Tarot Cards

Vikki VanSickle: The Mystic and the Missing Girl

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Vikki VanSickle has had a long career as a children’s author (and bookseller), and this is her first foray into the world of adult mystery writing.  As I read the book I was thinking “this is kind of like a grown up version of Nancy Drew,” and after reading VanSickle’s biography, it makes sense. The main character, Drew Benson, has inherited her Aunt Hannah’s metaphysical shop, as well as the building it was housed in, which includes an apartment.  Like many another cozy heroine, Drew has returned back home to find herself after a mainly unsatisfying job in the city. read more

Carol Miller: The Magician’s Deception

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Fortune Telling Mysteries #4

Disclosure: this is the first book of this series I have read. Apparently the theme of each Tarot-themed book comes from the main card of a Tarot reading done at the beginning of the book. Although Amazon describes the series as “hilarious,” that was not my impression. It’s fun and cozy, but not laugh-out-loud funny.

Sisters Hope and Summer Bailey run Bailey’s Boutique, a mystic shop in Asheville, North Carolina which features palm and tarot readings, tea, and mystical gemstones. When Hope does a one-card Tarot reading for a customer, her Gram peeks at the next undrawn card. It’s the Magician, which means “beware the deceitful stranger.” It’s enough to give Gram pause and for her to consider cancelling her school reunion trip with her boyfriend “Because it’s almost Halloween, my dear, and everything is turned around on Halloween.” read more

Lina Chern: Tricks of Fortune

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Play the Fool #2

This second installment follows up  Chern’s Edgar winner, Play the Fool, which introduced Tarot card reader Katie True.  Even though I hadn’t read the first book, this one still did an excellent job of effortlessly weaving Katie’s origin story into the plot.  As the story opens, Katie, who runs a tarot reading business out of her sister’s real estate office, is stunned when her friend Gina is arrested for the murder of local hero cop, Matthew Peterson, better known in town as “Officer Pete.”  Not only is Katie rocked by Gina’s arrest, but also by the death of Officer Pete, who years ago famously rescued baby Katie True from a car wreck, saving her life. read more