UNFINISHED BUSINESS

A private eye reconnects with his werewolf ex-boyfriend while tracking down a client’s cheating spouse in this LGBTQ+ fantasy.

Much of Korean American detective Jae Kim’s work keeps him in Chicago. This includes Wolftown, a walled-in neighborhood. It’s one of the numerous Wolftowns in cities around the globe. Despite the name, Wolftowns are not just for werewolves, but for other extra-human creatures (or “extras”) like vampires as well. Kim isn’t an extra but his partner is—Sergei, a 7-foot Russian ghost bear. The private investigators’ latest job takes them to Detroit’s Wolftown, where Kim’s old Army captain wants to know if his wife is having an affair. Seems like a simple gig, except that Czoltan, Kim’s ex, lives there. They fell in love years ago when Army liaison Kim worked in Germany with Czoltan, a refugee adviser and werewolf. But things in present-day Detroit get even more complicated. Warrant officers suddenly chase Kim, suspecting him of a crime so abominable they’d just as soon shoot him in the street. Kim lies low with help from his ex and his ghostly partner, but someone in unexpected danger may take precedence over his own safety. Susman’s engrossing detective story centers on the cast. The extras in this book are primarily werewolves, who come across as regular people with abundant fur. This opens up effective parallelisms involving discrimination; some callously deem werewolves as monsters, not unlike the bigotry that Kim has seen in his life. The author digs deep into bonds, from the working relationship of Kim and Sergei (bound together by a spell that makes the ghost a helpful partner) to the romance of Kim and Czoltan, whose meet-cute and breakup both eventually come to light. The story nevertheless boasts tight action scenes, such as the innocent Kim sprinting from trigger-happy, lycanthrope warrant officers. Instances of humor are likewise abundant, largely from relentlessly cynical but still endearing Sergei. There’s plenty of material for a potential series, including other extras, like kumiho, Korean nine-tailed fox spirits.

A keen, absorbing, character-driven tale of a sleuth and his remarkable supernatural allies.