✨Arc Review✨

Thank you to the author Natalie Johanson for sending me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

-All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Death comes for all, but no god can save you if you've taken Her souls."

I absolutely loved this book. In Death’s Company blends the best of dark urban fantasy—divine politics, soul-stealing monsters, and mysterious reapers—with surprisingly cozy moments, heartfelt relationships, and sharp emotional depth.

May Haines is a standout protagonist. Her chronic heart condition adds a constant undercurrent of vulnerability, which only makes her strength and perseverance more powerful. Watching her navigate grief, fear, and supernatural chaos while still clinging to hope was a deeply moving experience.

The trio of May, Harper (Lady Death), and Detective Ethan Harding (aka Detective Dimples) totally stole the show. Harper’s mix of sweet and badass? Chef’s kiss. She’s an immortal entity who drinks coffee like a millennial and casually threatens cosmic beings—what’s not to love? Ethan, meanwhile, is an absolute cinnamon roll with a badge. He’s gentle, protective, and emotionally intuitive in a genre that often sidelines male characters into tough-guy clichés. I’m crossing my fingers for more romantic development between him and May in the sequel—they have a quiet, careful chemistry I’d love to see explored further.

The emotional stakes in this book run high. Grief and loss hit hard—especially for May—and I found her pain deeply relatable. When she finally lets her anger surface, it’s cathartic and satisfying. This emotional weight grounds the story and keeps it from drifting into the purely "cozy" side of the paranormal genre.

The supporting cast also added layers. Armeal kept me guessing—his motives are murky in a way that felt intentional, and I’m eager to see how his role evolves. I also loved May’s parents, Janet and Steve. Their warmth and support was a lovely contrast to the darkness around May, and I only wish we had gotten more detail about their green witch heritage.

If you like stories that are dark but tender, magical but grounded, and filled with complex relationships and high emotional stakes, In Death’s Company is worth picking up. It’s a strong series starter, and I’m already impatient for book two.

I feel very much like the outlier here! Perhaps this just wasn’t entirely my book but I can still see why others would enjoy it.

The premise of In Death’s Company is fantastic. A witch with a failing heart drawn into an alliance with Death herself is such a unique idea, and there were moments where the concept really shone. I especially liked the dynamic between May and Harper in the early chapters, and there were flashes of clever worldbuilding that kept me intrigued. The paranormal elements were inventive, and some of the emotional beats (particularly around May’s vulnerability) landed well.

That said, the execution felt uneven for me. The pacing often stalled with long sections of explanation, only to rush through the more exciting moments. Character relationships, while promising, didn’t always get the depth they deserved, and the ending felt more abrupt than satisfying.

Even so, the foundation is strong, and I’d be interested to see how the sequel develops the story and explores the characters further. Overall, a mixed but promising start.

Loved everything about this book, the pacing at the beginning was a little slow but still held my attention. I loved the character and plot development and the murder mystery was so much fun!

This book took a little time for me to get into, but once I did, I loved it. The relationships between the characters and the way the storyline progresses, especially towards the end, was very well done. The story starts with casual coffee encounters between May and Harper (aka Lady Death), and slowly gets darker and much more complex. I love when a book has strong and resilient female characters, and I think this book accomplishes that so well! So much care was put into the world building for this book as well, and it really shows.

I do wish we got to see more interactions between May and Harper. I loved their dynamic but found that their interactions seemed to become less frequent as the story progressed. I also found the ending to be a bit abrupt. The story definitely ends on a cliffhanger (I believe this is going to become a series), so be warned going into this that the ending will not completely tie up the plot.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this one!

"This is the next step in your journey, Hell is a place of your own making."

"It's like they spend all their time preparing for you to die. mourning you before you're even in the ground, that when you survive, they're just... tired."

A witch with a bad heart, Death with a name, both linked together with a mystery to solve before it's too late. This paranormal mystery follows the story of witch with a new lease on life and how she navigates the path with Death while battling paranormal forces to solve a mystery that affects both of their worlds. What will fate, or should I say Fates, have in store?

I was really captivated by the beginning of this story because the concept they began with had me intrigued. The mention of Angels, Demons, Nephilim, the Horseman of the Apocalypse. All intriguing subjects for me personally. Thank you to Tea & Dagger Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this piece. My opinions on this book are strictly my own. However, by the middle I had wondered why certain plots had been dragged out as far as they were without much explanation and had began to wonder when we would get a little more of certain beings that had been mentioned. Some of the plot twists in the book I did not expect, so that was a pleasant surprise. While I kept reading while hoping for more, being heartbroken by certain moments and still holding on until the end, I was highly disappointed by the abrupt ending of the book. While it did reach a climax to the plot, so much had been left unanswered. It seemed, at that point, that certain things that had been introduced mine as well have been left out entirely. I'm not sure if the intention is to somehow wright a follow up and make this some sort of paranormal Nancy Drew series, but in all honestly, even if that was the case the ending to this makes me not want to reach for another. I enjoyed the FMC May, and found her interesting. However building up a story to just abruptly end it like you gave up on writing it ruined it a lot for me. I still suggest that if paranormal murder mystery is your thing to give it a try- as books, like with most things, are subjective in terms of taste. You may still like it even if I thought it was just ok. Though, do know that some of the trigger warnings I would put on this book are death, gore, decomposition, murder, drug usage and alcohol usage.

This book had a really strong base. The pacing was solid, and the core concept pulled me in right away. There’s definitely something compelling at the heart of the story.

That said, I often felt like I was being told how to feel rather than being shown through the characters or the narrative. Some themes were repeated a lot, almost too much, while others (especially the whole death domain aspect) felt underdeveloped or just left behind.

It’s frustrating because the potential is definitely there. With a bit more balance and trust in the reader, this could’ve hit much harder.

Such an interesting and unique take on Death. I loved reading this novel and looking forward to the sequel.
The world (or underwold) building was fun to imagine and fit the vibes of the Lady Death character.
The end is very abrupt. It almost seems like there's a chapter missing but it is set up for an interesting sequel.
Overall worth the read :)

Death, a badass female called Harper.
A forensic investigator called May.
A homicide detective with cute dimples and a whole host of unanswered questions.
The concepts of life, death, the afterlife have always fascinated me but when its mixed in to a juicy detective story, its even better.

Cannot wait for the next for what comes next.

This was a beautifully written book with a very unique concept. It is a bit of a slow burn but I like books that way. The ending felt a little too abrupt for me and could've been fleshed out better.

🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 — 4.5/5

I really enjoyed In Death’s Company! The story flowed beautifully, the plot was intriguing, and the characters pulled me right in.

I absolutely loved May, Harper (Lady Death), and Detective Dimples (Ethan)! Harper’s balance of sweet and badass was chef’s kiss, and I really enjoyed May’s journey, her heart issues added a layer of vulnerability that made her perseverance even more powerful.

Ethan was such a soft, caring character (I swear he’s a cinnamon roll with a badge), and I really hope we see more of a romantic development between him and May in the sequel.

Armeal kept me guessing for a while on whether he is good, or is he not? And May’s parents, Janet and Steve, were so warm and supportive, I just wish we had more detail on their green witch background!

The magic system and the crossover into the afterlife were fascinating, and I’d love more backstory on the previous war mentioned, it felt like there was rich history to uncover there.

And side note… Loki was adorable. I’d protect that cat with my life.

Overall, a brilliant, emotional, and magical read. I’m genuinely excited for what’s next in the series!

This is a very interesting plot concept. A great original idea. I don’t know how clear it came out on the page but it was an enjoyable read. I kinds lost my place and time a bit with it. The magic system was very cool. And i loved the theme of the book!

Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC.

In deaths company by Natalie Johanson is the first book ive read of this author and shows a promising start to a new series.

I loved Lady Death and the intriguing concepts behind how our souls are collected when we die and cross over.
There is so much potential for the exploration of May's relationship with Death and I hope this gets explored in more detail later in the series.

The writing style while enjoyable felt a little rushed throughout the whole story and despite some lengthy chapters, very minimal back story was given to the side characters who play quiet a significant role in the building of the developing world and story.

There are a lot of unanswered questions at the end of this book that I hope get explained in more depth as the series goes on.

Overall, I did enjoy the story and feel this has so much potential if the sequel is delivered well.

In Death’s Company by Natalie Johanson, we meet May, a green witch, who has had a number of near death experiences due to a bad heart. During one episode, she meets Death, also known as Harper, and a budding friendship ensues. This brush with the paranormal opens up more powers for May and she becomes involved in the growing unrest in the underworld.

I like the ideas in the story, and we were able to learn quite a lot about May, but I found myself wanting to know much more about all of the other characters. It took a while for the troubles in Death’s domain to come together, and I’m still not really sure why they were happening. Why was the big bad so ticked off originally? If Harper loses, what do they gain?

Grief and losses are a large part of the novel, and May is hit particularly hard. Her sadness was palpable and well handled. It was also pretty cathartic when she finally let loose her rage. The darkness keeps this from the cozy side of paranormal books.

The ending was very abrupt, and it seems like there were a number of things left undone, so maybe some of the questions will be answered in a sequel. Overall, it was enjoyable enough that I would consider then next book to see where this all leads.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tea & Dagger Publisher for the eARC.

In Death's Company was an exciting and fun read with a fresh take on Death, Death & What we presume is just an "unskilled" green witch May become coffee buddies in an unlikely way.

Watching the friendship develop between these characters is interesting and overall this was a very enjoyable read.. I thought the book started quite slow but that did not put me off at all, It seemed like the Author really wanted us to connect to the characters to be able to route for them going forward. The second half of the book really ramped up the plot & I was invested in the storyline but also the characters.

Overall a solid 4.5/5 for me and I look forward to the sequel to see where the story goes.

Death has a name... and it's Harper. And she's angry, with good reason, souls are going missing, reapers are missing and yet another war may be coming. And as help she gets,,, a human. May is a witch, and after her near death experience she can see ghosts, and souls. Skills she will need to help Death, while sharing love for coffee and tea.

I really liked this story, I like Death as a character in general and this one is well written. We see two different sides, Death and her reapers fighting for souls in their realm, and May and Detective Dimples (his name is Ethan but that is cute nickname) fighting a necromancer in our world. He really does take learning all magical creatures are real well for a cop...

I thought the ending was a bit abrupt, not a fan of what happened but it didn't spoil the book for me. No cliffhangers but it's set up for a second book. For me it was a fast read that kept my attention, well worth it.