Monday, January 16, 2023

A Fatal Glow by Valerie Wilson Wesley

 


Reviewed by Jeanne

Odessa Jones, recently widowed, works in a real estate office, hoping to earn commissions but to supplement her income, she has returned to catering.  It was a lot easier when her husband was alive and she could count on him to take some of the chores; but Dessa is a determined lady. When she lands a lucrative job catering a party at a wealthy businessman’s home, it looks as if her luck might be turning—except for that bit of glimmer she sees, a sign that something unfortunate is about to happen.  Dessa has been blessed or cursed with the ability to see glimmers around people that give her some indication of what they are feeling, and if they are lying. Hoping that the glimmer means something else, Dessa takes the job, only to have her employer die at the gathering.  The death seems suspicious, so the police want to question Dessa and the co-workers she enlisted to help out—and they seem to be looking for a motive.

This is the second in the series but you needn’t have read the first to enjoy this one.  I liked the first one well enough to want to read the second, and this one is even better.  Wesley does a very good job with her characters.  I like that Odessa is an adult, unlike so many cozy mystery heroines who are chronologically grown-ups but whose behavior signals immaturity.  She is level-headed, kind, and willing to deal with her problems. She cares about other people, including her co-workers and the now fatherless businessman’s young son, but she isn’t intrusive. She doesn’t try to pry into everyone’s lives any more than she would want someone to pry into hers. She is perceptive but for the most part non-judgmental.

Dessa has a maturity and understanding of human nature that I find appealing. The hint of supernatural abilities are interesting but don’t operate as a deus ex machina—Dessa figures things out on her own.  There’s a realistic feel to this story that is lacking in some other cozy series I read.  It makes for a pleasant change.

And why, yes, there is a cat! His name is Juniper.

 The mystery was a good one and, even if some aspects were left as speculation, I was well satisfied.

The first book in the series is A Glimmer of Death. The third book, A Shimmer of Red, is due out summer 2023.

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