Johannes Cabal, the Detective - Jonathan L. Howard

There's not a lot of raising of the dead going on in Johannes Cabal the Detective, the necromancer far too busy striving to keep himself from getting into that state himself, with little chance of resurrection. Imprisoned for attempting to steal an occult book from a library in Mirkarvia, he finds his stay of probable execution at least temporarily put aside at the behest of the nation's military commander. The Emperor has unfortunately expired before he can rouse his citizens to invade their neighbours, and a necromancer can come in handy for just such an eventuality.

Once accomplished, not without ensuring some characteristic mischief and petty but necessary payback for the indignities suffered while in a Mirkarvian prison cell, much of the remainder of Johannes Cabal the Detective sees the necromancer acting indeed as a detective. On an airship. That's his mode of transport escaping from the Mirkavian authorities in the guise a minor civil servant for the Department of Agriculture. Keeping up the disguise is difficult however as an old adversary is also on board and ready to denounce him as soon as they land. The death of a passenger however is a welcome distraction, but not so welcome that the unknown assassin attempts to push Cabal off the airship as well.

There is the air of Agatha Christie in the whole locked room mystery and murder aboard on the airship express, inevitably with a little more exoticism in fact that the detective is a no-nonsense necromancer with a general disdain for most of humanity and a bargain to fulfill for the devil. What makes it so enjoyable is of course the character of Cabal, the diverse characters aboard the airship, the scrapes that Cabal gets into and the various ingenious and ruthless means he employs to get out of them. Principally however it's the author's wonderful, almost Wodehouse-like sense of humour and turns of phrase.

So if you can imagine an Agatha Christie mystery written by P G Wodehouse with a necromancer as the central character, you're on the way to getting an idea of what is involved in Johannes Cabal the Detective. And if that doesn't take your fancy, well not even a necromancer can bring your critical judgement back to life.

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