I liked this book the first time I read it, which was a long time ago; I later found this fact to be surprising, since I don't usually like fantasy, but more importantly since I can't stand 99% of the stuff Piers Anthony writes. When I was in high school, I had a friend sitting next to me in chem who loved his books, and delighted in reading every nauseating pun he came across (which were several per class). It appeared to me at the time that nothing readable could come from his pen. It seems however, that given enough time, enough monkeys can...
But enough abuse! Ok. The events of the book take place in a parallel dimension of sorts, where everything is the same, except magic is a fact of life and is as accepted as the billboards set up by Hell's advertising department encouraging people to do bad things. Zane is a down and out aural photographer, with no money to his name. After losing the chance to meet his perfect girl, the despondent Zane rashly decides to commit suicide. Seems easy enough, but Zane bungles that task and accidentally kills Death.
Forced to take over the suddenly vacated position, Zane slowly uncovers an evil plot by the Dark One to take most of the souls on earth. As you may guess, stopping this is the main point of the story, with a female love interest thrown in too.
I found this book highly entertaining. While there were many comical events related to the abundance of magic and religion, I liked the moral dilemmas the hero faces, and how he resolves them with intelligence and wit. Piers Anthony didn't go deeply into odd magical realms here as much as his other novels; while being nowhere near "plausible", it doesn't offend my personal reasoning by becoming too "fantastic" or (even worse), simply banal and silly. While still not liking his other works, I feel confident in recommending this book to anyone.

What my friends say:

"Funny very typical Anthony style."
- Ken

[Q]uite good... it takes a chapter or 2 to get into, but once you do, it's got a good and solid plot line. [...R]ead the rest of the books in that series. :)
- Robbie