The Madness of Mercury by Connie di Marco Review

The Madness of Mercury

by Connie di Marco

GENRE: Mystery

Astrologer Julia Bonatti never thought her chosen profession would bring danger into her life, but her outspoken advice in her newspaper column, AskZodia, makes her the target of San Francisco’s recently-arrived cult leader, Reverend Roy of the Prophet’s Tabernacle. The followers of the power hungry preacher will stop at nothing to quell the voices of those who would stand in his way and Julia’s at the top of his list. She’s willing to bet the charismatic Reverend is a Mercury-ruled individual, and she knows all too well that Mercury wasn’t just the messenger of the gods, he was a trickster and a liar as well.  

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Wizard had curled into a fetal position on top of a fuzzy throw close to the fireplace. The wind was buffeting the windows so hard the rain sounded like gravel being thrown against the glass. The logs were blazing and I thanked my stars I could snuggle inside tonight with Wizard and work.

Samantha had forwarded about fifty emails from the newspaper to my own AskZodia email address. As a weekly column, there was space for only three or four questions and answers, but now, the editor was considering running it as a daily feature. To keep the column interesting to as large a group of readers as possible, I like to pick a range of ages and problems.

Dear Zodia

I’ve worked as a bookkeeper in the corporate world my entire life. I’m 65 and my company forced me to retire. I’m in decent shape financially. I have a good pension and savings, but I don’t know what to do with myself. I’ve tried to find part-time work but no luck. I’ve never felt so lost and useless. Do you see any kind of work on the horizon for me? My birth date is May 4, 1944 at 10:43 PM in Baltimore.

~ Discarded

Poor guy. Worked his whole life and now shoved aside. The man’s birth chart showed Venus as the oriental planet, that is, the planet rising first before the Sun, a position that can sometimes offer a strong clue to the profession. This man was a natural artist, perhaps a craftsman, with his Mars in Virgo. He was someone with artistic yearnings and capable of patient, detailed work.

Dear Discarded:

Your true artistic abilities have never been recognized, much less nourished. A whole new world can open up for you if you would pursue some form of craftsmanship to produce beautiful things. Jewelry design, working in precious metals, is just one possibility that comes to mind. Please take some classes, perhaps at a local university extension and try your hand. I think you’ll be amazed at your abilities and imagination. Believe me, you won’t look back.

~ Zodia

I worked through several more questions and responses and then saved them all. This was hardly a perfect way to practice astrology, but hopefully, my quick judgments and answers would be spot on and help someone head in the right direction. I clicked back to the inbox and realized three more emails had arrived while I had been working.

I didn’t recognize the various senders. My AskZodia address had been set up only for Samantha, but these new emails weren’t from her. My private clients use Julia.Bonatti and my friends use JuliaB. None of them would even know of my AskZodia address.
 I hesitated. I’m a hopeless non-techie person and rely on my computer for business so I’m very fearful of viruses. I clicked on the button to open the reading pane and scrolled down. A jolt of fear shot through me. The message read, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”

A wonderful start to am intriguing new series. I am a cozy addict and I have enjoyed psychics and astrology in many forms for decades. I couldn't wait to see how they would be combined.

It turned out to be a lot of fun.

The characters are well written and we begin to care for them early on. When they get into situations that turn dangerous, your heart will beat faster. The flow of the story is well paced and you'll wish you could read it in one sitting!

Julia doesn't normally do home consultations but when events threaten her own home setting, she winds up moving in! The secondary characters are quirky but attractive in their own ways. I hope we see more of them.

There is another main theme in the book and that revolves around the care of elderly people, quality of life and some who desire to take advantage of them. I am at an age where I am dealing with this with persons in my family and soon enough I will be that age, so it also impacted my emotions.

Full of suspense and surprises and lots of interesting information!

I was given this book in exchange for a review

Connie di Marco is the author of the upcoming Zodiac Mystery series from Midnight Ink featuring San Francisco astrologer, Julia Bonatti.
 The Madness of Mercury, first in the series, will be released on June 8, 2016.
 Writing as Connie Archer, she’s also the national bestselling author of the Soup Lover’s Mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime.
 You can find her excerpts and recipes in both The Cozy Cookbook and The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook.
 She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime. 

You can visit her at her website: www.conniedimarco.com, or Facebook.com/ConniediMarco (Author) and Twitter: @askzodia.