Dead to Me

Dead to Me
by Anton Strout
Recommended Ages: 14+

Simon Canderous used to use his weird power of psychometry – the ability to read the history of objects by touching them – to leverage a lucrative life of crime. Now he mostly uses it for good, working for New York City's Department of Extraordinary Affairs, Other Division. To be sure, he still cruises swap meets, looking for items charged with sentimental value so he can sell them back to their original owners – it helps pay the rent. He isn't really looking to mix with the restless dead or the brain-munching undead. But sometimes, duty calls.

Duty calls when Simon and his DEA mentor, Connor, are faced by an aggressive ghost in a back alley. The plot darkens when an attractive female ghost shows up at their workplace, strangely lifelike despite being dead. The trail of clues leads to a group of cultists (a.k.a. the Forces of Darkness) who have somehow managed to achieve government recognition as an alternative lifestyle. Something they're doing is keeping Irene, the ghost, tethered to the physical plane, and is driving other ghosts insane. Something that soon costs Simon's ex-girlfriend her life and puts another beautiful (but perhaps evil) woman in mortal danger. And even though Simon is only starting to understand how to control his powers, they will become crucial in the coming showdown with evil, as well as some hilarious scenes of paranormal action and danger.

The nearest comparison I can make with this book is Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. Simon Canderous is a young, hot-headed everydude who happens to have a rare magical talent, a roguish streak, a goofy sense of humor and tastes that range from knee-length leather jackets to Count Chocula action figures. He works on the side of Good but sometimes lets himself get too close to the forces of darkness, perhaps because his own unsavory background gives him an insight into what's up with them. He has a certain sex appeal, but he somehow isn't very successful with the ladies. He has power, vulnerability, dorkiness and cool all wrapped up in a self-deprecating package. He's honest but he also guards some heavy secrets. His appeal as a lead character and narrator would draw me into a long, open ended series. Alas, it isn't a long one, and again alas, it's now firmly closed.

This is the first book in the four-book Simon Canderous series by Anton Strout, an urban fantasy author, podcaster and blogger who, sadly, died in 2020 at age 50. Other titles in the series include Deader Still, Dead Matter and Dead Waters. He also wrote the Spellmason Chronicle trilogy of Alchemystic, Stonecast and Incarnate and a baker's dozen of short stories, including several Simon Canderous tales. Alas, his personal website now redirects to a Korean massage site. He left behind a wife, two kids and seven novels. Bookwise, not much. I'm sorry I encountered him too late to look forward to more. But through Simon (sniffle) he's alive to me.

BONUS NONSENSE: From the "not to be confused with" department, here are some other books titled Dead to Me or close to it, according to Fantastic Fiction: Dead to Me, a 2025 mystery by Gytha Lodge; You're So Dead to Me, a 2023 Grimdale Graveyard mystery by Steffanie Holmes; Dead to Me, a 2020 Grave Talker novel by Annie Anderson; a 2026 mystery of the same name by Jessie Keane; a 2023 Hidden Norfolk murder mystery by J.M. Dalgliesh; a 2024 Kelsey Hawk mystery by Kate Bold; a 2012 Scott & Bailey mystery by Cath Staincliffe; a 2021 urban fantasy by Rachel Morton and Mason Sabre; a 2023 Thornwood Academy young adult fantasy by LJ Swallow; a 2017 Kate Matthews mystery by Stephen Edger; a 2026 Gulf Coast Reaper urban fantasy by Tegan Maher; a 2024 Mountain Shadow cozy mystery by Tarah Benner; a 2016 historical mystery by Lesley Pearse; a 2015 young adult novel by Mary McCoy; a 2016 young adult novel by Cristy Watson; a 2017 mystery collection by Dean Wesley Smith; Jack Kerouac Is Dead to Me, a 2020 young adult romance by Gae Polisner; Dead to Me, a 2018 Cold Case Psychic gay romance by Pandora Pine; a 2018 Harry Russo Diaries urban fantasy by Lisa Emme; You're Dead to Me, a 2024 young adult fantasy by Amy Christine Parker; Dead to Me, a 2025 paranormal romance by Jeanette Clarke; and possibly a 2022 Burton and Fielding mystery by Pamela Murray called Signs, for which Dead to Me seems to be either a subtitle or an alternate title. This book is well down the list, so perhaps you'll recognize one or more of these titles. Comment if you dare.