The Unholy (Krewe of Hunters, #6)

by Heather Graham

[kimbacaffeinate]

The Unholy is the sixth novel in Heather Graham’s Krewe of Hunter series. Each of her novels follows a special unit of the FBI that solves difficult cases utilizing paranormal gifts. All of her novels can be read as a standalone. They each deal with one member of the team, their love interest and a new case. Unholy was a fun read involving a closed room murder, the ghost of Humphrey Bogart and an old Hollywood Cinema. I quickly became swept up in this tale, and was surprised when the murderer was revealed.

The tale begins when a murder occurs at the Black Box Cinema and the owner’s son is arrested for the heinous crime. Owner, Eddie Archer pulls every favor he has in Los Angeles to help clear his son’s name. He contacts former special-effects employee and friend Sean Cameron. Sean is now a member of the FBI’s special unit; Krewe of Hunters. He and the rest of this unusual team have recently finished their FBI training. Sean arrives a day ahead of the team, and Archie introduces him to Madison Darvil. She is a trusted employee and special effects artist. He puts Madison in charge of showing Sean around the cinema. The tale that unfolds was both delightful and creepy as we searched for clues to solve this murder.

Sean Cameron is a sweetheart. He is smexy, protective and sensitive. His back-story will delight you, and I found him to be completely swoon-worthy. He is a talented special-effects artist, and one heck of an FBI agent. His training and special abilities help him as he works to clear a man’s name, protect Madison and prevent another murder. Madison Darvil is talented, kind, head strong and lives with the ghost of Bogart. Yep, movie icon Humphrey Bogart watches television and chats with Madison in her bungalow! Their interaction was hilarious. At the age of six her best friend died and appeared as a ghost. She shared this experience with her mother. That experience taught her to never talk about her gift..to anyone, ever! While happy in her career she is lonely. Living with this secret and having Bogart around (who likes to sit in the living room when she entertains perceptive dates) doesn’t do much to help her non-existent love life. The rest of the Krewe team is there, but they work strictly on the case as the tale focuses on the murder, Sean and Madison. Graham gives us a great array of characters as suspects from an actor to a costume designer. She provides characters that scream guilty; like Archie newest wife. I wanted to slap this woman and then turn around and slap the loveable Archie for falling for a woman like this..eek gads!

The case is a good one. It features a favorite mystery classic; a murder within a closed room. I loved the setting of the old movie theater and the back history to the old black and white movies. I found the whole thing intriguing. Grahams shows us the killer in costume and it is quite frightening. She reveals bits and pieces of the murderer’s psyche. As Cameron, the team and Madison piece together clues I became completely enthralled with the tale. I pieced together parts and totally failed on the masked killer. The romance is secondary to the mystery which is one aspect I appreciate in Graham’s tales. I get great suspense and a couple who I end up believing in and rooting for. There is some sexual content in this novel, but Graham has a talent for providing heated scenes that are all implied. I want to thank the publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange for my unbiased review.