I remain amused at how well Simon R. Green's Ishmael Jones series manages to channel his cheeky, over the top writing into fun little cozy mysteries without delving into the complete oddity of his other series.
Till Sudden Death Do Us Part is more proof of this, as again, even if the supernatural may make an appearance, much like Scooby Doo, the monsters are all human.
We open on Ishmael and Penny enjoying a weekend together, even as Ishmael is dealing with his fear of the alien within him. A morning walk through SoHo brings the Colonel to their attention, as someone from Ishmael's shrouded past has called in a favor through their old employer to get Ishmael through his new employer to come help up on the moors.
A train ride to the middle of nowhere later, Ishmael and Penny are with Robert, who has the good sense to note that Ishmael has not aged at all in the intervening years. Robert, who's daughter is getting married, has a slight problem as the death of the local vicar is being blamed on his family curse, something about husbands marrying into the family dying on the wedding night due to a curse from the 18th century. Although the curse says nothing about the minister being hung from the bull rope. Or the maid of honor being suffocated in the top tier of the wedding cake, or a local reporter drowning in the baptismal font.
There are numerous suspects besides an invisible demon, and everyone involved has known each other since childhood, mostly. Indeed, it was like reading a cozy set in my hometown.
Anyway, while I figured out whodunnit about halfway through, there is a supernatural moment after the reveal, and a bit of silliness to end on.
Honestly, a fun read. Nothing particularly mind bending, but good.
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