This is this author’s 3rd book I am reading in as many months … Christopher Moore must be doing something right! “Beta-male” Charlie Asher is a second-hand store owner by day, and a death merchant by night. How he quite accidentally came upon that second job, and how he subsequently managed to live through the extreme dangers that come with such a job, form the unique story of A Dirty Job.
The best part about this story is its capacity of being a strange tale, primarily morbid or even grotesque in its theme, yet remaining funny in its telling at all times. Death merchants, soul collection, sewer harpies, squirrels in ball gowns, and even hell hounds come together in this tale that still manages to make me laugh.
As far as characters go, I really liked every one of them. Minty Fresh, the first death merchant that Charlie meets, and who sticks by him - sometimes against his wishes! - to the very end; Jane Asher, Charlie’s gay sister, who is honest to the point of rudeness, yet will do anything to keep her family safe; Lily, the goth teenager, one of Charlie’s employees and the only one who knows Charlie’s secret; and of course, Mrs. Ling and Mrs. Korjev, the women who alternately take care of Sophie, and from whom the little girl comes to learn that either “the White Man is a Devil” or “our hearts are full of sorrow”.
If there was one thing that I did not like as much, it was the silliness surrounding The Morrigan. Babd, Macha and Nemain are denizens of the underworld, and built as a formidable enemy; their evil powers constantly held as a threat to all of humanity, should souls not be protected as scheduled. Yet, most of the time we see them quarrelling over petty matters, or - worse - indulging in cheap sexual fantasies. Moore could have left this one section free of all comedy.
Barring that one small issue, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and look forward to my next.
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