Secondhand Souls

Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore, 335 pages

Since saving San Francisco from the supernatural Morrigan a year earlier, the Death Merchants of the Bay Area have been taking it easy, recuperating and getting back to their non-death-related lives. Turns out that was a big mistake, since the Morrigan are creeping back into existence, aided by a mysterious man with a penchant for the color yellow. This book is a follow-up to Moore's 2006 novel, A Dirty Job, and it's pretty important to read that one before this one. I'd read A Dirty Job when it came out, but not since, and I'll admit that it took me quite a while to remember the whos and whats of the story. The plot of Secondhand Souls is a bit more scattered, and a few of the interactions between black characters came across as cringeworthy caricatures, so it's definitely not Moore's best work (in my mind, that will always be Lamb). But it's an OK urban fantasy sequel that fans of the Dresden Files might appreciate.