Death Warmed Over

No, that's not what I feel like, it's a book by Kevin Anderson. The protagonist, Dan "Shamble" Chambeaux, is a private investigator, and a zombie. You see, someone recently snuck up behind him and shot him in the head, and Dan didn't take that lying down. He's determined to find out who murdered him and who poisoned his girlfriend, who is now a ghost. Meanwhile, he's trying to protect a wimpy vampire, handle a divorce case for a female werewolf, and take care of his other clients, while uncovering a conspiracy that threatens all unnatural people..

The problem with this book is, the monsters aren't terribly convincing. The zombies aren't all that interested in brains, vampires can overcome their urge to suck blood, werewolves aren't uncontrollable raging killers. They are essentially not monsters, just an unusual ethnic group--and therefore a lot less interesting than they could be. The human characters don't get a lot of depth either. We have the perky crusading lawyer, the wisecracking secretary, the sleazy sales rep, the dumb but honest cop.

There's nothing particularly jarring about the writing; if you're looking for cotton candy in book form, this will do nicely. If you want something with some substance to it, look elsewhere.