I enjoyed this book more than the first in the series ("A Dirty Job"), and found that the introduction and time spent with more characters other than Charlie Asher helped in large part. Much like Faust in "Faust Part 2," Charlie seems to start "Secondhand Souls" back earlier along his character growth track, though he catches up rather quickly. The plot was again very enjoyable and took a different route from the first book, which kept everything in that realm fresh.
Moore is an absurdist, and as part of his writing style uses caricatures to create his absurdism. This can work well, in the case of Minty Fresh, where the character is, at first pass, utterly ridiculous, but who turns out to be full and round and aware to some extent of his own ridiculousness. Minty is fully-realized enough that his character doesn't become a racist caricature, and in text (in both books) calls out Charlie when he treads a line he shouldn't.
Unfortunately, there are other characters who don't fare as well--Mrs. Ling is the most glaring examples, and I failed to mention her in my review of "A Dirty Job" because I hadn't decided yet if I was failing to extend the cover of satire and absurdism far enough. But despite the fact that her role is a positive one, she is not a character round or aware enough to be more than an caricature of anti-Asian stereotypes, and one whom the other character and narration don't see as problematic in the way Minty does when Charlie oversteps.
