Hold the Dark (e-book) by Frank Tuttle

Hold the Dark is a short fantasy novel published by Samhain Publishing. It's 52,545 words long, according to All Romance Ebooks. According to this page, it's the fourth work in Tuttle's Markhat series. I think it would be possible for newbies to the series to start with this book, if they wanted, although I have no idea if later book refer to the events of the first three works in the series.

Synopsis:

Markhat's newest clients are the Hoobin brothers. They're looking for their sister, Martha Hoobin, who has disappeared. The Hoobin brothers are convinced someone has kidnapped, hurt, or killed her, and they'd like her found. Markhat privately wonders if she ran away, maybe found herself a young man. The Hoobin brothers say she worked as a seamstress at the Velvet, a high-class brothel - as much as the brothers swear otherwise, what if sewing wasn't all Martha did?

Despite Markhat's initial suspicions, Martha does seem to have been exactly what her brothers claimed she was. Everyone was charmed by her, and her sewing skills were prized at the Velvet. However, Markhat and Martha's brothers aren't the only ones trying to find her - Markhat soon finds himself reluctantly joining forces with vampires from House Avalante. The vampires have a secret they'd desperately like to keep, and that won't be easy if Martha dies and her death is investigated.

Review:

I've mentally divided this book up into the first two thirds or so, which I loved, and the last third, which was a bit of a disappointment.

The Cadaver Client (e-novella) by Frank Tuttle

The Cadaver Client is a mix of fantasy and mystery. It's published by Samhain Publishing. According to All Romance Ebooks, it's 25,300 words long, which came out to 65 pages on my Nook, if you don't count the 9 pages of excerpts at the end. According to this page, it's the third story in Tuttle's Markhat series, although those first three could be read in pretty much any order.

Synopsis:

In this story, Mama Hog gets Markhat involved in yet another dangerous case. She brings in the seemingly crazy Granny Knot, who is introduced as being a spook doctor (she can see and speak to spirits). Granny Knot turns out to not be as crazy as she acts, even if the case she has brought Markhat is supposedly on behalf of a ghost.

The ghost says his name is Sellway. Before he died, he was a soldier and, for whatever reason, he found himself unable to go home to his wife and child. Now that he's dead, he feels guilty about that. He amassed a fortune in the years before his death, and he'd like Markhat to deliver it to his wife and child. Markhat agrees to take on the case, which turns out to be twistier than he expects.

Review:

The Cadaver Client was more of what I enjoyed in The Mister Trophy and Dead Man's Rain. Markhat (who I realized still doesn't have a first name) was, as usual, snarky, smart, and in possession of a strong sense of justice, and the mystery itself was interesting. Unfortunately, some of the things I disliked about Dead Man's Rain were also present in this story.

Dead Man's Rain (e-novella) by Frank Tuttle

Dead Man's Rain is published by Samhain Publishing and is included in their Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Vampires categories. In my opinion, neither Science Fiction nor Vampires is appropriate. I haven't encountered anything in the Markhat series so far that would lead me to believe this is a science fiction story, and, although vampires are a part of Markhat's world, they're barely even mentioned in this novella.

According to this page, Dead Man's Rain is the second work in Tuttle's Markhat series. However, Tuttle also states that the order of the first three books isn't critical, and I very much agree. Dead Man's Rain makes no references at all to the events of The Mister Trophy and could just as easily be read first.

Those who prefer print books are in luck: The Markhat Files is a paperback book that includes the first three Markhat stories, The Cadaver Client, The Mister Trophy, and Dead Man's Rain.

I haven't been able to find a word count for this novella, so all I can say is that it comes out to 58 pages on my Nook, if you don't count the additional 6 pages of excerpts.

Synopsis:

Markhat is a finder, which, in his world, seems equivalent to being a P.I. Mama Hog approaches him just as he is leaving the funeral of a man he fought beside during the war. One of her clients, the Widow Merlat, needs more help than she can give, and Markhat is the best alternative she's able to offer. The widow is rich, so Markhat agrees to at least listen to what she has to say.

The Widow Merlat believes her dead husband has come back and is now a revenant. She wants Markhat to help her put him to rest. Unfortunately for her, Markhat doesn't believe in revenants. When he is reluctantly convinced to take the case, he does so figuring he'll find a living person bent on scaring the widow. There are some good suspects, too: the three Merlat children are each horrible in different ways, and one of them might have learned that the widow plans to cut them all off from the bulk of the family's money.

Review:

Dead Man's Rain was good, but left me feeling a little unsatisfied. Even if this story didn't reference the events of The Mister Trophy, I at least wanted it to add something to my understanding of Markhat and his world. All I learned, I think, was a little more about Markhat's specialty during the war – he was a dog handler.

The Mister Trophy (e-short story) by Frank Tuttle

According to this page, this is the first story in Frank Tuttle's Markhat series. I became aware of this series when one of Tuttle's works (The Broken Bell?) popped up on Samhain's new releases page and set off my "ooh pretty" reaction. The excerpt sounded good and reminded me a little of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. I passed it by when I noticed that it was a later book in a series that sounded like it might need to be read in order, although I did add Tuttle's books to my ARe wishlist. When a good sale came up, I took a chance and bought the whole series. Some, like this story, weren't available through ARe, so I ended up buying this direct through Samhain.

Samhain doesn't include word counts, so all I can tell you is that this story is approximately 38 pages on my Nook, if you don't count the 12 pages of excerpts that Samhain plopped at the end. It's getting to the point where I wish Samhain and other publishers would limit themselves to a couple pages of "if you liked this, you might try these works also published by us." That would make it so much easier for me to figure out when I'm nearing the end of a story or book.

Synopsis:

Markhat is a finder, which I think is equivalent to being a private eye. He's at his favorite bar when a Troll approaches him and asks to hire him. Trolls are terrifying creatures, so Markhat isn't inclined to take the case at first, but the Troll offers him a lot of gold. Money is always nice.

Because its name is too difficult for Markhat to pronounce, the Troll adopts the name Mister Smith. Its companions are all Mister something-or-other. The Misters want Markhat to visit the Haverlock vampire clan, determine where they're keeping the stuffed and mounted Troll head they took as a trophy during the War, and deliver a message saying they want it back. This, of course, turns out to be a very dangerous job.

Review:

I was right when I said that this series seemed very much like Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. There's a similar level of snark, both series star a private eye who is resourceful but in over his head, and both series have a lot of fantasy elements. I'm not sure if Markhat has any magical abilities, but so far the answer seems to be “no.” However, he knows at least one person who can give him a bit of magical help.