Death's Mistress

Written by Karen Chance

Narrated by Joyce Bean

Dorina Basarab is a dhampir-half-human, half-vampire. Subject to uncontrollable rages, most dhampirs live very short, very violent lives. So far, Dory has managed to maintain her sanity by unleashing her anger on those demons and vampires who deserve killing.

Back home in Brooklyn, after the demise of her insane uncle Dracula, Dory is hoping her life is about to calm down. But then she gets some visitors. A friend wants Dory's help in finding a magical Fey relic, and the gorgeous vampire, Louis-Cesare, is desperate to find his former mistress Christine.

Dory and Louis-Cesare quickly discover that the same master vampire Christine is bound to is also rumored to be in possession of the relic. But when the master vampire turns up dead, they realize that there's more at stake than a missing mistress. Someone is killing vampire Senate members, and if Dory and Louis-Cesare can't stop the murderer, they may be next.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Sep 7, 2010
• ISBN: 9781400187393

Reviews for Death's Mistress

[filialibri-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Diese und weitere Rezensionen findet ihr auf meinem Blog Anima Libri - Buchseele

Dorina Basarab ist eine Dhampirin, halb Mensch, halb Vampir. Und sie ist eine Vampirjägerin, denn das ist, wie bei allen Dhampiren, in ihren Genen festgelegt. Kein Wunder, dass sie sich in Vampirkreisen nicht gerade größter Beliebtheit erfreut. Und doch sind ihre Dienste mal wieder gefragt, denn im Gegensatz zu ihrem Vater, dem mächtigen Vampirsenator Mircea, und den anderen Vampiren, ist sie nicht an deren Sitten und Gebräuche und auch nicht an den aktuellen Waffenstillstand gebunden und kann somit ungestört „ermitteln“. Denn ein gestohlenes Elfenartefakt wurde in die Stadt geschmuggelt und irgendwer tötet einen ranghohen Vampir nach dem anderen, um es in seine Hände zu bekommen…
Das Buch startet wie bereits der ersten Band spannend und schnell und man ist direkt mittendrin in der Geschichte. Man kommt kaum zu Atem, denn Dorina ist ständig auf der Jagd und/oder auf der Flucht und reißt den Leser mit sich von einer actionreichen Situation in die nächste. Dabei ist die Story aber keineswegs flach und oberflächlich, sondern bietet auch den nötigen Tiefgang um wirklich faszinierend zu sein.
Das Buch ist nichts für zart Besaitete, denn die Autorin springt stellenweise schon sehr hart mit ihren Charakteren um, aber in diesem Fall passt es so einfach zu Geschichte. Der trockene Humor und die grandiose Erzählart der Autorin tun das übrige und machen das Buch zu einem rundum köstlichen Leseerlebnis.

Fazit:

Eine absolut gelungene Fortsetzung! Wer auf actionreiche, sexy Urban Fantasy steht, für den ist dieses Buch ein Muss.

[cynical_ames · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Just finished DM. I may have gotten stuck in a long scene near the beginning but once I got past it I flew through it. It was brilliant. There were moments when I was laughing so hard I was crying.

Ray, the vampire everyone wants to get their hands on to either interrogate or kill him for a fae rune that belongs to Claire's baby son Aiden (the new heir to the Blasteri throne) that's meant to make it's owner invincible. Ray spent most of the book as a decapitated head in Dory's duffle bag which provided quite a few comic talking-head moments. Dory looks for the rune on Claire's behalf and runs into Louis-Cesare who needs the rune to trade for Christine his vampire mistress who was kidnapped from him a century ago. This is when things heat up as they try to negotiate and distract each other to get what they want.

I really felt for Radu seeing his $300k baby ripped apart before his eyes. Ouch. Dory as a mother was hilarious, poor Stinky! I think Stinky and Aiden are going to become great friends. There were also some incredibly touching moments between Mircea and Dory, and Louis-Cesare and Dory. I like Mircea even more now that we see Dory's mother through his eyes. Louis-Cesare and Dory's antagonistic relationship reached new heights of teasing torture and trickery but the ending was wonderful.

I didn't see who the murderer was coming. It was a complete surprise but I enjoyed a very old high level master begging Dory, the lowly dhampir pariah, to help keep himself alive - I hope he repays her well for doing so, she could have easily walked away and let him die.

Dory overhears Cassie being mentioned as Pythia and that she's under Mircea's influence so at least Dory knows who she is now even if they haven't met yet. I am definitely liking this series more than the Cassie Palmer one. Dory is a hard ass merc who tries to keep herself hard in order to make it easier for her to kill but people are creeping into her heart - Stinky, Claire, Louis-Cesare, Radu and now possibly Mircea.

My only complaint is that this was so action-packed that Dory barely had a chance to breathe before the next problem appeared. We don't get to see much of her friendship with Claire or any substance other than sexual tension between Louis-Cesare and Dory. Her relationship with Mircea is the only one that's made unexpected and substantial progress. I hope we get to see more in the following book.

People you need to hurry up and read this book you won't regret it.

[mlsimmons-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a great book. I love the Dory stories. She learns more about her past. There is also a lot about her relationship with Mireca and Louis-Cesare. A lot of action and fastpaced, though sometimes the flashbacks slow the action down.

[arbjames · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this second volume in the Dorina Basarab/Midnight's Daughter series, Dory keeps dodging death while fighting the hordes of people trying to kill her at any given moment. For some reason, it took me a while to get into this one, which disappointed me since I had enjoyed Midnight's Daughter so much. However, things started picking up when Dory met the comic relief in this novel, a vampire named Ray who unfortunately finds himself on Dory's hit list thanks to Daddy Dear Mircea. However, Dory doesn't kill him. What she does to him and resulting hilarity were well worth the slow start. As seemingly unrelated thefts and murders merge together with Louis-Cesare as the prime suspect, Dory has to figure it all out before everyone she knows and cares about dies. Dory and Mircea grow closer in this novel, with Dory finally to coming to understand that Mircea is not the monster she once thought he was, nor are other vampires, for that matter. So what does that mean for a self-proclaimed vampire assassin?I won't spoil it for you, but I saw the ending to this one coming about 100 miles away! I knew shortly after the person revealed as the killer was introduced that things would turn out the way they did.

[elie26reads · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another great story from Karen Chance. Love Dory story and how its evolving and the humor is always great.

[lauralulu_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I LOVED this book. I heard whispers here and there that this series might be even better than her Cassie Palmer's and I thought pshaw, what rubbish. How could a series be better if it doesn't have Pritkin in it?Well, I think I like this series more than the Cassie's. Each has things I love about them, but I think the tie-breaker is that I just like Dory more than I do Cassie. Sometimes Cassie has too-stupid-to-live tendencies, which I just turn my head and pretend I didn't notice, but Dory is just perfectly awesome. Love her.

[shelleyraec · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a fabulous read for me - an great blend of action, mystery, a bit of romance and a lot of attitude. Almost impossible to put down, I was happily dragged along on Dorina's race from one disaster to another. Not only was the plot intriguing and strong, the characters are well crafted, even minor ones. And Ray was just perfect here for light relief and underscoring the general mayhem of Dory's life. Dory is so much more than a kick ass asassin and there is real personal conflict and growth which makes her all the more interesting and appealing.Chances' world building is excellent I love the mix of supernaturals and realities. I haven't yet read the Touch the Dark series so i have no idea of the tie ins but neither do i feel i am missing anything.I had to give Death's Mistress 5 stars because I couldn't find anything that I didn't like.

[krau0098 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the second book in the Dorina Basarab series by Karen Chance. The third book is as yet un-named and is due out sometime in 2011. This was an excellent installment in the series; I thoroughly enjoyed it and had trouble putting it down.Dorina's friend and roommate, Claire, returns from fairy with her baby son. Claire and her son are being hunted by a fairy clan that wants to kill her son so that he can't inherit the throne; Claire is trying to hunt down a family amulet that was supposed to protect her son but was stolen. Dorina vows to help Claire. On the side Dorina has been accepting jobs from her vampire father Mircea to hunt down rogue vampires or vampires who are breaking the law. As Dorina gets deeper into the mess she finds that Claire's rune and Mircea's rogues may be connected. Into the fray steps Louis-Cesare; the steamy vampire from the first book, he is still trying to protect his old Mistress Christine and gets wound up in the whole mess in an effort to get Christine back.This book has a complex plot and non-stop action. I really enjoyed it. The world is creative, complex, engaging, and incredibly intriguing. Chance effortlessly throws in mythology, faerie, and vampires together to create a wonderful world.I love Dory as a main character; she is so tough and capable yet has a lot of emotional stuff she has to put up with throughout this book. It was also great to have Claire added to the story; the transformations she has undergone in fairy are interesting and I can't wait to read more about her; maybe she will have her own series in the future. Then there is Louis-Cesare; he is just everything you could ever want a male vampire to be...brooding, dark, sexy and loyal to a fault with a sardonic sense of humor to top it off.All of the characters have complex pasts and interesting personalities. The dialogue is witty and funny and flows really well. There were a number of snarky comments from Dory or Louis-Cesare that had me laughing out loud. Overall this book was a seriously fun romp, that touched on a variety of deep emotional issues for the characters, and capitulated you through a ton of action.I loved it, loved it, loved it. Absolutely can't wait to read more about Dory she is just so much fun. This book wrapped up the final story nicely, but there is still room to resolve some additional issues. There was some mention about Cassie (I read the first two Cassie books but just couldn't get into them), I kind of felt that maybe I was missing something there because I haven't read the more recent Cassie Palmer books.I think you could read this book as a stand alone but if you did you'd be missing out on a lot of Dory's history.Overall a wonderful addition to the series and I can't wait to read the next one. These books are making me think that maybe I should go back and read the rest of the Cassie Palmer series.

[enzu4chan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Dorina Is looking for something and finds it. But this is only 1 sentence so 422 pages of fillers are added to turn it into a book!!!Of course Karen Chance's style keeps it from becoming boring but there is no plot!

[jshillingford_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Though I do enjoy Karen Chance's original Cassie Palmer series, I found I liked Dorina a lot more after reading "Midnight's Daughter." Cassie is too often a damsel in distress, while Dorina is more action-driven and downright bullheaded. She can kick butt, but also knows when she's outmatched. She's got issues (what heroine doesn't?), but she's also got at least one person she can trust implicitly and a strong network of informants and "friends." Claire shows up at the beginning needing Dory's help to find an artifact to protect her son. Unfortunately, just about everyone wants that artifact too, including the fey.The biggest bonus for me in this series is the inclusion of Louis-Cesare as a major player in the story lines. In Midnight's Daughter, Dorina was forced to work with him to take down Dracula. She hates vampires on principle, but he threw her off by being an insufferable, but honorable gentleman. Their attraction was only exceeded by their irritation of each other, and the verbal fencing was as much fun as the outright fights. Here, Louis-Cesare has disappeared. When Mircea sends Dory on what seems to be a simple job - take the head of a vampire so the Senate can question him - Louis-Cesare shows up and steals the head from her! What follows is a nice twisty, plot-driven story. Conspiracies abound, there are several political power plays, and first-level master vampires start dropping like flies. There's a lot of humor (though much of it is pretty macabre) and more expansion of Dory's family history and her relationship with Mircea. Oh, and there is more than one incredibly erotic sex scene between Louis-Cesare and Dorina! Yes, I admit I shamelessly reread a few passages here and there. She's attracted to him, but she's also fiercely independent and though she can't defeat him in combat, it doesn't stop her from kicking him in jewels if necessary! She's also not stupid, and begrudgingly takes assistance when necessary (from Louis-Cesare, Mircea, other characters). She is not an invulnerable, uber-powerful protagonist. She gets by as much on cleverness and intuition as on fighting skills and brute strength. Despite the paranormal setting, Dorina feels real.Overall, volume two was even better than volume one since the character exposition is done and we can get right into the action. It was fun, had some surprises and lots of sexual tension. I can hardly wait for the next installment. I enjoyed this one so much, it has inspired me to finally read Cassie's last book.

[flemmily · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Chance's books are generally always an adventurous romp. This one is a little darker with more s&m flavor. Characters are engaging although the plot does jumble up a bit on occasion. Its also pretty funny. Reminds me a little of Kim Harrison's The Hollows series.

[nickeemattos_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The worlds of Karen Chance abruptly coalesce in Chance’s latest paranormal fix Death’s Mistress. Mistress is the second installment in the story of bad girl Dorina Basarab, a dhamphir assassin who is caught amidst the political intrigues of the Silver Circle, the Vampire Senate, and the Fey aristocracy. All the while trying to explore the limits to her power, the burgeoning relationship with her father, and unveiling the mystique surrounding luscious Louis-Cesare.Fans who are well versed with Chance’s previous books will have an easy time following the story, but for those just picking up the series need to note that three plotlines converge in Death’s Mistress. First we have Dorina’s story which started with MIDNIGHTS’ DAUGHTER, second are subplots from the Cassandra Palmer series #1-4 and last but not least, we hear more about Dorina’s roommate Claire who stars in Chance’s novella BUYING TROUBLE. This convergence of action, characters, and storylines can sometimes be overwhelming to the uninitiated, but might inspire some to pick up the other books. For fans, Chance is in deliciously good form and delivers a worthy and exciting read that tears off at a frantic pace. This time the non-stop action surrounds the theft of the Naudiz, a rune protection amulet held by one of the Fey houses. It renders its wearer un-killable and is intended for the royal heir. Further add the complication of the Vampire Senate actually using the theft of the rune and its paranormal black market sale as a “winner-takes-all” succession race to fill five vacant Senate seats. Whoever can get to it first wins. Bloodthirsty Level 1 vamps simultaneously compete by attempting to reacquire the rune as well as trying to off each other right and left. Regardless of how many others are caught in the crossfire, Dorina finds she has more to contend with than ever before. Death’s Mistress was deliciously entertaining, especially with tales of Mr. Lumpy (you’ll have to read for yourself) and Dorina who is reluctantly stuck hauling around a decapitated vamp for a large chunk of the book delivers chuckles aplenty. I was faintly reminded of Richelle Mead’s Storm Queen series with regard to the Fey weather battles with Dorina. By far the biggest revelation is…drum roll please…Christine! And fans hoping for more of Louis-Cesare need not be disappointed there’s plenty of tasty-vamp to go around. Can Dorina manage to keep juggling all the balls Chance has thrown at her? You’ll have to see for yourself!

[jmaloney17 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the second book in the Dorian B. series by Chance. I am enjoying this series as much as the Cassie Palmer series. It helps that both have many of the same characters. I like Chance's writing. When I was first exploring paranormals, I went through quite a few bad writers before I came across a few that I liked.

[bookaholicsreviewer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Death's Mistress (Dorina Basarab, Book 2) by Karen Chance Urban Fantasy- Jan 5, 20105 stars DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK! Karen Chance’s vivid imagination and compelling characters drive this story. This is the 2nd in Karen Chace’s Dorina Basarab Dark Urban Fantasy series. I have been looking forward to reading it all year and it exceeded my expectations. (which were already pretty high) Karen Chance’s steamy world is filled with magical mayhem, vampires and tense action pack scenes that do not stop. Do not begin this book if you don’t have the time to finish it. The complexity and sheer adrenaline rush of the book kept me on my toes as I was mesmerized by the mystery Dory is hired to solve as well as tantalizing glimpses of Dory’s heritage. Dorina is one of the few dhampir, half human and half vampire. She has survived against all odds. Most dhampir are unstable because their genetic make-up makes them prone to seizures, instability and violence. As a result, most have been murdered as soon as they are born. But Dory is special, she is the daughter of a highly placed vampire senator. And while her relationship with father may not be ideal he has in his way ‘protected’ as she harnesses her violent tendencies towards being a mercenary and assassin for hire. Now her father has hired her to bring in a vampire. But the problem is that everyone wants him including the vampire Louise-Cesare. The one vampire she thought she could form a semi partnership with. Even though she is attracted to Louise-Cesare she knows she doesn’t have the room or ability for emotions or complications. If only he would leave her alone! To add to her problems, Dory has started taking a dangerous drink with magical properties that are said to cause the drinker to become addicted and eventually become insane. But she thinks she has found a cure. She no longer has the seizures and black outs, unfortunately she starts to notice other magical side affects. Dory begins having visions of people when she touches them and finds out more about them then she wants, especially her father. This story was surprisingly emotional. This fast paced story is mostly a dark action fantasy with a little romance. Characters from Karen Chance’s previous books make an appearance and make the story infinitely richer. (I would recommend having read her previous book first and if you can her Cassandra Palmer series since characters overlap) Dory is refreshing and very human for all she tries to hide it. Her way of taking care of things is non-nonsense but never unemotional. Dory carries the story, she is a heroine that readers will easily connect with and sympathize with. I loved this book and can’t wait to get my hands on the next installment.Death’s Mistress is a great Urban Fantasy that is explosive and complex and one sure to please any fantasy reader. Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club

[lewispike · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The second of the Dorina Basarab books. It picks up a month after the earlier book in the series but not having read it in a while I'm not entirely sure how smoothly it picks up. I suspect fairly smoothly because the characters and basics of the story came back quickly enough but at the same time there wasn't really any need to go back and read the earlier book either.There is, as I think is quite normal for Karen Chance's books, quite a lot of inner dialog, nicely handled. There's quite a bit of 'fast action' - combat, chases, etc. The combat doesn't quite work - it's all to blurry and fast in words and it doesn't come across as superhuman so much as not properly described. That said, it's not a disaster, it is just the weakest point of the writing.More unlike her other stories there is a strong sexual element - Dory and Louis-Cesare are massively in lust and they tease each other with it on several occasions. Deftly handled and very believable. It looks like it might turn into romantic love, although hopefully that will be mixed up with the lust element too because it's so nicely handled although you almost certainly wouldn't want your children or young adults reading it if you're at all censorious.Hard to put down and fun.