Dio's Detective Agency

by: Brian Riley

Published by: Lulu.com

Reviewed by Alex McGilvery

(This review covers two books by Brian Riley)

Dio’s Detective Agency is a book of short stories that introduces Dio and Flagon. Dio is a wizard with cosmic powers, but doesn’t use them much because he needs to preserve the free will of the people around him. Flagon is a dragon that has the powers of burning and rending. She uses them whenever the situation calls for it.

Most of the time Dio is a down-on-his-luck private investigator while Flagon is his shapely secretary. She becomes a dragon only if necessary. The stories range from preventing a global takeover by intelligent cats to finding a scientist who can make gold out of lead (or anything else).

Brian Riley writes with tongue firmly in his cheek and offers his own form of humor that might begin with a snicker and end with a belly laugh.

No. 2 — Fluffy: Destroyer of Worlds

Fluffy: Destroyer of Worlds is his second collection of Dio and Flagon stories. Once again the down-on-his-luck detective and his beautiful secretary are solving the cases behind the cases. A larger cast of characters appears in these stories. Satan is trying to convince people to be good because Hell is filling up too quickly, Molly is a vampire with a compassionate heart–and others. Along with the expanded cast Brian’s quirky humor returns sharper than ever.

I enjoy reading the fantasy humor dished out in these two collections, but the bonus is the undercurrent of social commentary that runs throughout the stories. It never gets in the way of the story or a good joke, but it is there and makes reading the tales of this unlikely duo a richer experience.

Both books can be purchased through Lulu.com at http://stores.lulu.com/diogenese19348

Armchair Interviews says: Good fantasy reads with quirky humor AND social commentary.