Spectre: A Zoe Martinique Investigation

Supernatural spy girl Zoetrope ""Zoe"" Martinique's bland second adventure (after 2007's Wraith) strains both her skills navigating the astral plane and her longing for Atlanta PD detective Daniel Frasier. Daniel remains unaware of Zoe's abilities, but APD Sgt. Joe Halloran can see Zoe's disembodied ""wraith"" form and helps her deal with her spooky gifts. Traveling outside her body gives Zoe an edge she uses in her unlicensed ""small sleuth business,"" but it's drawn the attention of the League of Six and the Society of Ishmael, warring occult factions in hot pursuit of five powerful magic necklaces. Soon Zoe's mother, Nona, the owner of one of the necklaces, goes missing, and Zoe dashes to the rescue. Although clever in spurts, this cluttered urban fantasy suffers from Zoe's annoying and immature obsession with sex and stream-of-consciousness narration (""Mental note: gasp!"") and the convoluted plot may give new readers some trouble.