Working Stiff

Today's post is on Working Stiff by Kevin J. Anderson. It is a short story collection of the character Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. It is 163 pages long and is published by WordFire Press. The cover has Dan and Sheyenne on it with a spooky tree behind them. The intended reader is someone who has read the novels, likes horror tropes and making fun of them. There is mild foul language, talk of sexuality, and mild violence in this book. The story is told from first person of Dan Shamble. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Back from the dead…and back on the case!
Even being murdered doesn't keep a good detective down, and in the Unnatural Quarter—inhabited by ghosts, vampires, werewolves, mummies, and all sorts of creatures that go bump (or thud!) in the night—a zombie P.I. fits right in. Dan Chambeaux, a.k.a. "Shamble," solves a string of madcap cases with his ghost girlfriend Sheyenne, his Best Human Friend Officer Toby McGoohan, and his firebrand lawyer partner Robin Deyer.
Working Stiff contains seven cases from the files of Chambeaux & Deyer Investigations. Dan Shamble has to solve the mystery of a stolen deck of fortune-telling cards and the undeath-defying feats of a vampire trapeze artist, finds himself sealed in a coffin in the back of a truck with no idea where he's being taken, and is even hired by Santa Claus to find his lost "naughty and nice" list. Being trapped in an unbreakable monster-proof crypt, deciphering a string of mysterious zombie graffiti, investigating the murder of a costumed fan at a science fiction convention where the monsters are the normal attendees, or tracking down a kidnapped hellhound for legendary vigilante werewolf cop Hairy Harry—it's all in a day's work for Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I.

Review- I really enjoy the Dan Shamble series. It's funny, it's self-aware, and it's not afraid to be silly. Anderson knows his horror tropes and he works well with them. We get everything from a vampire circus to a fan-convention with Dan Shamble cosplayers. If you have read the other Dan Shamble books then you will get all the in jokes but if not you can still enjoy this collection for it's playful humor. There is no extra character development or world building in this series just adventures with the characters and more bad jokes. I hope that Anderson writes more with these characters and this fun world.

I give this collection a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I was given this collection as gift.