Love Bites: A Sofie Metropolis Novel

The fifth Sofie Metropolis novel (after 2008's Working Stiff) from Carrington (the pseudonym of Lori and Tony Karayianni) offers plenty of fang-in-cheek fun. When 19-year-old Roula Kalomoira disappears, to the dismay of the entire Greek enclave of Astoria, Queens, in New York City, suspected neighborhood vampire Ivan Romanoff asks PI Sofie to clear his family, including his slippery nephew, Vladimir, of any connection to the missing Roula or the blood-draining murders of local women by a killer dubbed "the Bleeder." As tabloids speculate on the existence of a secret vampire society in Queens, Sofie downs caffeinated frappés and savors the two heartthrobs in her life, Aussie "bounty hunter" Jack Porter and Greek baker Dino Antonopoulos. Meanwhile, a former movie queen wants Sofie to dig up dirt on disgraced physician Weston Westervelt (aka "the Chop Doc"). Zany Sofie, while rarely breaking a fingernail, closes another case in bubbly Greek style. (Apr.)