Grave Reservations

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
—

“I'm not looking for a séance, Ms. Foley. I'm just telling you that I know there's more to the world than what we can always see right in front of us. And I believe you when you tell me that you had a premonition, or a bad feeling, or a bad certainty—if that's more like it. I believe you saved my life. Saved me a hell of a story and some smoke inhalation, that's for damn sure. And now I want to hire you. Not to book any travel, and not to talk to my dead mother. I've got a case I've been beating my head against for a couple of years, and I'm all out of leads. I'm ready to try anything, which means I'm willing to try a psychic, Ms. Foley, I want you to help me solve a murder.”

GRAVE RESERVATIONS

won't

* I'm as surprised as you to learn they still exist.

OTHER

Castle

The Spellman Files

Dahlia Moss

Madam Tulip

Madam Tulip

Grave Reservations

GRAVE RESERVATIONS

Psychic ex Machina

Grave Reservations

Overall rating: 3.5

This was a very fast and fun read, perfect for when you're looking for something lighter. Come for the very cozy mystery, but stay for the people.

I really liked reading about the characters. Leda and Grady make great main characters. Leda's best friend Niki, their friend group and Grady's daughter were also great additions. I really enjoyed reading all these characters and am looking forward to finding out more about them in the future books.

I also really liked the premise. I think it sets up a great premise, of a cop and a psychic partnering up (a la The Mentalist) to solve crimes. This of course comes with all the fun bits about coming up with ways for Leda to get close to the persons of interest.

In terms of mystery however, this was somewhat lackluster. The culprit was somewhat obvious early on, and it was frustrating that a detective wouldn't see it. It also seemed like Leda was so successful at klairvoyant karaoke that it didn't make sense that she got such little or unhelpful visions during the investigation in a way that made it difficult for me to keep my suspension of disbelief.

I found the scenes outside them detecting very fun as well. Characters and premise come together very well so the book was very entertaining to read throughout even though I didn't find the mystery that intriguing or interesting.

Overall I think this was a fun first book in a fun new series filled with murder and psychics. Especially loved that it was set in Seattle, and it featured my favorite bookstore!

A fast read - along the lines of a cute cozy mystery featuring a young woman with psychic powers who teams up with a police detective to solve the murder of her fiancee two years before which may or may not tie back to one of his current cases. An obvious set-up for a continuing series with a new “mentor” character coming on the scene in the last pages. Well-written, good pacing, interesting sidekicks and a likeable plucky heroine. This isn't a deep novel, characters are the types you expect to find in a cozy and the case was fairly straightforward to solve, but it was an enjoyable read.

Its fine. It's not a bad book. It's not a good book, but it's a fun simple light weight read. And often that's what I want.

I had some trouble with the editing, some phrases or words that not only don't add anything, but are kinda jarring. Something like “he reminds me of Joe Biden. But without the hair sniffing”.

It is very clearly set in Seattle, and the author likes the city, but some of the name dropping was a little weird. Everyone else worked at made up companies, except one who worked at Amazon, and one at Starbucks. Again. Not bad just felt jarring.

Loved all the characters except for the main. I tolerated her to get more of the rest.

Had a few moments with “shouldn't a cop know that?” But I think that's more of a me problem rather than the books problem.

Overall I wouldn't tell anyone to avoid this book, and it may be exactly what you are looking for, but I think there's better books out there.