by Tammy Thompson
When Demons Walk
By Patricia Briggs
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Ace; Reissue edition (June 1, 1998)
ISBN-10: 0441005349
ISBN-13: 978-0441005345
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On the surface When Demons Walk looks to be the standard romantic fantasy tale. Shamara, once the daughter of the Captain of the Guard and apprentice to the King’s Sorcerer, now an orphaned thief, finds herself in the debt of the Reeve and agrees to help solve the mystery of who or what is killing the nobles of Southwood. As a ruse, Sham will pretend to be his mistress, giving her ample access to Court to help solve the mystery. Definitely sounds like the fodder of many other romantic fantasy fictions, but a few pages into this book and you’ll definitely change your mind. Briggs writes her characters with an engaging voice that keeps you glued to the end.
Yes, there is a bit of romance, as Sham and Kerim, the Reeve, keep up the pretenses of their relationship, but the similarities end there. The cast of characters, as well as the demon Chen Laut, are vivid and appealing.
Listed on her Wikipedia entry as being part of her Sianim Series, this book stands quite well on its own merit. Without having read either of the two prior in the series, I did not find myself lost or adrift in unfamiliar canon. Briggs weaves in details and the history of the southwoods, as well as it’s underside Purgatory, so seamlessly that you find yourself drawn in almost instantly. The story itself is a very well crafted mystery nicely built up, at first with Sham trying to convince Kerim of the existence magic, then later when the race is on to discover how to defeat it before it kills them.
All the elements of good fiction abound: a tale of magic, demons, and mystery; an excellent read either by the beach or on the couch on a rainy day.
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Tammy Thompson lives on the Space Coast of Florida. An Elementary School Lunch Lady for most of the year, she keeps her eye on the Kennedy Space Center, just in case that space station gets a cafeteria and needs a Lunch Lady, and she’ll be ready to volunteer. Married with children, grandchildren, cats, rabbits and a beta fish named Dexter, and so many books they threaten to overtake every nook and cranny of our house. When she isn’t dishing out green beans, being mom, or taxi driver, she has her nose in a book.
Read Tammy’s blog 10 Forward: Confessions of an Intergalactic Lunch Lady.
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Juliana Weiss-Roessler is a writer living in Los Angeles. To read more of her writing, visit WeissRoessler.com. You can also follow her on Twitter: @jul_weiss. 
