Killer Karma

by Lee Killough, Hoang Nguyen (Artist)

One fine afternoon, Inspector Cole Dunavan finds he has been murdered and has become a ghost - with no idea how to be a ghost. No one sees or hears him; he can't move objects; and initially, he can't even walk through doors or walls. He learns, to his horror, that his body has not been found and the circumstances of his disappearance make it appear he betrayed his marriage and was killed by his mistress... who has also disappeared. But the truth is that the woman was an informant and he is still on earth because his obsession with finding evidence against her boss put her in mortal danger. While he works at saving her, he struggles to communicate with his old partner and to get straight with his wife. All while trying to learn the identity of his killer.

Genres: Paranormal

288 pages, Hardcover

First published September 28, 2005

About the author

Lee Killough has been storytelling since the age of four or five, when she began making up her own bedtime stories. So when she discovered science fiction and mysteries about age eleven, she began writing her own science fiction and mysteries. Because her great fear was running out of these by reading everything her small hometown library had. It took her late husband Pat Killough, though, years later, to convince her to try selling her work. Her first published stories were science fiction and her short story, "Symphony For a Lost Traveler", earned a Hugo Award nomination in 1985.

She used to joke that she wrote SF because she dealt with non-humans every day...spending twenty-seven years as chief technologist in the Radiology Department at Kansas State University's Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital before retiring to write full-time.

Because she loves both SF and mysteries and hated choose between the two genres, her work combines them. Except for one fantasy, The Leopard’s Daughter, most of her novels are mysteries with SF or fantasy elements...with a preference for supernatural detectives: vampire, werewolves, even a ghost. She has set her procedurals in the future, on alien words, and in the country of dark fantasy. Her best known detective is vampire cop Garreth Mikaelian, of Blood Hunt, Bloodlinks, and Blood Games. Five of her novels and a novella are now available as e-books and she is editing more to turn into e-books.

Lee makes her home in Manhattan, Kansas, with her book-dealer husband Denny Riordan, a spunky terrier mix, and a house crammed with books.

Reviews

[Mike Kazmierczak · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I was reading this I kept thinking of James Herbert's book NOBODY TRUE. The premise for each book is about the same: person dies, their spirit / soul stays on the Earth and must solve the mystery of who killed the person's body. However, while Herbert's book was more moody and serious, Killough's book is more gripping and fun. The language reads as more comfortable. Events transpire as you might expect. There are even several modern references such as to Harry Potter. But then more interestingly, Cole (the dead person) is able to discover more powers. Things such as manifesting himself to others or taking over a body or teleporting to other locations. It was probably these powers which made the book more interesting. The fantasy of being able to have special abilities that others do not. It naturally appealed to the comic book fan within me. In total though, KILLER KARMA is an extremely fun read and one that I would highly recommend.

[SimyCat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book was entertaining but I did get a little bored with it because the story continued to say ziplinking to other locations. Ghost working with police to solve his murder was ok but it got slow in many spot.s

[Bette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspector Cole Dunavan can remember his own murder though he doesn't know where his body is. He doesn't know how to be a ghost! He is going to have to figure it out and fast because he left things unfinished.

One of the best ghost stories I have read.

[Desiree · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not enough character development in this book to interest me.

[Barbara Hodges · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book. Highly recommended. If you like a detective story with a twist then this is a book for you.

[Booklover]

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