Flight Risk by Cherie Priest

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Leda Foley is a psychic who moonlights as a travel agent—or maybe it’s the other way around.  Her one-woman travel agency has been getting more bookings after the publicity from when she helped Detective Grady Merritt solve a murder case using her abilities.  She’s since been trying to hone her skills by appearing at a local bar doing what she likes to call “klairvoyant karaoke” but the bar’s owner prefers to bill her as the “psychic psongstress.” Leda asks the audience for objects to touch and then, based on the visions she gets, sings an appropriate song. It’s really helping her to learn to focus, which is good because she’s just gotten a new case involving a missing person.  Dan is  searching for his sister who disappeared some weeks before—just after taking a cash deposit of $30,000 that belonged to her company.  Things weren’t great at home for Robin; in fact, her husband never even reported her missing. 

Meanwhile, Grady is on a search of his own.  His big yellow mutt, Cairo, has gone missing at Mount Rainier and Grady’s daughter Molly is distraught. Just when Grady is afraid they’re going to have to give up, a commotion draws his attention.  It turns out there is good news and bad news.  The good news is that Cairo has been found.  The bad news is that he is happily carrying around a decomposing human leg. 

It soon appears that Grady’s case and Leda’s may be linked, so they join forces once again.

I enjoyed the first in the series but this one was even better.  I was fascinated by the mysteries, was charmed the characters, and laughed out loud several times.  One of the things I like is that there’s no hint of romance between Grady and Leda.  If anything, Leda is a bit like Grady’s daughter Molly, albeit slightly older. Molly may outgrow her impulsive phase; I don’t think Leda will, but that’s okay. Grady is one of the most patient people in the world and an exemplary father as well as a good person.

You don’t need to have read the first book to enjoy this one.   I don’t see that there is a third one in the works at the moment which makes me sad. 

Cherie Priest writes in several different genres, including horror, and has several YA novels to her credit as well as adult.

Seances are for Suckers by Tamara Berry

Reviewed by Jeanne

Eleanor Wilde, better known as Madame Eleanor in certain circles, specializes in exorcising ghosts which she does without compunction because she doesn’t believe in them. She does believe in squirrels in the attic, loose floorboards, and overactive imaginations, all of which help her earn enough money to pay for her comatose sister’s care.  While she doesn’t have psychic abilities, she does have an amazing ability to read people and to rapidly assess situations so that it seems she is attuned to the Other Side.  She’s also a bit prickly and a lot cynical.

So is Nicholas Hartford III, which makes it surprising that he wants to hire her to clear a ghost out of his manor house in England.  He doesn’t believe in ghosts any more than she does, but there is something going on and he wants to get to the bottom of it. He believes Eleanor is just the person to do that.

Wary but intrigued, and with the promise of generous payment, Eleanor agrees.  She quickly sees that there is mischief afoot, and is attempting to figure out the responsible party when she finds a dead body which promptly vanishes before she can show it to anyone else. Eleanor knows she wasn’t dreaming, and she knows that the stakes have now turned deadly. The problem is convincing anyone else of that.

I decided to give this series a try after reading and enjoying another series by Berry.  I found Eleanor to be a refreshing heroine, resourceful, quick-witted, brave, and devoted to her sister.  She also has a brother, Liam, who deeply disapproves of the way she earns her money, but who is struggling financially himself. The other in the cast are also memorable, including Nicholas who watches Eleanor’s efforts with mocking amusement; his mother Vivian who is as lively as a woman half her age but who believes in extreme frugality; and niece Rachel, a bright and cheerful young lady who is quite impressed with Madame Eleanor.  There’s a bit of humor, a good plot, and a strong sense of place. This made a refreshing change from some of the very cozy mysteries I had been reading, and I liked the characters so much that I’m anxious to follow the rest of their adventures. There are four books in the series, and –alas!—it appears there will be no more, so I’ll just enjoy these.

The books in order are:

Seances are for Suckers

Potions are for Pushovers

Curses are for Cads

Prose and Cons by Wendy Corsi Staub

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

When Bella Jordan’s beloved husband Sam died, he left behind a grieving widow and their young son Max. Financial problems meant they had to leave their home to go live with Sam’s mother, a prospect that filled Bella with despair. It turned out that fate (or should that be Fate?) had other plans. Instead Bella and Max found themselves in Lily Dale, a very small town dedicated to the Spiritualist movement with a cat who seems to have, well, just appeared.  Practical Bella is a bit flummoxed at first, finding herself surrounded by people who believe that they can talk to the dead but she comes to love the strong sense of community and the friendships she forms.  She even lands a job she wasn’t looking for, that of managing Valley View, a boarding house for those visiting the town.

That’s just the way things happen in Lily Dale.

As might be imagined, there are any number of quirky characters about—some easier to take than others.  One of those “others” is Pandora, who once lived in Valley View before a divorce forced her out.  Trouble is, she sometimes seems to have trouble remembering she no longer owns the house and tends to make herself at home. This time around, she announces that her dear Aunt Eudora and her beau Nigel are coming to stay and as auntie is elderly and fragile, Pandora doesn’t want her to know that she no longer owns the house.  Instead, she proposes not only that auntie and friend stay, but that she, Pandora, will move in to keep up the pretense.  Bella reluctantly agrees, being too kind for her own good.

The guests arrive, but somehow something seems—off.  It’s not just that they are so demanding, though they are that. It’s something else.  Something dark.  Something that could be dangerous.

While there is an entertaining mystery, I’m more drawn to the emotional side of the plot.  Bella is struggling to move ahead with her life without Sam. She would love to believe that he’s out there, somewhere, and that she could make contact but she remains a skeptic. She needs proof. She’s also struggling with her attraction to veterinarian Drew, feeling she’s being disloyal to Sam. Most of all, she’s trying to navigate her way through grief while trying to raise a son and make a living.

I also appreciate the interesting Lily Dale residents who definitely march to the beat of a different drum.  Some are funny and charming, some a bit too self-centered (cough, Pandora, cough), but most are down to earth and kind. One part of the story is told from Pandora’s point of view which makes her more sympathetic if not less annoying. Max and his friend Jiffy are delightful; they seem more like real kids than most literary children, and the rest of the ensemble add to the tale.  The psychic elements are appropriately murky. There’s a bit of an information dump near the end, but because I had so many other elements to interest me, I didn’t mind.

I’ll also note that the mystery is more cold-blooded than might be expected.

I’ve enjoyed this series.  The psychic elements are definitely there and easy to believe in, but I like that Bella is yet to be convinced. After reading the first in this series, I read a non-fiction book by a reporter who came to Lily Dale and who let readers draw their own conclusions.  By the end, there were some things that weren’t easily explained but the writer didn’t wholly embrace all the claims. This fiction series tries to tread the same line and does fairly well at it.

I’m definitely going to read the next in the series. I’m intrigued by both the real place and its fictional counterpart. These can be read as standalones, but I’m glad I did read them in order.

Nine Lives

Something Buried, Something Blue

Dead of Winter

Prose and Cons

The Stranger Vanishes

Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Detective Grady Merritt is, well, NOT happy.  He was scheduled to be back in Seattle in time for dinner, but now for some inexplicable reason, his travel agent—one Leda Foley of Foley’s Far Fetched Flights of Fancy—has changed his reservation to take him to Atlanta, change planes, and not get back until late at night.  He’s on the phone, demanding an explanation, and the only one he gets is that she had a feeling that she should change his flight. She also points out that he was already late getting to the gate—something she should have had no way of knowing—and assures him that this is all for the best.  Merritt doesn’t believe her.

Not until he looks out the windows and sees the plane he just missed burst into flames.

A couple of days later, Leda is somewhat taken aback to find Merritt in her office, wanting to hire her. Not as a travel agent, but as a psychic.  The detective has a cold case homicide he’s been working and he is stymied. He knows he can’t use her insights in a court of law, but he is hoping she can give him any clue as to where to concentrate his investigation. He’s paying her out of his own pocket because he doesn’t want any word to get out that he’s reduced to paranormal means but that fiery plane was a pretty darn good recommendation.

Leda is reluctant because, truth be told, her psychic abilities are not always reliable; in fact, they are pretty darn unreliable.  She’s actually trying to hone her skills at a local bar where she touches objects belonging to customers and then sings whatever song she feels.  Judging from the reactions, her results are getting better, and the bar owner wants to bill her as the “Psychic Psongstress.” (She prefers “Klairvoyant Karaoke,” but hey—free drinks.)

But Leda has an agenda of her own, and she’s going to take a chance that working with Merritt will help her on her quest.  Now all they have to do is find a killer.

I was drawn into this book immediately.  It’s got entertaining characters, humor, a plot, and a believable touch of psychic phenomena.  Priest avoids most of the expected clichés, and has fun with the rest.  Leda and her best friend Niki make quite the team, and Grady’s backstory as a widower with a teenage daughter humanizes him. I especially enjoyed some of the descriptions of a library:  “But this (library) was the granddaddy of them all—eleven geometrically styled stories of pure, weapons-grade knowledge.”

Priest is a veteran author, having written in several genres, including horror, steampunk, and YA.  I am definitely going to read more by this author. Most exciting is that there will be another book with Leda, Merritt, and company coming out in November.  I already have my reserve card filled out!

Steven Cooper Mysteries: The Psychic and the Cop

Reviewed by Brenda G.

Cooper, Steven. Desert Remains. Amherst, NY: Seventh Street Books, 2017. 400 pages.

____________          Dig your Grave.  Amherst, NY: Seventh Street Books, 2018. 412 pages.

Steven Cooper is an award-winning journalist who also writes fiction, in this case, mysteries.

His main characters in these two works, volumes 1 and 2 of a series, are Gus Parker and Alex Mills. Gus makes his living as a medical imager, but to the police, he is a psychic. Alex is a police detective working with homicide and other crimes. The series is set in Phoenix, Arizona. The volumes in the series bear the note “A Gus Parker and Alex Mills Novel.”

Desert Remains. Women are dying in the Phoenix area, their bodies left in caves near hiking trails, at first. The killer leaves few clues. Their jewelry remains with the bodies; it is not stolen. Victim identification is handy; not stolen, either. And the killer leaves a signature of sorts – a carved depiction of the murder, his or her own pictograph of the event.

Whereas Alex’s role in murder investigations often draws him into the spotlight, Gus prefers to remain anonymous. His work as a medical imager sometimes involves long hours but he has found time to work as a psychic in many U.S. cities, plus London, Dublin, Prague, and Riyadh. That work is both lucrative and tiring. Now as he catches the news after work, sharing dinner with his elderly fellow psychic Beatrice, he listens to a report of the latest gruesome find and gets a vibe, one which he needs to share with Mills.

This is a complex tale with details about Alex’s family life and its impact on his work, Gus’s work with Beatrice to “out” fraudulent psychics, information about desert pictographs, other workers in the police department and their history, and a folk rock singer named Billie Welch, who truly has star status.

Gus is in “at the kill”, so to speak, meaning he is present at the final scene, as is Mills, just a bit later. These two likable and very human characters deal with life and death on a daily basis, and yet retain their sanity, human kindness, and the capacity to love. And Gus’s anonymity may have taken a hit.

Dig Your Grave. Alex Mills and Gus Parker are back. Alex’s teenaged son is out of trouble for selling drugs (a subplot in the first novel,) but manages to find new trouble to provide another subplot. Gus and superstar Billie are now an item, sharing time, space, and experiences. Superstars can attract stalkers, yielding another subplot. And murders continue to take place in the Phoenix area, but in this volume the victims are male.

Bodies are being found in crudely dug, shallow graves in cemeteries; there is dirt under the victims’ fingernails, indicating they might have been forced to dig by hand.  The first victim carries no identification, but is found to be a corporate CEO. The second is a plastic surgeon. Victim number three is a travel agent. After receiving an urgent phone call, each abruptly departed and was not seen alive again. The victims are well-to-do and approximately the same age. 

A seemingly unrelated story involves the 25^th anniversary of the disappearance and presumed death of an area college student while she was on a spring break trip to Mexico. Gus is having visions of someone falling from a hotel balcony. But when, where, and why is he seeing this? What is he supposed to do?

Sharing more details could well force me into the spoiler role. I do not want to do that. These books are well-crafted and well worth reading.  I am ready for the third, which will probably appear in 2019. To more mysteries with good detective-psychic collaborations!

Crosstalk by Connie Willis

Reviewed by Jeanne

Briddey Flannigan pretty much has it all.  Not only does she have  a good job at communications giant Commspan, but she has landed possibly THE most eligible bachelor at the company.  Trent is not only a fast rising executive who drives a fabulous car, he’s gorgeous to boot.  And he’s serious about the relationship!  He wants them to have an EED, a procedure in which a neurosurgeon gives them both implants to enhance their mutual empathy.  It’s all the rage; all the best people are getting them.  What could possibly go wrong?

The only problem is trying to keep it a secret until after their engagement.  Gossip spreads at the speed of thought not only at Commspan but through Briddey’s nosey family as well.  The best she can hope for is to try to misdirect them, at least after the operation and she and Trent connect.  That could be filed under “Easier Said Than Done.”

Every time I start a Connie Willis novel, I get a bit impatient.  There is usually a good bit of set-up for the first part of the book: family entanglements, romantic attachments, disagreements, all done with such a light touch that it seems like fluff.  Then the plot really gets rolling and most of the “fluff” turns out to be groundwork for important developments later. At the end of the book, I’m stunned, amazed, and delighted.  As soon as my senses recover from the roller coaster ride, I find myself thinking, “How’d she do that?”

That’s why I tell people Willis’ writing is deceptive. It only seems light and superficial when in fact she makes a lot of interesting social commentary along with a good tale well told. For example, she shows us a hyper-connected world, where Briddey is flooded with communications from all sides, leaving her overwhelmed —and yet the thought of NOT being connected is, well, unthinkable.  People are constantly buffeted by texts, emails, phone calls, Skype, FaceTime, and messages; they long for peace and privacy but can’t bear the idea of being left out of the loop.  Briddey sometimes feels she’s drowning in communication but there’s no filter, nothing to separate truth from fiction, vital from trivial.

And information is everywhere, correct or not.  Rumors fly about office romances, industrial spies, lay-offs, what the competitors are planning, the Next Big Thing, who’s about to be promoted, and who’s about to be fired. In her family, Aunt Oona, having been schooled in the fine art of texting by Briddey’s precocious niece Maeve, bombards her with reminders about Daughters of Ireland meetings, her sister Mary Clare frets about anything Maeve does, pre-teen Maeve struggles to have some independence from her mother’s strictures, and sister Kathleen encourages her to try all the new dating sites, from Tinder to JustDinner to Latte’n’Luv (for people who think a meal might be too much of a commitment.)

That’s another strength for me.  I like the way she creates memorable characters, people I’d love to meet, from Aunt Oona and her love for the Ould Sod to messy but cute C.B. Schwartz holed up in the basement office.  I’d like to take Maeve out for ice cream just to hear her relate the plot of the new zombie movie she’s not allowed to watch (but has) and have her teach me how to program my phone.

I also feel the need to memorize the shapes and colors of the Lucky Charms marshmallows. You’ll know what I mean if you read the book.

Willis’ writing can be sweet, but it’s never saccharine, and it always comes with a side of satire.  She has a sharp sense of humor and a good eye for how people manage to bog down in the trivial, missing the big picture.   There’s also a sense of hope. This isn’t to say things always work out as I think they should or that no tragedies occur; it’s just that there’s a core belief that there is some good in people; maybe not all people, but just enough.   Most of all, I know I can count on Willis for likeable characters, an entertaining story, some thought-provoking concepts and commentary, and passages I will long to read aloud to someone else.  Also, I’ve found that after reading a Willis book, time and time again I will come across something that will remind me of some passage or incident.  I firmly believe that someone will create C.B. Schwartz’s SOS app to let people escape from the tyranny of their communication devices or at least dodge a few messages, and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone came up with an EED implant.   And when I hear about those, I’ll know that, once again, Connie got it right.

If you're already a Willis fan, I'll say that this is  in the vein of To Say Nothing of the Dog:  light, funny, and gently satiric. The setting is slightly futuristic instead of Victorian, but the feel of the book is similar. 

Crosstalk is approved by Peggy