Jinx High: A Diana Tregarde Investigation (Paperback)

The biggest problem by far is that Diana is a secondary character in her own book. Of 300 pages I doubt she got 100 of them. Even when she is "on-screen" she's overshadowed by the high school students. The true main characters are the high school students, spoiled, self-centred, shallow and mean-spirited high school students. Even the ones who are made out to be the good kids eventually show their darker side, and do so after the evil has been vanquished.

As well, possibly due to her lack of being the main character Diana does not seem to be the same as she was previously. This new catch phrase "Jesus Cluny Frog", where the heck did that come from? As well she no longer seemed to be the caring Guardian she was before. She also lacks even the limited forensic skills she showed in previous books. She was never an ace investigator, but at least she tried in the other two books. Here she decides the villain must be an adult, and can't find one so she shields a couple students and then waits for the villain to reveal herself. Somebody with a special investigator card from the police, and a friend in Det. Mark Valdez should have better skills than the reactive wait for the villain to reveal herself while she causes more harm.

It was nice to see Mark Valdez again. Unfortunately he does nothing. He chauffeurs Diana and then waits in a barn. Literally. As well, the sub-plot of the goddess under Tulsa goes out with a whimper, never really happens.

The villainess is easily the best thing about the book. An aged sorceress in a young body, gorgeous, evil, ruthless and totally without a redeeming characteristic. Yet, she is unable to manipulate the high school students unless they themselves have given her a hook by doing wrong themselves.

Despite my criticisms, this isn't a bad book. It is firmly average, worthy of an evening or two's entertainment. However, it is not a Diana Tregarde book as we know it as she is at best a secondary character. The writing is, as with the previous two, fast-paced and easy to read.

R.I.P. Diana, it is a shame your last book had you as a secondary character.

While there is no apparent danger to the boy, he has been mixing with a wild crowd, led by Fay Harper. If bad mojo does not get him, his lifestyle just might. In any case, what Diana realizes right away is that the real problem is that there isn't any problem. Tulsa sits in the middle of a nulls zone where nothing sends out mystical signals, and not even tornadoes show up to disturb the ether. When she checks with other guardians in the area, she discovers that there are legends of something very powerful lying asleep below the city. Something that nothing in its right mind would ever choose to wake up.

No sooner does Diana start to settle into her role, when the apparent quiet is disturbed by several severe magical attacks on Monica Carlin, a new girl at the high school. The attacks are sudden, too swift for Diana to pinpoint. And they are strong, the world of a mature, skilled sorcerer. This is the rub. Unlike Diana, the reader knows from the beginning that Fay Harper is the sorcerer, who disguises her age by jumping from her body to her daughter's every 30 years. Diana's struggles to identify this source of magic before it wakes the sleeper are limited by her inability to accept a teenager as a master sorcerer.

'Jinx High' is probably the best of the three books in this series, but it is not without a few irritating quirks. If you can get by the fact that Diana's favorite expression is 'Jesus Cluny Frog,' you will probably find the story interesting and entertaining. Lackey has a good grasp of ceremonial magic, and doesn't make the kind of oversimplifying mistakes that many writers in the magic genre are prone to make.

However, if Diana's faults are bearable, the characters of her high school students, villains and heroes, are less attractive. Without exception, they have shallow and self-centered streaks that create a little too much distance between the reader and the plot. Some people would argue that that is only reality. But, I'm old fashioned, and like al my protagonists to be, well, protagonists. That everyone has the same character defect doesn't build interest either.

For all my grumbling, this is a solid, readable story. It is a shame that there have been no follow-ups, because Tregarde's character has finally matured. Lackey's skills have continued to improve as well and it would be interesting to see where she would bring this series now.