Review: To Kill a Warlock by H.P. Mallory

Posted October 24, 2020 by Sophia Rose in Reviews / 4 Comments

Tags: Dulcie O'Neil, H.P. Mallory, To Kill a Warlock, Urban Fantasy

To Kill a Warlock

by H.P. Mallory

Series: Dulcie O'Neil #1
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Published by Indie/Self Published
Released on July 3, 2010
Pages: 282
Format: eBook
Source: Free Book

The Delight

When I first got my Kindle Fire about ten years ago, one of the things that had me weak-kneed with wonder was being able to download free books. And, not just any freebies, but books that seemed to be right up my alley that I would happily plunk down my book allowance for. All that to say, the combo of paranormal fantasy romance elements and murder mystery in a new to me urban fantasy series was an easy grab. Unfortunately, I grabbed many freebies so this one set on the shelf until now.

Review

Dulcie O’Neil is a fairy, but don’t mistake her for one of those little Tinker Bell types that flit among the trees. She’s a Regulator for the supernatural policing organization that keeps an eye on supernaturals who waver off the straight and narrow. Recently, she’s been working a case against a crooked warlock who has been breaking the rules as to what he trades and sells in his magic shop. Unfortunately, she is also the last one to see him alive and must figure out who took him out. She gains an unwilling partner in the mysterious Knight, fresh from the Netherworld, but seems to have a habit of picking up dangerous, smoldering men along the way while solving her case.

So, this will be one of those that goes down as a like, but not love book. It hit a few of my pet peeves, but also had several little niggles that kept me from satisfaction. But, there was a lot to enjoy, too. I was looking for something fun and new to try in the urban fantasy genre and there is a possibility this series will work out the kinks and be exactly that.

The biggest thing is something that irritates me, but might not be an issue for others. I’m not fond of insecure heroines who have a bombshell body so that they cause every male in their vicinity to start drooling while the gal is jealous and snarky about other gals because she is apparently oblivious to what is going on. This leads into a second big bugaboo. I wasn’t thrilled about Dulcie’s collection of men. Depending how one counted, she had four and was stringing them along not able to make up her mind so that she engaged in sex or dates with all of them. This doesn’t get resolved and carries forward.

Now we get to the little stuff. Dulcie is described as really good at her job, but she pulled a lot of silly, stubborn, stupids in this book. Granted, she was determined to be her own woman and do her own thing, but she caused a lot of her own trouble and mishandled her case like a pro wouldn’t do.

I was also not fond of her calling people who engage in the BDSM lifestyle, freaks. Her case took her to a club and she even had a bit of sexy times in a BDSM scene with one of her guys. It’s not my thing, either, and I’m not a professional investigator on a job, but I wouldn’t think getting all skittery about it made her look good when on an undercover assignment.

And, what left me scratching my head was how easy it was to put the finger on the culprit. I felt if she had been doing her stuff and not distracted all over the place then it shouldn’t have been that complicated.

But, there was some funny stuff, some hot and sexy stuff, and I felt there was a potential for Dulcie to grow and change and maybe settle on a romance partner. While I thought she wasn’t as good an investigator as touted, I still had some good times as she worked on the murder. There were some curious things about Knight and the others that I would like to learn so at some point I might come back to the series.

As I said before, this was a mixed feeling book for me, but others might not have the ticky-tack issues I had. So, if Urban Fantasy is your thing, it’s still free and you can give it a go.

Challenges Met

Mt. TBR #62
COYER Quarantine #69
Fraterfest #5

About the Book

TO KILL A WARLOCK BY H.P. MALLORY

I’m a Regulator—a law-enforcement agent who monitors the creatures of the Netherworld to keep them from wreaking havoc in the mortal world.

When a dark-arts warlock is murdered and I was the last person to see him alive, I’ve got two choices. Either figure out whodunnit before I’m deported back to the Netherworld, or before I become the next victim.

So, yeah, it’s really more like I’ve got one choice.

Enter Knight Vander, a cocky investigator sent from the Netherworld to work the case with me. Knight is what’s called a Loki and he’s the first of his kind I’ve ever come across. He was created by Hades, in Hades’ own image and can I just say that Hades must have been pretty hot…

Yeah, Knight is the sexiest guy I’ve ever seen but he’s also bossy, demanding, and way too convinced of his own self-importance.

As the body count increases, I find myself having to keep a sadistic demon in check all the while fending off the advances of a super powerful vampire, Bram. And dealing with Knight isn’t exactly a walk in the park.

Sometimes working law enforcement for the Netherworld is a real…

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Sophia Rose

I was born and raised near Sacramento, CA. I have read since I was four years old and developed tastes that run the gamut of literature. I went away to college and have a degree in education, a certificate in family history research, and a certificate in social work. I worked for a non-profit agency with low income families for 20 years which included being responsible for the children’s library and promoting/teaching adult literacy. I have lived in Southeast Michigan for the last 18 years and I am currently a book addicted homemaker with a cat and husband who keep me grounded. Recently, I made it a challenge to review each book that I have read as a favor to author friends who said reviews are important. I have done reviews for Good Reads, Amazon, eBay, and Smashwords, but mostly at Goodreads and Amazon.