Till Sudden Death Do Us Part

July 1, 2019
Supernatural investigator Ishmael Jones (Into the Thinnest of Air, 2018) is an anomaly in his line of work in that he both investigates paranormal activities and is an actual being from another planet who has been roaming the earth for decades in his never-aging human form. In his sixth adventure, Jones and girlfriend Penny (perfectly human and independently wealthy) help Ishmael's old partner find a murderer. Robert Bergin's daughter may be falling under a centuries-old family curse that dooms any groom who marries into the family to die on his wedding night. The vicar who was to perform the ceremony for his daughter has already been murdered, and Robert is determined to prevent any otherworldly beasties from ruining his little girl's big day. As bodies pile up, Ishmael and Penny race to find who or what is preying on the wedding party. Fans of the series will be delighted to reconnect with the quick-witted detective and to learn a little bit more about his early days on the planet.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

June 15, 2019
An alien living on Earth endures a war waging between his alien and human selves while also investigating a family curse for an old friend. Turned into a human in 1963 after his spaceship crashed in England, Ishmael Jones has always lived a life under the radar (Murder in the Dark, 2018, etc.). Until now, he's been able to reconcile his alien and human selves, drawing on an impressive set of skills, like his powerful strength and ability to read people as well as some supervision from a shadowy group called the Organization, to help him solve crimes committed on the fringes of society. Though Ishmael doesn't like to think about his nonhuman past, a look in the mirror one day tells him the alien within is threatening to resurface and destroy his humanity. He doesn't know how to quell this turmoil, which wouldn't bother him so much if his human side weren't happily sharing a life with Penny Belcourt, a willing co-adventurer in life and the Organization's missions. While Ishmael ponders whether to tell Penny about his potentially dwindling humanity, his friend and former colleague Robert Bergin reaches out to Ishmael to seek out his specific skill set for some unusual assistance. Though Robert hasn't seen Ishmael in 30 years, Ishmael hasn't aged a day, and while Robert doesn't know the truth, Ishmael's lack of aging persuades Robert that Ishmael may be exactly who he needs to help him. Robert's betrothed daughter, Gillian, hopes to avoid the family curse of the death of every man who married a Bergin woman on their wedding night. Ishmael and Penny are skeptical about the supernatural forces causing the deaths, but when the pastor who's been engaged to perform the ceremony is murdered, they agree to investigate. Though the hero defeats the family curse, the big story here is his struggle to maintain his own humanity.

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