Spirited Away (A Bay Island Psychic Mystery)
Spirited Away
A Bay Island Psychic Mysteryby Lena Gregory
4th in Series
Beyond the Page Publishing (May 16, 2019)
Paperback: 218 pages
ISBN-10: 1950461068
ISBN-13: 978-1950461066
Digital ASIN: B07RCKYSN2
In the new Bay Island Psychic Mystery, psychic Cass Donovan is thrown into the middle of a macabre murder she never saw coming . . .
With the summer tourist season on Bay Island in full swing, shop owner Cass Donovan barely has a minute to breathe, 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 learn 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 .
by
Cass
Donovan
Hi. I’m Cass Donovan, owner of Mystical
Musings, a small psychic shop on Bay Island. My shop sits in the perfect
location. The front door faces the boardwalk, and the back door faces the
beach. I love sitting on the back porch and looking out over the bay, watching
the boats headed to Long Island, the kids playing on the beach, and tourists
flocking to the lighthouse that overlooks it all. It brings back such fond
memories from my childhood.
Though I grew up on Bay Island, I left
seventeen years ago to go to college and only returned last year after my
psychiatric practice and my marriage both failed. But that’s another story.
I opened Mystical Musings last year, but
the idea of the shop on the boardwalk actually originated when I was trying to
save money for college. When I was in high school, my friends and I used to
spend hours sitting on the beach, and what better way to pass the time than
people watching. I loved studying the tourists, then make up stories for them,
giving them fictional lives based on what I perceived.
I found it easy to determine moods,
since most people wear their moods clearly in their expressions, but then I
started noticing other things, more subtle tells. The way some would twist
their hands together when they were nervous or fold their arms across their
chests when they were hiding something. It got to be a game. Sometimes my
friends would join in, offering their own insight into the tourist’s lives,
swearing they were right when my gut would tell me they couldn’t be further
from the truth.
Then, one particularly boring day, a
group of us were hanging around making up stories. One of the boys issued a
challenge I couldn’t ignore. He dared me to approach a woman and share my story
with her. I still laugh remembering the looks on their faces when I shrugged,
stood up, brushed myself off and marched down the beach toward her. With only
one backward glance, I walked up to her and said, “Excuse me.”
She had kind eyes, but there was a
sadness in them that I wanted to understand. When I offered to do a psychic
reading for her, she agreed with a good-natured but skeptical smile. As it
turned out, I was extremely close on all counts. The sadness in her eyes was
from a recent break up, the way she wrapped her arms tightly around herself was
a defense mechanism. She didn’t trust people, wanted to keep them out, thanks
to her ex-boyfriend’s cheating. I had nailed so much of her story, and was
ready to walk away with a smug smile for my friends. But then I realized the
sadness still filled her eyes, and I found I wanted to help, wanted to do
something to alleviate her suffering.
So I offered her a premonition, a brief
glimpse of the future I imagined for her with a man who would treat her like
gold. Though she still appeared somewhat skeptical, there was a bit of optimism
and hope as well. And I realized how good it felt to use my gift to help
someone. I still think about that woman on occasion and wonder if any of my
predictions came true. I certainly hope so.
Anyway, much to Chief Langdon’s dismay,
I spent the next few summers approaching tourists and offer to do “readings”
for them, only charging if I was able to give them an accurate depiction of
their lives. In the beginning, I got about half right. By the time I left for
college, I was rarely wrong. When I returned to Bay Island, I picked up where I
left off, but this time, I opened my own shop, and now the tourists seek me
out.
An incident at her public group reading, early in the summer, could ruin her reputation and her business. It could also put a deadly end to her closest friendships.
This has easily become one of my favorite cozy mystery series. I love the friendships and the characters I've met here. The author does a wonderful job of keeping me glued to the edge of my seat, not wanting to put the book down.
It is a clean series, not graphic, but with clues the reader can follow on their own. There is a hint of romance which does not overpower the main reason readers are drawn to this series. The author also throws in moments that made me smile, which is always appreciated.
Whether you are a believer or not, the paranormal elements of this story will have you wondering how the connections are being made and who is in danger. Cass finally finds validation for her abilities from some important people, including herself. Which leads us to wonder, how will this realization influence what comes next?
I can't wait to find out!
Lena Gregory is the author of the Bay Island Psychic Mysteries, which take place on a small island between the north and south forks of Long Island, New York, the All-Day Breakfast Café Mysteries, which are set on the outskirts of Florida’s Ocala National Forest, and the Puzzle Solvers Mysteries, which take place in a small town on eastern Long Island.
Lena grew up in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, where she still lives with her husband, three kids, son-in-law, and five dogs. Her hobbies include spending time with family, reading, jigsaw puzzles, and walking. Her love for writing developed when her youngest son was born and didn’t sleep through the night. She works full time as a writer and a freelance editor and is a member of Sisters in Crime.
To learn more about Lena and her latest writing endeavors, visit her website at http://www.lenagregory.com/ and be sure to sign up for her newsletter http://lenagregory.us12.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9765d0711ed4fab4fa31b16ac&id=49d42335d1.
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Thank you so much for sharing the release of Spirited Away! And thank you for such a lovely review. I'm so happy you enjoyed the story.
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