Book 50, 2021

Occult and Battery by Lena Gregory

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Wednesday night I finished reading Occult and Battery by Lena Gregory. It's the second book in the "Bay Island Psychic" mystery series. Story is told in third person pov from the perspective of the main character, Cass Donovan. Cass is a former psychiatrist who uses her training to "read" people as a psychic.

Cass has barely gotten her psychic shop, Mystic Musings, off the ground when winter hits Bay Island. With tourists in short supply, she's hoping to draw in more customers and business by hosting a seance and group reading at an allegedly haunted local mansion. The new owners plan to turn the mansion into a bed and breakfast, and they are eager for the publicity the weekend will bring. Cass' excitement about the weekend fades when her ex-husband, Donald, shows up along with his new fiancee...who also happens to be Cass' former best friend. Nevertheless, her staunch friends, Stephanie and Bee, are there to keep her spirits up.

The seance is going well until a winter storm knocks the electricity out, and one of the owners of the mansion is found hanging in the cupola. While his death appears to be suicide, Cass believes he was murdered. When someone comes to Cass and asks her to contact the victim and later ends up dead as well, it seems that the killer thinks Cass may know more than she does. Now she needs to avoid a killer and solve the murders before anyone else ends up dead.

The story was interesting. I liked it better than the first one in the series. I especially like that Cass appears to possess some actual psychic abilities, although she is in denial. Bee is an absolute hoot, and I admire how Stephanie always has Cass' back. I would have enjoyed the story more, however, if my logic-brain hadn't kicked in.

( Spoilers )

Favorite line: "Nice to know you guys were going to leave me here alone."
Lame, but nothing else really jumped out at me.

Characters were well-developed, including Cass' odious exes, and the plot moved along at a good tempo. In spite of my grievances with the less-than-logical aspects, I'm giving this one a four.