Raven’s Moon (The Raven Tales #1)

A superpowered fictional PI gets pulled off his book’s pages and into reality to probe into supernatural crimes plaguing modern-day Detroit in this promising metafictional series opener. Bram Farrell aka the Raven, hero of 20 books and counting, gets whisked into the real world by witch writer Calista Amberson. Doubtful of her intentions, Bram goes off on his own and gets inadvertently assigned a task by a group of succubi to investigate 20 mysterious deaths of nonhumans that parallel the 20 death sentences he’s delivered in Calista’s books. With a fox spirit and a hellhound as associates, Bram’s cold-case investigations spin him in circles, get him into deadly supernatural tussles, and ultimately lead him to surprising answers. Dane gradually lays the groundwork, but picks up the pace eventually to keep the whole narrative gripping. Bram’s lack of depth is the book’s only flaw. Urban fantasy and supernatural mystery readers will hope to see more of the Raven’s adventures. (Oct.)