In the paranormal genre, there are many weres, vampires and zombies but very few actual dragons as the main character. Magic, Mensa and Mayhem changes that. Meet Vern, a dragon PI in Los Logos, Colorado. Originally from the Faerie world but now residing in the Mundane world (our side), he has been working for the Faerie Catholic Church for eight-hundred years, give or take.
Back in the day, Vern had a run in with a saint in the Faerie world who put a curse of sorts on him. The curse stripped Vern of all of his powers and even shrank him down in size. By working for the Church and doing good deeds (hence the PI gig), he earns his powers back and gets closer and closer to his original size. The last couple of years as a PI have been with the help of a partner of sorts, Sister Grace, a human and a High Mage of the Church.

Vern and Grace are hired by the Church to attend the Mensa World Gathering in Florida. Attendees will be from both the Mundane world and the Faerie world so Vern and Grace will be there to help keep an eye on things. The two worlds generally get along well but you just never can tell what kind of faux pas could happen. The fun begins early when a group of pixies are discovered inhaling helium and a dwarf has a panic a major panic attack from their particular mode of travel.

Hoping against hope, Vern tries to be optimistic that the trip to the convention will be the worst of the trip. Turns out, Vern does not do optimism well. A Native American trickster legend, a temperamental chef and a mysterious rash of random neatness are the least of Vern and Grace’s problems. There is a power struggle brewing between the Elve tribes and one of the Elves declares war on Florida. Then there is that pesky case of Elve poisoning and the theft of a powerful artifact. In the middle of working through everything else, Vern is hampered a bit by human tourists who either think he will eat them or toss their children on his back and try to put quarters in his ear thinking he is an animatronic ride. Vern and Grace are very good at what they do and know they will get to the bottom of things - it is just a matter of figuring it out before any wars break out or, at the very least, one of the members of the Faerie world curses the hotel.

Magic, Mensa and Mayhem was a thoroughly enjoyable book. There are, apparently, some previous non-book length stories that I have not read but plan on tracking down. The only problem I had with the book was that there were so many characters, I sometimes had a problem keeping them straight. Otherwise, this is a very entertaining book with a unique and extremely likeable duo in the lead. I hope to see a lot more of Vern and Grace in the future as they have the definite possibility of being some well known characters in the paranormal world.

Book Stats:

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books (March 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934041785
• ISBN-13: 978-1934041789

To purchase a print copy of Magic, Mensa and Mayhem from Amazon click here.

To purchase a print copy of Magic, Mensa and Mayhem from Barnes & Noble click here.
To purchase an eBook copy of Magic, Mensa and Mayhem from Barnes & Noble click here.

If you enjoyed this post, please rate it and spread the word using one of the services below:

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

 Loading ...