A Mind for Murder, Book 1
Synopsis: When Liz Cooper’s friend Robin Bloom finds an unusual tarot card tacked to her front door, Liz writes it off as a prank. Robin refuses to ignore the omen—her late husband drew the same card, the three of swords, in a reading the night before he was killed in a car accident. As more cards and darker threats appear, Liz realizes someone very dangerous is upping the ante.
Liz turns to her brother’s ex-college roommate, occult expert Nick Garfield. As Nick leads her into the voodoo community to locate the origin of the deck, she can’t ignore their attraction to each other. Then a woman is found murdered and Robin becomes the prime suspect. Determined to clear her friend, Liz joins forces with Nick to unravel otherworldly secrets and seek help from beyond—or risk being outwitted by a cunning killer…
Review: I love cozy mysteries but it’s true that I do not read a lot of them, lot less than what I was doing but I always take a great pleasure in immersing myself in such a volume. I had this book since its release, after reading a nice review about it but didn’t take the time to read it, and here I am with the first volume.
Liz Cooper is a psychiatrist who does not believe in the supernatural, so when her best friend begins to receive tarot cards on her door, cards that her former husband had been drawn before dying, Liz begins to worry. Robin believes that this is an omen, the work of a spirit who tries to prevent or to hurt her. To understand exactly what is happening, Liz will contact an old friend of her brother, Nick, a professor and specialist in the occult for his help to discover the origin of tarot cards. But while they team up together and that Liz is taken deep into the world of voodoo magic, a young woman is killed and Robin finds herself detained. While everyone seems to think she is the killer, Liz is the only one to believe in her innocence and she remains determined to prove to everyone that she is right. However, this story might be more complicated than expected, while others are found killed, our heroine will have to find a way to stop all this and to understand what exactly is happening.
I enjoyed this story. The introduction to voodoo is what initially attracted me to the story and it is true that this is a topic that particularly fascinates me. So I was very curious to learn more through this volume. Liz goes to see her worldview completely change during the course of this story and it is true that I was really curious to find out who the real killer was here. We suspect many people but in the end I found that the author had indeed led her story quite well and I was glad to see the proposed resolution. Our heroine will have to open to a whole new world, she swore by what was rational, she will have to turn to something new and to try to learn as much as possible. For this she will have to quickly team up with Nick. Regarding the young man, it is true that many people try to put obstacles against their relationship, but I thought they were really cute and tender with each other throughout the story. Nick, despite his work, is much more down to earth than Liz and rather thinks about safety first, which is far from the case of the young woman. I must say that when she has an idea in mind, it is difficult to make her do anything, and helping her friend is her number one priority. They are both a very cute couple and I was curious to see how their relationship would evolve. We also discover many characters and I wonder if we’ll still see them later, whether the Nick’s friends, the people Liz meets during the investigation or her ex-husband.
I took a great pleasure in discovering this first volume and I’m glad to see that there are still two other volumes featuring the two heroes. I am curious to discover and learn more with all that. It was a good introduction and a very good mix of mystery, magic and consequences.
blodeuedd
Like I often said, I should try more cozy m
Melliane
yes I should do that too!
Jennifer Bielman @ Bad Bird Reads
Mystery cozies aren’t my thing but this sounds fun. I like voodoo books.
Melliane
It depends on the book but I always love voodoo books too!
kindlemom1
I love a good cozy mystery as well but seldom make time for them either and that is a shame because like you, when I do, I usually really love them!
Melliane
yes me too, I have many but I don’t take the time to read them.
Jenny @ Supernatural Snark
Oooo definitely going to recommend this to my mother in law Melliane! She LOVES cozy mysteries:) I’ve read a few myself and really enjoyed them, but I’ve never read anything about voodoo so that definitely has me curious. Thanks for the fantastic review!
Melliane
really? You should! I love voodoo books, so interesting!
Lily
Oh I love books that stray to the supernatural and I’ve never picked up any “voodoo” books before. I’m intrigued! Glad you had a fun time with this one.
Melliane
you should definetely try, it’s really interesting.
Carole Rae
Awwe, this sounds kinda cute. 🙂 I’ve never read anything centering around voodoo.
Melliane
it’s been a while as well but I love that.
Heidi
I am glad you reviewed this one. I ran across it and admired the cover. I always like a cozy with a bit of paranormal, and voodoo is always fascinating. I am going to check my library for this one.
Melliane
I hope you”ll like if you try it.
Kim at Book Swoon
I need to read more cozy mysteries. I like the voodoo and tarot aspect to it. Glad you enjoyed it Melliane:)
Melliane
yes it’s interesting to have this aspect.
ShootingStarsMag
This sounds good! I do want to read more cozy mysteries, and I’m glad it was a well-done one.
Melliane
me too
Sarah @ One Curvy Blogger
I’m not generally a fan of cozy mysteries. In fact, I haven’t read one in years! But Who Do, Voodoo? sounds very very good… plus it has a little bit of romance. Score! Addint to the TBR 😀
Melliane
I hope you’ll like it if you try it!
anna (herding cats & burning soup)
Oh I so think I need this one! I really enjoy cozy mysteries too but am the same and just don’t read them nearly often enough which is a shame. Yay for having a great time with it. Thanks for the heads up!
Melliane
My pleasure, it was a good one!
kimbacaffeinate
I use to gobble these up, and always enjoyed them. I must admit you have me tempted ..the whole voodoo thing in particular interests me.
Melliane
I always love to learn more about voodoo
Joy // Joyousreads
I’ve always been curious about the voodoo, too. And like you, I like to indulge in mysteries from time to time. This might be the perfect book to combine both. 🙂
Melliane
yes it’s fun!
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum
This looks really cool! From the moment I saw the cover I knew this book had to feature an interesting and fun mix. Glad the experience lived up to expectations.
Melliane
thank you!
Molly Mortensen
I don’t mind cozy mysteries when they have fantasy in them. I haven’t read a voodoo book before and the mystery and romance both sound well done too.