do think that is what happened here. It’s not the mind-blowing explosion “The Necromancer” was but it still is a very good book. And yes, Cabal does manage to carry the whole thing on his back, making a fairly ordinary murder-mystery have quite a few surprising moments and rise above the norm.(less)

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Jan 10, 2013 Julia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, spec-fic, mystery-detective

One of the charms of the first book in this series was the contrast between the quiet moral gravity of the book's storyline and the lively--and often very silly--prose and subplots. This book is less complicated and less weighty; the stakes are lower (though how they could get higher than "conscript 100 souls in exchange for your own by the end of the year, or you're dead" is unclear, so maybe lower stakes are to be expected), and the book's ending is far less sad (and again, since after the dea...more

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Jan 05, 2012 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this second installment of the Johannes Cabal series right up until the moment the dramatic climax is set in motion. From there, the book took a turn for the overly-dramatic, explosive-laden action sequence one finds in every clichéd popcorn flick. Sadly, this overblown excuse for an ending ruined the book for me.

Still, it is nice to re-enter Cabal's world, and to see unexpected, familiar faces from the first novel make an appearance as well. Cabal and Miss Barrow work well together,...more

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Jan 11, 2012 Steven rated it 4 of 5 stars

A good follow up to the first book. This book followed a less supernatural course than the first book, which involved the devil and hell, but still flushed out more about the character that is Cabal. This followed more the usual murder mystery format, and gave us a good mystery that we could solve, but are unlikely to on the first read. My only complaint is that Mrs. Barrow was raised from a secondary character and potential love interest in the first book, to someone almost Cabal's equal when i...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Linda (Miss Greedybooks) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: steampunk

Johannes Cabal again makes an escape & the getaway airship travel is a great suspense story. The macabre gentlemanly necromancer with a thought process unlike any other has a crafy wit to get himself out of any situation, of which there are many.

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Jan 15, 2012 Amena rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Unfortunately, this book didn't live up to my (admittedly high) expectations.
Part of the problem is that I'm not very much into murder mysteries. That, however, is just a matter of taste, and if I had liked everything else, I would still have given this book five stars.
However, all the things I liked about the first Cabal book - the characters, the quirkiness, the pace - paled in the second novel.

Sure, Cabal is still here, but... Mr Howard, I don't like my heroes deconstructed so early, and I'm...more Unfortunately, this book didn't live up to my (admittedly high) expectations.
Part of the problem is that I'm not very much into murder mysteries. That, however, is just a matter of taste, and if I had liked everything else, I would still have given this book five stars.
However, all the things I liked about the first Cabal book - the characters, the quirkiness, the pace - paled in the second novel.

Sure, Cabal is still here, but... Mr Howard, I don't like my heroes deconstructed so early, and I'm probably not the only one. For you, as a writer, it might feel as though he's been around for ages, but for me, as a reader, he's really quite new, and I would have liked him more on top of things, generally speaking. If we liked the first volume, we liked Cabal arrogant, aloof and as brilliant as blasé, with just the faintest trace of something vulnerable hidden somewhere deep, deep down. Now, while I certainly wanted to know more about the human side of Cabal, so to speak, and while the fact that he now has a soul gives you a perfect excuse for adjusting his character a bit, you went too far for my taste.

The mistake about the power supply at the end might be permissible, and Cabal's societal problems most certainly are in tune with his character, but the long, tedious search for the assassin(s) wearied me. Couldn't he have been a bit more brilliant? Incidentally, the novel would have picked up pace. While the idea of a (Watch out - spoiler ahead!) criminal crew, all engaged in one master crime, is interesting, it didn't carry me through the book. Actually, I was rather bored until the airship landed in Senza. There, things started to HAPPEN, and I got into the (rest of the) story.

However, it was not until I reached the very end - the part after the afterword, actually (and hooray for an author who actually adds anything AFTER an afterword), that I felt convinced of this author's talent again. The story "The tomb of Umtak Khtarl" has it all - pace, an interesting discourse, Cabal at his best, ancient mysteries, a dark kind of humour and an overall atmosphere of creepy weirdness.

I am a bit sad that it all comes down to two stars nevertheless, but overall, I didn't think of this novel as being more than an "OK" read.
I will probably pick up the third volume of the series some day, but I'll wait a bit and hope it's more like the first volume than the second.

(less)

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Oct 03, 2011 Miss Banana rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Between finishing the first novel, and reading this one, I read the three short stories that fell into the Cabal canon. What is so surprising about this one is how different it feels from the rest of it, now that he isn't dealing with some mystical demons and the such.

Of course, I still loved it to bits and pieces. Seeing Johannes Cabal with his soul back (as I'm quite unsure where in the line of short stories he might have it or not) was certainly quite amusing, as he could actually act a bit...more

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Aug 16, 2011 Suzhang rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I picked up this book, my first reaction was "WTF is going on? Is this completely ignoring the events of the last book and where the hell is he?" The in media res opening left me a little more confused than intrigued but I liked Howard's writing style so I buckled "and gave it a chance.

It was fun. That sort of half-dry half-absurd Victorian-esque humor is still there. The direction this story took was completely different from the last. No Hell and very necromantic moments. That being said,...more

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About Jonathan L. Howard

Jonathan L Howard is a game designer, scriptwriter, and a veteran of the computer games industry since the early 1990s, with titles such as the 'Broken Sword' series to his credit.

After publishing two short stories featuring Johannes Cabal (Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day and Exeunt Demon King) in H. P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror, Johannes Cabal the Necromancer was published in 2009 as his...more

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Quotes from The Detective

“They served to remind Cabal - should a reminder ever be necessary - why his social skills were so poor: people were loathsome and not worth the practise.” — 18 people liked it

“There is possibly no insult so calculated to sting the English as the suggestion that they may at any time be considered foreign, as this flies in the face of the obvious truth that the whole of Creation actually belongs to the English, and that they are just allowing everybody else to camp out on bits of it from a national sense of noblesse oblige.” — 9 people liked it

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The Detective (Johannes Cabal #2)

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