This Case is Gonna Kill Me    by Phillipa Bornikova Order:  USA  Can Tor, 2012 (2012) Hardcover, Softcover, e-Book      Reviewed by Hilary Williamson Phillipa Bornikova's engaging new urban fantasy, This Case is Gonna Kill Me, is set in a world where powerful and long-lived vampires, werewolves, and elven Alfar 'had stepped out of the shadows and taken power.' Her heroine, Linnet Ellery, comes from a wealthy Connecticut family well connected to a vampire clan - in fact, Linnet was raised in a powerful vamp household and knows their ways well. As the story opens, Linnet, just out of law school, is starting her new job at the premier White-Fang New York law firm, Ishmael, McGillary and Gold. Her immediate boss, Chip Westin, tells her 'This case is gonna kill me' - and he got that right! It's a probate case to do with a marine bitten by a rogue werewolf in Vietnam. Separated from wife and family on his return, he founded Securitech, 'the largest private military force in the world'. He then sired a werewolf heir, his second-in-command, Daniel Deegan. When he died in a car wreck, his ex-wife and kids contested the will leaving everything to Deegan. The case turns from dull to dangerous when a werewolf shows up after hours - Chip doesn't make it but Linnet is incredibly lucky and survives. She starts digging into the case, helped by the firm's PI, Alfar John O'Shea - a changeling, he was raised by a human family, to whom he relates more than to his own race. And the violence - and Linnet's improbable luck - continue. The chase scenes get a little different when John drives into Elfland to escape pursuit. And there, John's mother gives them an ultimatum. This Case is Gonna Kill Me is an excellent start to a smart, fast-moving urban fantasy series, and Linnet an engaging heroine. As this first episode ends, she's a lawyer on a mission - to get John O'Shea back from the Alfar. I can't wait to see how she manages to do it. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Fantasy books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews