Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE: How to Lure a Hunter

AUTHOR: Alice Winters

SERIES: VRC: Vampire Related Crimes #3

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 377 pages

RELEASE DATE: July 24, 2020

BLURB:

Alexei –

When Marcus Church brings his brother Claude in to help solve an unusual murder, I’m positive he did it just to disrupt my monotonous life. None of my coworkers in the Vampire Related Crimes unit seem to understand that I want to keep a wall between me and everyone else—especially Claude, who does everything he can to break through it with an annoying smile. After more vampires begin to die, Claude pinpoints the actions of the killers to a group of vampire hunters, leaving us in a race to stop them. When I discover that I have a target on my back, I’m surprised that Claude insists on staying by my side, even when things go from bad to worse. I’m determined to keep him out—I’ve lost enough people in my life—but I can’t stop feeling something every time he breaks through.

Claude –

When I reunited with my brother, I never imagined it’d throw me right into Alexei Karsynov’s path. He’s short-tempered, stubborn, and dangerously adorable whenever he smiles—he just doesn’t realize it yet. When Marcus asks me to help with a case, it gives me the excuse I need to get closer to Alexei, but what I discover threatens to change everything. Suddenly, I find myself wanting to do anything to protect Alexei and to see him smile, despite his efforts to keep his distance from others. I’m determined to show him that he can’t live in the past when his future is so much brighter.

REVIEW:

Claude. I could write an entire review about how much I adore darling Claude Church. I would call it Ode to Claude and it would be full of verse about purple polka dot pants, magic marker eyebrows, and turquoise leopard-print suits. Claude is everything his twin brother, Marcus is not, and what an amusing dichotomy it makes. Claude is outlandish, over-the-top, annoying, and without a filter. This is quintessential Claude: 

… he pulls out a notebook, slides on a pair of glasses that don’t even have glass in them and picks up a quill. A fucking quill. 
“Ready.” 
“For what? To look like an eighteen hundreds nerd?” I ask. 

How to Lure a Killer, book three in the VRC: Vampire Related Crimes series, is suspense wrapped in comedy smothered in romance, with a sprinkling of tragedy. I was expecting all the Alice Winters banter, snark, and laugh-out-loud humor. What I didn’t anticipate was the pit-in-your-stomach sadness. (You might cry sad tears.) Together, it is a well-crafted story that will delight you. 

Alexei Karsyn works at VRC and is a begrudging friend of Finn’s. He is grumpy, guarded and the king of glaring, and his peopling skills are abysmal. He possesses the same discordance with Claude as he had with Finn initially, but Claude is just as tenacious as Finn when it comes to breaking through Alexei’s emotional barriers. Outwardly, Alexei is gruff and discouraging toward Claude, but as their relationship grows, he becomes shy and hesitant. For his part, Claude is always beaming at the least bit of affection or even a hint of a smile from Alexei, and preening at half-hearted, accidental compliments. 

The crime du jour at Vampire Related Crimes begins with the discovery of a decapitated vampire head in what appears to be another in a string of targeted kills against vampires. It looks like they may be dealing with vampire hunters. Because of his age of three hundred years and his advanced intellect, Claude is brought in as a consultant to help decipher some crime scene clues. He is paired with Alexei, which everyone thinks is hilarious since they all know Claude is trying to woo Alexei, who wants nothing to do with Claude. Or anyone, for that matter. Alexei harbors a painful secret borne of immense loss and tragedy. But he won’t reveal his secret and won’t allow himself to become close to anyone, saying he needs to carry the burden alone. (Alexei’s past is told through flashbacks.) 

There’s not much I can report about the storyline without revealing major spoilers, so I’ll just say the plot is exciting and well-thought out with a good balance of suspense, comedy and romance. The flashbacks provide substantial backstory and are key to the plot. Importantly, I did not find them to be annoying or distracting. There isn’t a cliffhanger but there is unfinished business set up for Alexei and Claude’s second book.  

All of our favorite VRC characters are here, including Finn and Marcus – and their dogs – who have prominent roles. Brooks, DeGray, and Briar make appearances and there are brief cameos by Orin and Aria. New to the scene is Alexei’s best friend – a horse. And there are a handful of truly despicable baddies, too.  

Ms. Winters has another hit on her hands with How to Lure a Killer. She creates such memorable stories and lovable characters who stick in one’s mind, and Alexei and Claude are no different. I highly recommend this book and hope you enjoy it, too. 

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon