Tricks of the Trade (Paranormal Scene Investigations, #3) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Sep 28, 2012 Mary X rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012

I'm hooked on this series. Love the PUPIs. I don't quite get why she does part of the book in 1st person (Bonnie) and part in 3rd person. Why not just make the whole book 3rd person? But anyway, I love the world she's created. I do have a fear that it's going to turn into 10 books of "will they or won't they" for Bonnie and Venec. I've already dropped 2 well-known series over an author refusing to have the characters grow in anyway. But so far loving the series. I am definitely going to check ou ...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it liked it

Shelves: arc-are, netgalley-reviews

The third installment of the Paranormal Scene Investigations series, Tricks of The Trade, picks up a few months after Pack of Lies ends. The PUPI's have two new cases to work - a dead fatae found floating in the river and a break-in on millionaire row. Neither case is quite what it seems and the PUPI's, under the guidance of the Big Dogs Ben and Ian, have a hard time getting to the truth of both crimes. To further complicate matters The Roblin, a mischief demon, takes an interest in the group, a The third installment of the Paranormal Scene Investigations series, Tricks of The Trade, picks up a few months after Pack of Lies ends. The PUPI's have two new cases to work - a dead fatae found floating in the river and a break-in on millionaire row. Neither case is quite what it seems and the PUPI's, under the guidance of the Big Dogs Ben and Ian, have a hard time getting to the truth of both crimes. To further complicate matters The Roblin, a mischief demon, takes an interest in the group, and Bonnie and Ben's connection in particular.
While the cases are presented almost immediately it seemed to take a long time for anything much to happen though once the PUPI's have a few clues to go on the pace picked up. The case involving the theft was especially intriguing with a great twist that gives this book a darker edge.
One of the things I particularly like about this series is the way the author naturally introduces and builds more detail regarding the world and the magic/current it uses. Part of this is accomplished by using an alternating narrative that is in the first person from Bonnie as well as the third person which allows us to observe and gain insight into the other characters and situations.
The appearance of The Roblin was an interesting way to force Bonnie and Ben to confront the issues the Merge have raised. Their relationship changes in this book which I has happy to see and I am looking forward to seeing how things progress in the next installment. I would have liked however for The Roblin to have made a little more mischief for the team than he did.
In the background Ian is still fighting for the team's acceptance with the Cosa Nostradamus, Aden makes an brief appearance and Wren, a character from Gilman's Retriever's series makes a cameo appearance.
I enjoy the combination of action and mystery with a touch of snarky humour thrown in with this series. Once I was past the slow start I enjoyed Tricks of the Trade as much as the first and second titles. While I suppose this book could be read as a stand alone I think the back story from the previous two books are important to the enjoyment of the novel. I still hope to be able to read Gilman's Retrievers series which is set in the same world, though from a different perspective, soon. ...more

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Dec 04, 2011 Charisse rated it really liked it

I love this series much more than her Retrievers series (set in the same world). I read this in a day - love the action, the mystery, the relationships. Not quite as much of a fan of the switching narrations, but Gilman does it well enough that it's not a hindrance to the flow. ...more

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