Magiere is a vampire slayer. She travels from village to village ridding them of their demon tormentors in exchange for whatever payment they can gather. Little do the villagers know but the undead menace she destroys is, in reality, her half-elf partner Leesil with his face powdered white.

After a few years Magiere decides that she has had enough of the life of a wandering hero so she decides to take the money she has saved, buy an inn and settle down for a normal life.

Soon after Magiere and Leesil take ownership of their tavern, "The Sea Lion" they notice that an increasing number of townspeople are being murdered, their bodies drained of blood. The villagers, knowing her previous profession, approach Magiere and ask her to help them investigate the killings.

Will Magiere be able to help the villagers defeat the vampires before they find out that she was a fraud? Only time will tell.

Dhampir is an entertaining fast-paced story of a young woman and her half-elf companion who, after many years fleecing villagers with a pantomime vampire-slaying, decide to go straight and become inn-keepers.

As I have often come to expect from such a book, the path to a normal life is not a smooth one. Magiere begins to think that there is some aspect of her past that she was previously unaware of. Her only knowledge of her father is that he left her mother shortly after she became pregnant, leaving only some strange leather armour and an unusual amulet for his child to inherit.

As well as the vampire slaying the story also has an enchanting romantic flavour as Magiere starts to look at Leesil with new eyes (yes, a touch of the "will she, won't she's"). However, at the same time Leesil starts to notice strange changes in Magiere as she fights the real undead.

As I have said in previous reviews, I have read a large number of Vampire stories and I have to say, the majority of them are pretty similar. This is not the case with Dhampir. This is an unusual take on a traditional genre and makes for a thoroughly enjoyable addictive story. The ending sets the scene for future stories of Magiere and Leesil – I can't wait!!!