Smoke and Mirrors

November 7, 2016
In Daniels’s unimpressive 10th paranormal Pepper Martin mystery (after 2012’s Supernatural Born Killers), the Cleveland cemetery community relations manager has to deal with the demands of her boss, Ella Silverman; her lover, cop Quinn Harrison; and the spirit of lawman Eliot Ness. Pepper is able to see and talk with denizens of a very active spirit world, though Ness appears as only a poorly formed swirl of sparkles. Ness, who wants to be whole, asks Pepper to steal his ashes from Dean McClure, the memorabilia collector who has them. The first shock comes when Ella for no good reason attempts to drive her car into Pepper, who’s standing by Ness’s memorial stone. A greater shock comes with Pepper’s discovery of McClure’s murdered body in his home. Then Quinn starts to act strangely, as does Pepper’s mother, Barb. Pepper finds herself tussling psychically with a very tough spirit and an old enemy of Ness’s who has his own plans. Daniels generates few laughs and fewer chills in this routine cozy. Agent: Gail Fortune, Talbot Fortune Agency.

October 1, 2017
From the author of the modern-day Pepper Martin paranormal mystery series comes this intriguing historical mystery, set in the 1840s, the first in a projected new series starring Evangeline Evie Barnum, the fictional sister of famed impresario P. T. Barnum. An old friend of Evie's asks her for help (although he doesn't provide much in the way of details). She declines, not wanting to encourage any romantic feelings the man might have for her; but not long after, the man is murdered. One of Evie's friends, a living exhibit at the Barnum museum, is the prime suspect, but she's convinced he's innocent. Can she prove it, though, before the real killer silences her? The author's first period mystery is a bit overwritten in placesit feels sometimes like she's trying too hard to sound Victorian but, overall, it's a smartly told mystery that should have readers coming back for more.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)