Table of Contents
Raves for the first book in the Esther Diamond series:
Seasoned by a good measure of humor, this fantasy mystery is a genuine treat for readers of any genre. SF Chronicle
With a wry, tongue-in-cheek style reminiscent of Janet Evanovich, this entertaining tale pokes fun at the deadly serious urban fantasy subgenre while drawing the reader into a fairly well-plotted mystery. The larger-than-life characters are apropos to the theatrical setting, and Esthers charming, self-deprecating voice makes her an appealingly quirky heroine. The chemistry between Esther and Lopez sizzles, while scenes of slapstick comedy will have the reader laughing out loud and eager for further tales of Esthers adventures. Romantic Times
A delightful mlange of amateur sleuth mystery, romance, and urban fantasy. The Barnes and Noble Review
A paranormal screwball comedy adventure. Light, happy, fantastically funny!Jennifer Cruise, The New York Times bestselling author
Combining elements from the romance, fantasy and mystery genres... an enchanting novel that will appeal to readers of all three genres. The mystery is well constructed leaving readers trying to figure out who is behind the disappearances. The heroine is at times funny and determined but is always charming and believable. thebestreviews.com
DOPPELGANGSTER
The Esther Diamond Series:
DOPPLEGANGSTER
UNSYMPATHETIC MAGIC*
VAMPARAZZI*
* Coming soon from DAW Books
Copyright 2010 by Laura Resnick.
All rights reserved.
DAW Books Collectors No. 1499.
DAW Books are distributed by the Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
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eISBN : 978-1-101-15979-8
First Paperback Printing, January 2010.
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For Mom & Dad
(the only existing versions of themselves)
who liked the title
PROLOGUE
T he fact that I had killed a man was really putting a crimp in my love life.
Well, okay, to be strictly accurate, I hadnt killed him. But I had helped. And I had watched enough of the Emmy Award-winning cops-and-lawyers drama Crime and Punishment on TV to know that cops werent very understanding about that sort of thing. I had even auditioned for the role of a murderess in a C&P episode the previous year, but I didnt get the part. So, since I had never even played a killer, actually being one now was something of a novelty.
It was also rather awkward, since I was dating a cop. Or at least trying to date one. And he was a straight-arrow cop who didnt look the other way when it came to breaking and entering and vandalism (two more awkward secrets I was keeping from him), never mind murder.
Which is not to say that I had done anything wrong. On the contrary. I stand by my actions. I was fighting Evil.
And if that sounds absurd to you, well, thats understandable. It sounds pretty damn absurd to me, too.
The man I had helped killand Im using the word man in its broadest possible sensewas a demented sorcerers apprentice who tried to take over New York City by summoning a virgin-raping, people-eating demon.
You probably think Im kidding.
In a series of events that I was trying hard not to think about now that they were over, I had helped Dr. Maximillian Zadok, Manhattans resident sorcerer and local representative of the Magnum Collegiuma secret organization whose worldwide mission is to confront Eviltrack the villain to his underground lair. There we had faced the demon Avolapek (an individual about whom the words biliously repellant are far too kind), had defeated him in what might loosely be termed combat, and had slain his maniacal creator, the rogue apprentice Hieronymus.
I am not making this up.
How Max had eliminated Hieronymus was not entirely clear to me. Most things about Max were not entirely clear to me. He and a fellow mage, a man named Lysanderwhose day job is keeping Altoona, Pennsylvania, safe from Evil (yes, really)had done some chanting in another language, and Hieronymus had vanished. According to Max, this was dissolution, which he described to me as something remarkably similar to death. Since it was a permanent, all-dimensions solution to the problem of Hieronymus and his evil plans, I had no objection. But I also had a feeling that a jury might consider any legal difference (if one existed) between murder and dissolution to be so piddling as to make no difference at all in our conviction and sentencing, should these events ever come to light.
By the time Max arrived at Hieronymus secret lair to save me from becoming demon dinner, I had already beaten Hieronymus to a pulp with a candelabra and then thrown him as a decoy at the virgin-raping Avolapek (who did not refuse a free meal, so to speak). So a jury might reasonably conclude that I had actively assisted in the evil apprentices demiseor at least softened him up for it. I figured Max and I could both be in big trouble over those eventsunless a jury also believed the part about Hieronymus summoning a demon and trying to kill a bunch of people (including me) at the very moment we snuffed out his life.
I pictured myself saying in a court of law, Well, Your Honor, there was this evil sorcerers apprentice and a flesh-eating, power-granting demon he summoned from a primordial dimension...
Even I couldnt see a way to make that script work.
Which was why I felt it was imperative that Detective Lopez, whod dogged our steps on that case, should never find out what had happened that fateful night. Happily, no one was pressing charges about the breaking and entering and vandalism that Max and I had previously committed (hey, we were trying to prevent more innocents from getting hurt, okay?), and Lopez had dropped that particular subject by now. He was, however, still perplexed about what had happened the night that Max and I, along with several missing persons (Hieronymus victims, whom we rescued when we defeated him), suddenly turned up at an obscure Morning-side Heights magic club without explanation, all looking (and smelling) as if wed been to hell and back. There was also a white Bengal tiger with usbut I digress.
The problem was... I really liked Lopez. He liked me, too. But I was jumpy about any topic that might lead to his asking about that night. He sensed I was hiding things, and that raised his cop hackles. So our first couple of dates hadnt gone that well. Nevertheless, he asked me out a third time. Obviously, it would have been smart for me to say no. From the beginning, actually. It would have been wise to avoid Lopez altogether, to stay off his radar.
But, come on, Im a single woman in New York City. It takes more than a morbid fear of doing life in prison for homicide to make me turn down a date with an employed, attractive, single, heterosexual man who has nice table manners, listens when I talk, and knows how to kiss.
