Caught Dead Handed
Carol J. Perry
Kensington, Sep 2 2014, $7.99
ISBN:
9781617733697
After a decade away, Maralee Barrett returns home
from St. Petersburg, Florida to Salem, Massachusetts for a job interview at
WICH-TV. She arrives at the cable station
only to be told the position was filled.
Before Lee leaves, the interviewer who dissed her, station manager Mr.
Doan angrily leaves his office because the call-in psychic host Ariel
Constellation walked out on her show. As
she departs, Lee, hearing a cell phone, finds Ariel’s corpse.
Program director Janice Valen calls 911. SPD Detective Pete Mondello arrives to lead
the inquiry. Valen explains to Lee that
Scott Palmer’s sports reporting got him the job, but that she needs a
replacement ASAP for Ariel. Though not a
psychic, Lee, needing a job, accepts.
However, something odd ensues; the ball Lee employs as a gimmick
actually works. She investigates while
Ariel’s cat O’Ryan moves in with Lee and Aunt Ibby. The killer murders again
while stalking the new psychic, her aunt and that darned cat.
Although Salem has hosted several paranormal whodunits
(see the Wishcraft Mystery series Witch City Mystery is a bewitching psychic investigation
due to strong characterizations starting with the heroine and the cat who
adopted her. The fast-paced storyline
spins a spell on the audience who will believe in the otherworldly; at the same
time the protagonist struggles to accept her sudden skills while adopting the
mantra “Better Read than Dead” (Psychic
Eye Mysteries by Victoria Laurie).
Harriet Klausner
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