* I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book. *

This is a clever and inventive novel about a dwarf detective who operates in Prohibition-era New York. Dragons and mages occupy senior government positions, and the fae have just won the vote. Blackmane is dragged to a crime scene by Edgeangel, a mage FBI agent, to discover that the victim is his human partner Mason. Edgeangel tasks Sirgrus with solving the crime, which very quickly leads him into contretemps with both a dragon-born rum-runner and his human competitor. Sirgrus has just two days to solve Mason's murder, and pacify both crime lords, or lose his life too.

This could have just been an enjoyable romp, but Schlichter lends it a weightier tone. Sirgrus served with Mason in the trenches of the Great War; dwarves were assigned to human units to assist with digging the trenches. They fought together against orcs allied with the Germans in a series of bloody pitched battles. Sirgrus is prone to horrific flashbacks of his war experiences. These war scenes lift the novel above being just a hard-boiled crime caper, and make it a more serious read. ( )

It's the 1920s. Prohibition is in full force and the mob are making millions from moonshine. But the rumrunners are elves and dragons, and the dodgy part of town is controlled by fairies.

Sirgrus Blackmane: Demihuman Gumshoe isn't your typical noir crime thriller. For a start, Sirgrus is a dwarf. And he has PTSD from fighting in World War One -- against the orcs. Aside from that, he has all the ordinary problems that a private detective has: his partner has just been murdered and he has three days to solve it or he'll find himself swimming with the fishes.

I really enjoyed this noir thriller with a twist. Mixing historical fiction with fantasy works well in this universe. Sirgrus Blackmane is a typical cynical gumshoe with a deeply-buried heart of gold, but the addition of elements from his Dwarfish culture prevents him from becoming stereotypical. In fact, most of the stereotypes of elves, fairies and dragons are busted in this world.

The depictions of Sirgrus' PTSD started to seem a little repetitive after a while, but this reflected the obsessive ruminating that comes along with the disorder, so I feel they were excusable. There were a couple of twists I didn't see coming which made the story more fun and kept me hanging on to the end. The subtitle of the book seems to imply there might be more on the way, and I do hope that's the case!

Would I read more by this author? Definitely!

Please note: this book was provided for me to read and review by
LibraryThing's Early Reviewer programme. You can rest assured however,
that this is (as always) an honest review!

Sirgrus is a PI during the Prohibition Era investigating the death of a club dancer as well as trying to understand the smuggling operation that his dead partner was hiding. He has also recently come home from the Great War and is struggling with PTSD.

I enjoyed the time period and the noir style. The best character may have been Sirgrus' Fay office manager, Rhoda. Hopefully more background and interaction with her will come in the next installment. While there were some paranormal elements in the story (I would actually prefer more development of this part of the world) I think this would still appeal to those interested in regular detective novels. The mystery was pretty twisty with many red herrings.

The one thing that I found overwhelming was the PTSD. Sirgrus was either constantly dreaming about the war, drinking to forget it, seeing it in his head, or in a bar reminiscing. Along with alternating chapters where he was actually experiencing the war, it became too much for a book that was supposed to be a mystery rather than a war novel.

The pace picked up in the last half, and I would consider reading the next in the series just to see where this goes. ( )

Anyone who's intrigued by the idea of a supernatural spin on the Prohibition Era and noir detective tales will most likely eat this book up, especially if they prefer their stories with a darker and grittier edge. The fantasy is woven through a realistic portrayal on a society segregated along magical/non-magical lines as well as PTSD from men returning from a war against the Orcs.

All in all, extremely intriguing and highly recommended! (More to come)

It's the Prohibition era, but besides humans there are various fantasy demihuman species like dwarves, fairies, and trolls. Sirgrus, a dwarven private eye, has to figure out the connection between his human partner's murder and rum-running mob bosses. As he deals with threats to his own life, and his PTSD from fighting orcs in World War I, his investigation repeatedly brings him to a nightclub named the Dark-Elf, popular with humans and demihumans alike.

The story didn't become interesting until a third of the way through, ultimately building to a satisfying conclusion. There is a good observation that those who went overseas to fight tyrants in WWI came home only to face the tyrants that rose from Prohibition. But the most interesting segments were Sirgrus's WWI flashbacks simply because of their brutality.

Sirgrus's inner monologue is muddy. Sometimes it has the clipped affect of old detective shows like Dragnet. Other times it's filled with snark. The writing is better when Sirgrus is interacting with his perky fairy secretary Rhoda and a gruff, magic-wielding federal agent named Edgeangel.

Despite facing lots of discrimination as a demihuman, Sirgrus harbors anti-Irish feelings. I would have liked to understand where these feelings came from. Was it just the times? And why does the author keep using the word "Irishmen" (plural) when he means "Irishman" (singular) ?

Other problems are distracting Briticisms and dumb chapter names. One chapter is titled "Ahoy-Hoy" simply because it's about a phone call.

This book was OK. I might read some of the author's other works, but probably not any sequels to this one. ( )