And then, another vampire hunter book. It’s not clear to me if I’m reading these spaced too closely together, although I’m leaving about as big gaps as the narrative leaves between stories, so I suppose it’s not as bad as all that. Still, I felt a little crowded with them, so maybe I’ll wait longer next time.

In any case, Anita Blake is at it again. This time, she’s trying to help the police solve a string of preternatural murders while avoiding her attraction toward the Master Vampire of the City (and incidentally that vampire himself) and trying to get a handle on her dating life. Wherein lies the flaw in the series. To all outward appearances, that’s the plot of all of them that I’ve read. Well, I’m taking some liberties, but it’s pretty close, at the least. The good news is, the actual mystery part of the book tied up as neatly as a bow by the end, despite me being 40 pages out and thinking it impossible. So it still works as mind candy, even with the roteness of it all that’s starting to build up. Oh, and unlike The Laughing Corpse, this title of Circus of the Damned both referred to a location integral to the plot and was relatable to themes and events in the book. Kudos.

Except for the weird part. I’ve heard tell that the series starts to get ever more poorly edited, even as it gets ever more monster-orgy-heavy. Although the latter hasn’t happened quite yet, the former grew alarming in this last book. Multiple easily noticeable typos despite years between editions, and in fact different publishing companies. It’s very hard for me to imagine not checking on things more thoroughly between the first edition and the second, much less like this. And that’s not even all! At one point in the story, the woman has a magical appearing car to replace her totaled one, and it vanishes again as soon as it’s no longer necessary. (Due to other hints, I’m quite sure it could have been neither taxi nor rental.) This kind of plot hole is completely unnecessary, and it makes me fear for the future of the series. …yes, the series of romance novels with vampires. Except, dammit, well-crafted mysteries. Honest!