The other thing that keeps me coming back for more is the heart that is each book. Charlie makes me chuckle and want to smack him upside the head. Moore’s books always make me laugh to the point making embarrassing noises. The first is the silly, whipsmart humor in every single one of his books. There are two things that make me love Moore’s novels. Suffice it to say, I was highly entertained by this chaotic, hilarious, ribald, soulful (pun intended) novel. I’d sum up the plot here like I normally do, but I’ve learned not to do that with Moore’s books. If I didn’t trust Moore to tie them all up at the end, I might have been frustrated trying to work out how the ghost play into the Death Merchants’ quest and who Lemon actually is and how Audrey’s going to move some souls around. Secondhand Souls‘ plots move in a lot of different directions. Mike Sullivan is one of the paint crew for the Golden Gate Bridge who has just made the acquaintance of the ghosts that haunt the bridge. Lemon Fresh is Minty’s cousin, villainous and smoothly pragmatic by turns. There are new characters joining the cast. She is a foul-mouthed goth who has far too much personality for her persona. We also get to spend time with Lily, one of my favorite characters in all of Moore’s books. We spend time with Charlie’s girlfriend, Audrey, as they try to work out a way to get Charlie’s soul back in a human body. We spend time with Minty Fresh and Rivera as they try to work out what’s going on with the city’s souls and the forces of darkness. While A Dirty Job focused almost solely (no pun intended) on Charlie, Secondhand Souls is an ensemble book.
Rivera’s mistake means that the forces of darkness are once again on the rise and it’s up to the motley crew of fuck ups, goths, ghosts, Buddhist nuns, and the rest to make it right. Inspector Rivera has not, even though he knows he’s one of the city’s new Death Merchants. Minty Fresh continues to collect soul vessels. His daughter is being raised by Charlie’s sister and her wife. Charlie’s soul is stuck, temporarily he hopes, in a meat puppet created by his Buddhist girlfriend. Secondhand Souls picks up one year after the dramatic conclusion of A Dirty Job. Charlie’s screw ups lead to the near takeover of the forces of darkness in San Francisco ( the Morrigan and Orcus). Shortly after his wife’s death, Charlie receives a copy of the Great Big Book of Death informing him that his new job is to collect objects that serve as vessels for their owners souls once the owner is done with them. Christopher Moore’s A Dirty Job introduced us to Charlie Asher, a reluctant Death Merchant, widower, and beta male.
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