Three books about a family of grim reapers
Aisling Grimlock is the youngest of five children, and the only girl, in a family of reapers, beings who are charged with collecting the souls of the recently departed and sending them on to the destination mandated by their religious beliefs and by the way they lived their lives. For instance, good Christians go to heaven, bad ones go to hell, others are reborn to a new life that is better or worse, depending, etc. This is the most engaging aspect of the series. Aisling’s four brothers delight in teasing and tormenting her, and vice-versa, and lots of the series involves scenes of family mayhem. Their father is a powerful man who realizes that he can’t control his family, though they all do obey him when he lays down the law. Into the mix we also have Griffin, a police officer who is the love of Aisling’s life, Jerry, her gay best friend from age five and who now is Aisling’s twin brother, Aidan’s, boyfriend, plus a rival reaper family, the Grimponds, a helpful gargoyle, and various supernatural beings who are usually out to do Aisling harm. The death of their mother hangs heavily over the Grimlock siblings, and mysterious circumstances around her death and the reaping of her soul propel the mystery plot that runs through the three novels. An entertaining book that I was always happy to pick up again,though the constant snark and speculation/ mock dismay over Aisling’s sex life wore me out a little. I will continue reading the series, because despite her brattiness, I have come to like Aisling.