Baked to Death (Simon Kirby-Jones Series #4) »

The Barnes & Noble Review
Critically acclaimed author Dean James combines his writing career with his position as manager of one of the largest mystery bookstores in the U.S., Murder by the Book. The charming gay vampire hero of his Simon Kirby-Jones series shares his creator's keen interest in people and mysteries. As a historian and a writer, Simon considers people his life's blood. Fortunately, he can use tidy pills to satisfy his nutritional needs, limiting that taste for blood to the livening up of his work and keeping the secret of his true nature firmly in the closet. In Baked to Death, Simon is amused to learn that a medieval-themed festival is taking place practically on his doorstep. But more than his scholarly interests are aroused when he learns that an ex-lover and fellow scholar (and vampire), Tristan Lovelace, has come to town on business, intending to mix that business with the pleasure of trying to rekindle Simon's affections. Then the quaint English village of Snupperton Mumsley is shocked by a murder. The complexity of untangling the simulated court intrigue of the festival from modern mendacity is a welcome distraction for Simon, as he struggles with the long-postponed question of whether to trust his friend and assistant Giles Blitherington, Tristan's would-be romantic successor, with the fact that he's a vampire. Sue Stone

Library Journal

This engaging series sleuth (Decorated to Death) happens to be a romance writer, British-village celebrity, and gay vampire of some moral fiber. When Simon witnesses the poisoning death of an ambitious medieval fair participant who would be elected "king," he fears Tristan Lovelace, Simon's former mentor/ex-lover (also a vampire), may have been responsible. Apparently the victim was attempting to blackmail Tristan into making him a vampire as well! While Simon sleuths, Tristan goads him by flirting with Simon's handsome love-struck secretary. The resulting character clashes, bitchy asides, and jealousy pangs give rise to more than a few good chuckles. James, a two-time Agatha Award winner and a former reviewer for LJ, lives in Houston. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.