Tail of the Dragon (A Zodiac Mystery #3)

Author:  Connie di Marco
Genre:  Mystery

Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780738751061
Midnight Ink Publishing
336 Pages
$15.99; $11.99 Amazon
August 8, 2018

✮✮✮✮✮

Julia Bonatti loves the freedom of working for herself as a professional astrologer.  But after receiving several unexpected bills, she considers a temp job offer from her old boss a stroke of luck too good to pass up.  On her first day, the posh law office becomes a crime scene when one of the partners is found dead.  Julia discovers that a series of death threats have been sent to several employees of the firm, and she uses her astrological expertise to discover possible motives.  But before she can convince the authorities of what she knows, the killer strikes again.  Will Julia unmask the culprit before he, or she, takes another life?

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Julia Bonatti is a professional astrologer in San Francisco.  She's recently acquired a string of bills that will take more than what she makes to pay off, so she reluctantly accepts a temporary position with the legal firm she once worked for.

On the morning of her first day she hears a woman scream and it's discovered that one of the partners, Jack Harding, is dead, found in his office by one of the staff.  After everyone has been questioned and released to go home, the head partner, David Meyers - who is also the person Julia will be working for - takes her to lunch and tells her he had an ulterior motive in asking her to fill in for his vacationing secretary.  It seems some of the employees have receiving threatening letters and he wants her to quietly see if she can find out who sent them.  While Julia is stunned, she agrees to do what she can.

To add to the situation her late fiance's sister Maggie arrives with some unsettling news: it seems that the day Michael was killed in a hit-and-run in front of their apartment the man across the street was taking random pictures and caught part of the accident on film.  Not much, but enough to where a retired police detective is willing to see what he can find out.

Then her friend Gale is expecting her to attend an art opening, and it's hinted by another friend, Cheryl, that Gale has her eye on the artist.  While Julia is there she sees one of the law firm's attorneys, Nora Layton, speaking with the artist outside, and it doesn't look friendly.

But as Julia keeps on investigating, she learns that there were plenty of people who hated Jack and had reason to want him dead; that there's more to the attorneys in the firm than meet the eye; that Gale's sculptor friend might have secrets of his own, and, in fact, there are even more secrets that someone is desperate to keep hidden, even if it means killing Julia to quiet...

I have read all three books in this series and I have to say that this one is my favorite.  There's plenty of action regarding the main plot, and while I feel that the secondary stories - that of Gale and Julia trying to find out who killed Michael - don't have the "legs" as it were to be very interesting, there was enough going on that it didn't really matter.  I personally feel that this may be, after all, only because they were relegated as a minor part of the story and didn't have a lot to do with the main plot.  Not a big deal, just an opinion.

While we watch Julia struggle with her feelings about Michael and how she's going to be able to move on, we see her new struggle with opening herself up to allowing someone into her life again.  The story has a double message if you look for it; sometimes remaining in the past won't allow you to be part of the future.

There were plenty of twists and turns and a couple of surprises along the way, and even though I figured out the murderer early on, clues are strewn throughout the tale if you look for them; and it was still enjoyable to watch Julia figure it out.  I have to say that the ending was suspenseful enough on its own to make the book worth reading, which is a good thing, and even though the urge may strike some readers, please don't peek ahead.  Some surprises are better left for last.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Zodiac-Mystery-Connie-Marco/dp/0738751065/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2489597892

More on Connie di Marco's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/connie-di-marco/

All Signs Point to Murder (A Zodiac Mystery #2)

Author:  Connie di Marco
Genre:  Mystery

Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780738751078
Midnight Ink Publishing
338 Pages
$7.99; $1.99 Amazon
August 8, 2017

✮✮✮

Julia Bonatti is alarmed by the astrological signs looming over Geneva Leary's wedding day, but nobody asked Julia's opinion and being a bridesmaid means supporting the bride no matter what.  Even with the foreboding Moon-Mars-Pluto lineup in the heavens, no one's prepared for the catastrophes that strike:  a no-show sister, a passed-out wedding planner, and a lethal shooting in the dead of night.

With anger and grief threatening to tear the Leary family apart, Julia is determined to understand how such a terrible tragedy could have occurred.  As she digs deeper into the family's secrets, her astrological insights lead her to some rather unexpected conclusions.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Julia Bonatti is an astrologer who's been roped into being part of a wedding party of her friend Geneva, one she really doesn't want to be part of but is doing so out of loyalty.  While there she sees that the bride's sister Moira not only doesn't show up to be in the wedding, but when they do find her she appears to be drunk, even though she insists she's not.  Later that night members of the wedding party retreat to the bride's sister Brooke's home to spend the night, lugging the wedding gifts with them.  During the night Julia hears what appears to be gunshots and finds out that Brooke's husband Rob has shot an intruder in the garage.  When the lights come on, the intruder is discovered to be Moira, and she's declared dead at the hospital.

When Rob insists there was another person in the garage and he didn't kill Moira, Geneva asks Julia to investigate and find out if there was another shooter, and if Moira was involved in something shady.  So Julia reluctantly agrees and goes to Moira's apartment, only to be conked on the head while there and knocked out.  When she comes to, she barely makes it out of the apartment before the police arrive.  What she does find, however, is an expensive bracelet - one that Moira could not have afforded, given her spotty employment record.  But when she shows the bracelet to Geneva, she knows nothing about it.

Still Julia continues to investigate, and finds out more about Moira's private life - including a second boyfriend that no one seems to know anything about.  Will she find the truth before an innocent man is convicted of murder?  Or will she lose her own life to someone who's been watching her all along and knows the only reason to keep a secret is if they are the only one who knows it...

This is the second book in the series, and I really wanted to like it as much as the first; however, I felt the story got bogged down by endless details about everything - where she parked, the attitude of valets, etc.; just descriptions of everything Julia encountered.  I mean, honestly, how many people do you know describe every single moment of their day?  And would you want to spend time with them if they did?

Julia is investigating the murder by herself with no help from anyone in the victim's family, which I find extremely odd considering she didn't even know Moira that well, if at all.  I certainly wouldn't put myself out to investigate the murder of someone I barely knew.  It doesn't make any sense, even given the fact that Geneva stood by her after Michael's death.  No explanation is given as to why Geneva isn't 'along for the ride' as it were, at least on some level.  Instead, she just put the entire thing in Julia's lap.  And when Julia is knocked out, Geneva doesn't even show real concern - she doesn't tell her to stop the investigation right there because her life might be in danger.  She just allows her to continue on.

I also didn't care much for Brooke.  She decided that she'd rather divorce her husband instead of having a second child, and when I read that she thought her career was more important than the marriage, well, that's telling right there.  Yes, I know the outcome and everything, but if either man or woman puts career ahead of marriage it pretty much says it all, doesn't it?  Didn't they discuss this before marrying?

I also felt the secondary story of Celia seemed more like filler so that the reader didn't forget the reason why Julia decided not to date again.  All it did was tell me that Julia is a doormat.  She investigates a murder - putting herself in danger - without help from the victim's family and doesn't say anything.  She allows her almost-mother-in-law to say things to her and push her around without fighting back.  She also goes to a building to eavesdrop on a conversation and gets into a cabinet to hide and gets locked in the building, then has to figure a way out without getting caught when she gets locked in.  It seemed like a really stupid thing to do.

Now I know these were plot lines with a reason behind them, but I think they could have been handled differently to show us that Julia was not blatantly stupid.  She professes to live her life by Astrology, but never sees if danger awaits her if she does certain things?  Why is she never looking at her own chart and taking precautions?

While these things may have detracted from the book for me, it was the ending that saved it, and the reason I give it three stars instead of two.  It was a nice one indeed, with a little bit of action and ingenuity and definite pluck on Julia's part that made me realize there is a brain in her head after all.  While I figured out the killer early on, it was interesting to watch Julia get to the gist of the matter and figure it out for herself.  This book is an easy read for a quiet afternoon and I will read the next in the series, because I did enjoy the first book.

https://www.amazon.com/Signs-Point-Murder-Zodiac-Mystery/dp/0738751073/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2487050844

More on Connie di Marco's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/connie-di-marco/

The Madness of Mercury (A Zodiac Mystery)

Author:  Connie di Marco
Genre:  Mystery

Paperback, Ebook

ISBN:  9780738749125

Midnight Ink

312 Pages

$1257; $7.99 Amazon

June 8, 2016

Four Stars

San Francisco astrologer Julia Bonatti's life is turned upside down when she becomes the target of the city's newest cult leader, Reverend Roy of the Prophet's Tabernacle.  Driven out of her apartment in the midst of a disastrous Mercury retrograde period, she takes shelter with a client who's caring for two elderly aunts.  One aunt appears stricken with dementia and the other has fallen under the spell of the Reverend Roy.  To add to the confusion, a young man claiming to be a long-lost nephew arrives.  The longer he stays, the more dangerous things become.  Is the young man truly a member of the family?  Can astrology confirm that?  Julia's not sure, but one thing she does know is that Mercury wasn't merely the messenger of the gods - he was a trickster and a liar as well.

********

Julia Bonatti is an astrologer living and practicing in San Francisco.  When she returns home from a visit to her friend Dorothy's - where the body of the gardener, Luis, is discovered - she finds a bit of a problem:  people are picketing her home and later, are deeming her a witch.  To boot, someone has hacked into her email, she's been threatened at knifepoint, her window has been broken, she has to leave her apartment and move to her grandmother's (where the heater isn't working and it's December) - well, you get the drift.  Her life isn't exactly a bed of roses right now; in fact, it's pretty much nothing but thorns.

Since her fellow members of the occult are also being targeted, they're all but sure it's due to the Reverend Roy's followers:  a charismatic man whose people are devoutly devoted to rooting 'sinners' out of San Francisco; and to make matters worse, Julia discovers that Dorothy's elderly Aunt Eunice is under his spell along with her caretaker, Gudrun.  As if that weren't enough, Dorothy's other aunt, Evandra, is convinced that Dorothy is attempting to kill her, because Dorothy inherits everything if the sisters die...that is, until a handsome young Australian shows up on the doorstep of the Telegraph Hill home and states he's Reggie, the last male heir and the fortune goes to him.

The police, on the other hand, are being told to 'lay off the reverend,' and so aren't doing much of anything to help the people being harassed, which isn't helping the situation any, and it only seems to be worsening, with her friend's shop being firebombed.

When Eunice packs up and leaves Gamble House for Prophet's Paradise, the reverend's compound, Julia knows she can't sit by and watch the elderly woman be taken advantage of, so decides to find Prophet's Paradise and rescue Eunice, but it's not as easy as it seems...

The Madness of Mercury is the start of a new series centering around Astrology, and how it affects peoples' lives.  I found the mystery to be quite good, with enough twists to keep the plot interesting, but not so many as to seem unbelievable.  Julia herself is a level-headed woman who doesn't go out and take chances without thinking things through.  While the other characters weren't as well-defined, there was still enough to them that they didn't feel one-dimensional.

There's a lot about Astrology, a little paranormal (as in ghosts), and it's all wrapped up in an entertaining package that's enjoyable to read.  When we finally find out the killer, it comes as a surprise, even though there were clues along the way; but enough red herrings to keep us wondering almost to the end.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Madness-Mercury-Zodiac-Mystery/dp/0738749125/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1676235918

More on Connie di Marco:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/connie-di-marco/