Unsympathetic Magic

“Sexy interludes raise the tension between Lopez and Esther as she juggles magical assailants, her perennially distracted agent, her meddling mother, and wiseguys both friendly and threatening in a well-crafted, rollicking mystery.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Fans of Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series will appreciate this series’ lively heroine and the appealing combination of humor, mystery, and romance.”

—
Library Journal

“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 Esther’s charming, self-deprecating voice makes her an appealingly quirky heroine. The chemistry between Esther and Lopez sizzles, while scenes of slapstick comedy will have will have the reader laughing out loud and eager for further tales of Esther’s adventures.”

—
Romantic Times

“A delightful mélange of amateur sleuth mystery, romance, and urban fantasy.”

—
The Barnes and Noble Review

“A paranormal screwball comedy adventure. Light, happy, fantastically funny!”

—Jennifer Crusie,
New York Times bestselling author

The Esther Diamond Series:

DOPPELGANGSTER
UNSYMPATHETIC MAGIC
VAMPARAZZI *

*Coming soon from DAW Books

eISBN : 978-1-101-18916-0

DAW Books Collectors No. 1518.

DAW Books are distributed by the Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. All resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.

The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the authorís rights is appreciated.

Nearly all the designs and trade names in this book are registered trademarks. All that are still in commercial use are protected by United States and international trademark law.

First Paperback Printing, August 2010.

DAW TRADEMARK REGISTERED
U.S. PAT. AND TM. OFF. AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES
—MARCA REGISTRADA
HECHO EN U.S.A.

S.A.

http://us.penguingroup.com

For my cousin,
Mildred Diamond Mailick—
whom I call Poppy

Author’s Note:

The Mount Morris Park watchtower and its setting in Harlem are very similar to what is described in this novel, though I have taken a few liberties with it. And I sincerely hope that the inhabitants of several high-rise buildings that are near the park would, oh, notice and call the police if the events depicted in this novel actually took place there! The park itself was renamed Marcus Garvey Park in 1973, though some current maps still label it as Mount Morris Park, which is also the name of the historic neighborhood surrounding it.

Just as Vodou is an oral tradition, Creole, the language of the faith, is primarily an oral language. Consequently, I found up to
ten
different accepted ways to spell some of the names and terms used in this novel. So the spellings I chose to use in
Unsympathetic Magic
are not “correct” or definitive, they’re just . . . what I chose.

The syncretic religions of the New World, including Vodou, developed among Africans preserving and adapting their spiritual beliefs under the yoke of slavery while also gradually absorbing (often under duress) the European religions of their captors. This humorous fantasy novel cannot (and does not attempt to) convey the history and complexity of these religions. For a short list of further reading, please visit the Research Library page of my Web site at
www.LauraResnick.com
.

Finally, I wish to convey my thanks and gratitude to the following people: the heroic team at DAW Books, and particularly my editor, Betsy Wollheim; Daniel Dos Santos, the artist who created the wonderful cover for this novel; April Kihlstrom, whose advice I sought in the nick of time; and many friends who offered practical and/or moral support while I was wrestling this book to the ground, including (but not limited to) Mary Jo Putney, Zell Schulman, Jerry Spradlin, Cindy Person, and Toni Blake.

Esther Diamond, her friends, and her nemeses will all return soon for their next misadventure in
Vamparazzi
, wherein will we finally learn what Max’s issue with Lithuanians is.

A
s summer in New York City ripened into a swel-
A
tering stench of suffocating heat and humidity, I found myself arrested for prostitution, menaced by zombies (yes, zombies), and staked out as a human sacrifice. I also nearly got Lopez killed—again.

Although I realize this isn’t exactly the sort of stuff that happens to
everyone
on a bad hair day, I nonetheless maintain that these events were not my fault.

Well, not
entirely
my fault. I do feel responsible for what happened to Lopez. Cause and effect. If I hadn’t gotten him involved in my problem, then he wouldn’t have come so close to meeting the Lord of Death.

And I got him involved because I didn’t want a prostitution arrest on my police record. Indeed, I didn’t want a police record at
all
.

Getting picked up for prostitution, though . . . now that was
not
my fault. That, obviously, would have happened to anyone who happened to lose her cell phone in a struggle with deranged gargoyles (yes, gargoyles) and trip over a living corpse in Harlem at midnight while dressed like a hooker.

Oh, if only I were making this up.

I was in Harlem in the middle of a muggy midsummer night because I was working. I’d been cast in a guest role on
The Dirty Thirty
, the latest success in the
Crime and Punishment
franchise of prestigious police television dramas. Affectionately known to fans as
D30,
this was the
C&P
empire’s most controversial spin-off to date, a gritty, morally ambivalent show about rampant police corruption in the Thirtieth Precinct a.k.a. “the dirty Thirty.”

After being rejected by
C&P
’s regular network because of its raw subject matter and antihero protagonists,
D30
had premiered on cable TV the previous summer, and it had soon become a critically acclaimed cult hit with a steadily growing audience. Some New York City cops condemned and boycotted the program, while others reputedly provided much of the show’s material from their own experiences on the force.

The show’s second season had begun airing this summer, when the competition mostly consisted of reruns, and ratings and reviews were good this year, too. So getting a guest role on
D30
was a good opportunity for me. Especially since I had no other real work (i.e. acting work) lined up and had been “resting” (i.e. waiting tables fifty hours per week) for the past couple of months.

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