The Good, the Bad, and the Undead

The Good, the Bad, and the Undead by Kim Harrison, 2005 HarperTorch

     After agreeing to help the FIB to keep her roommate from being arrested, Rachel receives a call. The FIB needs her help with a missing persons report. Rachel is paired up with the inderland specialist, Detective Glenn Edden (Cheif Edden's stepson), and they go in search of the missing witch.
     When they go back to the church to prepare Glenn insults Ivy and nearly gets himself eaten. The vampire insists on joining them when they finally begin to question the missing man's former co-workers at Piscary's pizza. Piscary uses Rachel's scar to manipulate both women, and tries to convince Ivy to bind Rachel to her.
     Rachel meets with a former professor, who is offended when people believe she is the one killing other ley-line witches to whittle down the competition, Dr. Anders believes Rachel is in her class to accuse her of the deaths. Anders's class is only one of the connections between the dead witches: they have all associated with Trent Kalamack.
     When Edden won't let her investigate Trent, Rachel takes her anger out in a sparring session with Ivy. Things get out of control when Ivy starts to play on her unclaimed scar under the guise of protecting her. Rachel rejects the offer and Ivy takes it personally requiring Nick to knock her out while they run. Rachel, Nick and Jenks visit Rachel's mother's home and, while going through photo albums in a stereotypical parent way, Rachel discovers she was genetically manipulated at a summer camp Trent's father ran.
     The trio returns to the church. Rachel and Nick attempt to create a familiar bond with Rachel's fish, but things go wrong when the demon Algaliarept shows up and tries to kill them again. When she brings the fish into Anders's class the next day, Rachel discovers she didn't bind the fish; she bound Nick as her familiar! Anders is appalled and admits to failing Rachel because her father had requested it--for the safety of the other students.
     When Glenn calls to tell Rachel that Dr. Anders is dead and they have a warrant to search the Kalamack Estate Rachel tags along. She discovers a ley-line running through Trent's office and realizes he can use it narrowing the list of species he could be. Using a spell she finds the corpse of the missing witch, but nothing to indicate Anders's body. When Rachel begins to accuse Trent of murder she is evicted from the crime scene and taken off the FIB payroll.
     Trent hires Rachel to discover the real murderer, knowing she'd find him on her own. The clues lead to Piscary who admits to summoning Algaliarept to kill both Rachel and Trent, and any ley-line witches working for Trent. The demon returns and Rachel barely survives the encounter, yet manages to get herself into a temporary lull in the threats against her.
     Rachel is persistent and while she questions her values as she is pushed into steadily grayer and grayer situations she fights to remain who she always has been. Her foray into ley-line magic gives her power to protect the ones she loves, but she must still weigh the pros and cons of using magic that could easily become black. Rachel fights for justice while trying to just live her life, despite the forces fighting against her. While younger readers may enjoy the fantasy aspect of The Good, the Bad, and the Undead it is more appropriate for older teen and adult readers.