Genre: Mystery
Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781950461516
Beyond the Page Publishing
202 Pages
$13.99; $4.99 Amazon
May 21, 2020
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Cass Donovan is reminded that you can't believe everything you hear, especially when it comes from the dead...
When stories begin circulating of a centuries-old ghost haunting the Bay Island lighthouse, Cass is caught up in mystical happenings of her own, with countless voices from the beyond all clamoring for her attention with dire warnings. But before she has a chance to learn whether there's a connection between the rumored ghost and her restless visitors, the lighthouse keeper mysteriously falls to his death, and Cass's reputation for communing with the dead lands her right in the middle of a police investigation.
Cass knows the victim was no saint, as he made little effort to hide his philandering ways from his wife or anyone else, and often acted out with no thought for the feelings of others. But had he finally gone too far, or were there more menacing motives behind his murder? As Cass begins building a list of suspects, including the man's supposedly grieving wife and mysterious new woman in town, she also turns her ear to those otherworldly voices, hoping for a clue. And as she begins to close in on the culprit, she realizes too late that if she's not careful, she'll soon be communicating with the dead in person...
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Cass Donovan left her old life and marriage behind in Manhattan and moved back home to Bay Island, where she owns a shop called Mystical Musings. She not only sells gifts and items that she knows are right for people, she gives personal and group readings to others. She's also recently discovered that her ability to communicate with the dead is growing, and she's not able to tune them out, so all the voices come at her at once -- although, gratefully, not at a constant run.
When one voice in particular keeps telling her something about the local lighthouse, she wonders what it might be. So when her best friend Bee insists that she take the day off to help their friend Stephanie, she agrees. Stephanie is obsessed with adopting a child, and it's gotten to the point she can't think of anything else, but she agrees to go with them.
While they head to the beach, they see a new tour bus, and learn that Fred DiCarlo, whose wife runs the lighthouse gift shop, is now going to run ghost tours, including the lighthouse. While in the gift shop, Cass notices Fred's wife is upset and wants to find out why. But she also discovers that there's an old exhibit of a journal from a woman who lived hundreds of years ago, which intrigues Bee.
Then, later at her shop, Cass meets a woman named Simone who asks for a reading. When Cass starts her process, the voices come again. Then suddenly Cass comes to a revelation, and it might just change everything for her. Still, she can't sift through the voices, and something else is coming through that might put one of her friends in danger.
But then there's a death, and Cass witnesses it from the lighthouse. Still, she doesn't think it will cause the problems that are about to enter her life; and with the help of Bee, who's keeping a watch on her, Cass struggles to maintain her equilibrium and sanity, and try to figure out what everything means. All she has to do is stay out of the cross hairs of a killer to survive...
This is the fifth book in the series, and might be the best one yet. I truly am enjoying the strong relationship between Bee and Cass, and he's rather like a big brother to her, watching out for her; and somehow, manages to get her huge dog to obey him when Beast pretty much ignores Cass, and that's humorous in itself.
The mystery begins solely at the beginning with the death, but it's not straight up. There's an even older mystery of a young woman who lived at the lighthouse keeper's cottage with her family, and it leads to intimations of buried treasure somewhere near, even though no one has been able to find it. But there's one or more people who are interested in that treasure, and Cass wonders if the man was murdered because of it.
What ensues is not only that tale, but Cass's increasing knowledge of what she can do with her psychic ability, and is trying to learn how to tame it. Along with Stephanie wanting a child, and the gossip surrounding the murder leading back to her door, Cass has her work cut out for her trying to keep the rumors away.
There isn't much more I can say without giving away spoilers, so I won't add much else except to say that when the murderer is discovered, it is a surprise and yet the motive is one that is believable; the climax is done nicely; and it leaves us wanting to read the next in the series. Highly recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Grave-Consequences-Lena-Gregory/dp/1950461513/ref
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3411922911
More on Lena Gregory's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/lena-gregory/
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