Genre: Mystery
Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781950461066
Beyond the Page Publishing
218 Pages
$14.99; $4.99 Amazon
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With the summer tourist season on Bay Island in full swing, shop owner Cass Donovan barely has a minute to breath, and things at Mystical Musings become even more hectic when a fight breaks out at one of her psychic readings. Shaken by the fracas and discouraged that her sixth sense seems to be on the blink, Cass is even more dispirited to leasrn that one of the men involved in the altercation was later found dead...and that a close friend of hers is the main suspect. Desperate to help her friend prove his innocence and consumed by haunting visions, Cass follows the clues from one possible culprit to the next, including some very mysterious tourists and not a few questionable locals. And when the police turn to Cass to help them find out who committed the ghoulish deed, she knows she'll have to tread carefully, because her next grim premonition may be her last...
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Cass Donovan is an ex-psychiatrist who gave up her practice and her husband back in Manhattan and moved home to Bay Island to open a psychic shop that sells gifts and items that help people. She has her two best friends -- Bee, a clothing designer who lives down the street, and Stephanie, an accountant who does her books and is married to Tank, a police detective. She's also recently learned that her boyfriend Luke, another police detective, has moved to the island; but they aren't spending a lot of time together due to the fact that he's hot in the middle of art thieves who are hiding their treasures.
But Cass is tense and worried, partly because she doesn't know what's happening with her. While she's always depended upon her intuition to help her out, lately she's felt 'otherworldly' forces at work and visions that come to her which are unsettling, to say the least. She doesn't know what to make of it, and not knowing why has put her on edge.
It's the middle of the tourist season, and she's not happy that her air conditioning is on the fritz and can't get fixed until the next day, especially since she has a group reading to do that evening. Still, she carries on even with the oppressing heat in the room but can't seem to get a read on anyone, being unable to concentrate. When she finally does and blurts out something she normally wouldn't have done, not only do people get upset, it nearly causes a fight to break out between her handyman and mechanic Emmett and and another man she doesn't know.
When the second man, later identified at Dirk Brinkman, is found dead in the trunk of a car at Emmett's shop, he's suspected of the murder. But Cass knows that Emmett wouldn't kill anyone, and while she's vowed to stay out the investigation, something -- or someone -- is urging her to get involved. When the stakes turn higher than anyone expected, Cass has to decide whether to stay or put her own life on the line...
This is the fourth book in the series and I do believe that they are getting better as they progress. Cass is discovering that her psychic powers are growing, and visions are beginning to appear to her, and she doesn't know what to make of it. This time, she's only given a bit of information to work with and she tries to figure out what it means, all the while with Bee by her side, trying to help her but making no bones that he doesn't believe any of it, not does he believe in ghosts (but we the reader know otherwise).
I love Bee. He's brave, strong, and the best friend that Cass could have, sticking by her no matter what. He's also funny and has no problem making fun of himself, which shows that he has enough self-esteem not to worry about other people. It gives him an edge that's great. Cass is gentle, kind, fiercely loyal to her friends, and opening up her abilities and allowing them to guide her, and I do like the fact that Chief Rawlins believes in her and is becoming a friend.
Watching the story come together slowly is quite interesting, and when Cass starts to realize that the pieces are falling together, it's almost too late. But she uses her own strength and intuition to give her the answers she's looking for, and the climax is definitely worth waiting for. When the murderer is revealed it all makes sense, and we find that the motive is one as old as time itself.
When all is said and done, the ending was satisfying and gives us something to look forward to in the next book. Highly recommended.
More on Lena Gregory's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/lena-gregory/
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