Published by Obsidian (The Penguin Group.),
28 August 2014.
ISBN: 978-0-451-41969-9
Abigail
Cooper is a psychic whose gift is for forecasting the future of people,
depending on the aura surrounding them. This is not an exact science and
Abigail can often feel the danger without being certain exactly where it is
coming from. Abigail consults for the FBI, where her fiancé, Dutch Rivers, is
an agent. Abigail has worked with this branch of the FBI for some time and she
is a respected member of the team.
MJ Holliday is a friend and
colleague of Abigail, although they live in different parts of the US. MJ's
speciality is as a medium, communicating with the dead.
Throughout Deadly Forecast
the narrative is split into two parts. The major part is in Abigail's First
Person viewpoint and deals with her preparations for her wedding to Dutch. This
is marred by her sister's determination to turn their wedding day into an
elaborate circus, but is totally over-shadowed by the Abigail's conviction that
Dutch is in danger and will die before he can marry her. Dutch and Abigail are
involved in a serious bombing case, where, in two different locations, at
different times, two young women have walked into a shopping mall and a
hairdressing salon with bombs strapped to them, which exploded, killing the
girls and several bystanders.
The other part of the narrative is
in a different time frame and is told in MJ's Third Person viewpoint. It is all
set on Abigail's wedding day. When MJ arrives, a short while before the
wedding, she realises that Abigail has disappeared and that she has been
kidnapped. MJ and Dutch search for her, knowing that death is closing in on
her.
This is the 11th mystery
featuring Abigail Cooper and the 9th featuring MJ Holliday, and the
author shows great skill in introducing both characters, their friends and
colleagues, with enough back-story to aid understanding without weighing down
the book. I would find it interesting to read some of the earlier books. From
the titles of the MJ Holliday books, I suspect that the tone and subject matter
may be lighter than in the Abigail Cooper books, and I commend the author's
skill in combining her two series so successfully.
The pace of Deadly Forecast
is fast and compelling and the two time-scales combine well. The peril that the
protagonists are in is always present in the reader's mind. The characters are
well-drawn and appealing and, even though this book comes a long way through
both series, it stands alone as a very enjoyable read.
------
Reviewer: by Carol
Westron
Victoria Laurie is the bestselling author of several mystery thrillers
featuring Professional Psychic Abby Cooper. She majored in Political Science and moved to
Florida where she became a professional Psychic. She now lives in Austin Texas.
Carol Westron is a successful short story writer and a Creative
Writing teacher. She is the moderator
for the cosy/historical crime panel, The Deadly Dames. Her crime novels are set both in contemporary
and Victorian times. The Terminal
Velocity of Cats is the first in her Scene of Crimes novels, was published
July 2013. Her second book About the
Children was published in May 2014.
www.carolwestron.com
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