Stars: 5

Author: P. N. Elrod

Title: Lady Crymsyn

Publisher: Ace

Year: 2000

ISBN: HC 0-441-00724-4; MMPB 0-443-00873-9

Distribution: HC, MMPB

Pages: 410 (HC and MMPB)

Series: The Vampire Files

In Elrod's previous novel about Jack Fleming and his associates, Jack had lucked into enough unclaimed mob money to open his own swank nightclub. Even after a thorough laundering, enough remains to make Lady Crymsyn one of the poshest places in 1937 Chicago. But two weeks before the scheduled opening, a snag arises: workmen find a body walled up in Lady Crymsyn's basement. All the evidence indicates that "Jane Poe" was chained there and entombed alive five years before.

Jack takes a personal interest in the case. If anyone asks, he can say it's because she was found under his nightclub, but in truth it's because he wants to do for "Jane Poe" what no one did for him when he was murdered by mobsters. He escaped true death because of his earlier relationship with a vampire. He wants to do right by someone who wasn't so lucky. He also knows that his special abilities give him an edge when it comes to detective work ... and interrogation.

Just learning "Jane Poe's" name is a challenge, and her identity inspires more questions than it solves. Lena Ashley was a hanger-on with Booth Nevis, whose nightclub is primarily a front for gambling, but nothing indicates that Nevis -- or anybody else -- would have had a big enough grudge against her to brick her over under an abandoned speakeasy. Trying to learn more about the company she kept antagonizes some shady Chicago underworld characters, reveals another stash of mob money, and nearly gets Jack himself fitted with a cement overcoat.

Characters from previous books make appearances: Charles Escott and Shoe Coldfield are little more than cameos, but nightclub owner Gordy Weems and Jack's girlfriend Bobbi Smythe play important roles in helping with Jack's latest problem and its complications. (Gordy's propensity for tastelessness in funeral arrangements is almost a running joke.) The human interest that Elrod never skimps on comes more from new characters: Rita Robillard, Lena's tough-tender friend, and Malone, Nevis's bartender. Malone, along with Joe James, fashion designer (Bobbi describes him as "a bit festive"), are this book's tip of the hat to society's oppressed. As Jack says to Malone, "I know what it's like" -- though authorial intervention has provided him with more opportunities to talk about being a vampire than Malone has had to talk about being gay. Between giving Malone several badly needed breaks and continuing to develop his relationship with Bobbi, Jack comes across as very much the nice guy.

Even mentioning some of the best parts of Lady Crymsyn would give spoilers, so key bits are going unmentioned in this review. Just to tease, however, I will say that the truth about "Jane Poe" is revealed in stages that never sacrifice surprise or plausibility; the lead vampire isn't the only supernatural manifestation in the book; and Jack takes a brief break from being a nice guy to fit a couple of his persecutors with cement overshoes -- but with a twist as cruelly funny as it is forbearing.

Lady Crymsyn is the most page-turning book I've read recently. Elrod's style is always engaging, the pace rapid, the characters often likable and always artfully developed. Jack's weird abilities and needs get a workout, and so does the combination of scrupulousness and self-preservation that makes him a nice guy who keeps surviving in gangland Chicago. Some bits are definitely not for the squeamish -- combine a murder mystery and a vampire, what do you expect? But overall it's a fast and colorful ride with Jack, as always, playing personable host.

Reviewed by Catherine B. Krusberg