Review of The Dead Withheld by L. D. Lewis
The Dead Withheld by L. D. Lewis (Neon Hemlock, 2025) is a queer, gritty, urban fantasy novella that I absolutely flew through once I started reading it. The worldbuilding is fantastic, as are the characters inhabiting that world!
Dizzy Carter is a private investigator and deadwalker, a type of witch who can communicate with the dead. Despite her power, she’s never been able to locate the ghost of her deceased wife, Lonnie, who was brutally murdered six years before the beginning of this story by a serial killer who was never caught. She finally gets a lead that breaks the case wide open, but she quickly realizes that she’s far out of her depth.
The urban fantasy setting has supernatural entities aplenty, but it doesn’t fall into the usual tropes of the genre, making it refreshing. The “dracs” (vampires) were a particularly nice different approach. I also loved the Colorman and his Disciples, and I only wished the novella had more of them. But perhaps they’ll have a story of their own another time!
If you like urban fantasy that breaks the mold, check out The Dead Withheld!
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