Open for Business

Open for Business (2016) Angel Martinez (Brandywine Investigations)

After reading a dystopia, I needed something more comforting to read.

The first story is far and away my favorite.

Trigger Warnings: sexual assault, alcoholism, violence

Hades is served with divorce papers, and so moves to the human realm. Told to find something to do with himself, he opens a detective agency.

After deciding to look into the murders of several homeless men, he rescues one of those men from being shot.

Although they are able to use magic to help Ti get sober, the story doesn’t shy away from the issues he would suffer.

“Come sit down,” Charon said gently as he glided across the room to take Tiberius under the elbow. “I’ll help you. It’s not far.”

“So damn cold.” Teeth chattering, Tiberius sank down on the sofa, now with the sheets stripped off. “I need… a little something. Please. Just a little.”

Charon wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and another around his legs. “I can’t do that to you. You’ll never get well.”

What in bloody Tartarus are they talking about? “He’s fevered. What does he need?”

“His body thinks it needs alcohol.” Charon actually wrapped his arms around the shaking blanket bundle. “But it’s poisoning him.”

I particularly liked how the ending contained not a baby, but mention of Ti’s ongoing therapy.

The second story I skipped entirely as it’s far darker than I needed, and the third I read quickly, just as a reference for the first story in the next book.

Publisher: Mischief Corner Books

Rating: 8/5/10

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