Book 55, 2021

[chez_jae]

See Something by Carol J. Perry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Earlier this evening, I finished reading See Something by Carol J Perry. This is the 11th installment in the "Witch City" mystery series with main character Maralee "Lee" Barrett.

Lee has been promoted from field reporter to program director. Although she misses the excitement of chasing a lead, she's full of ideas for WICH-TV, and she is learning to appreciate working regular hours. When Lee notices a woman has been sitting by herself on a bench on the Salem Common, she goes to introduce herself and see if the woman needs help. What Lee learns is that woman cannot even remember her own name. Lee takes her home and calls her police detective boyfriend, Pete Mondello, to apprise him of the situation. Lee is thrust into excitement again when it turns out the woman, whom they call Janie (Jane Doe), has witnessed a murder.

As the police work to find out Janie's identity, the murderer (or murderers) seem to fixate on Lee as a means to get to Janie. Soon she's being stalked, harassed, and threatened. However, Lee has a strong support system around her, including her Aunt Ibby and Ibby's friends, who throw themselves into researching the shady real estate deals that seem to be at the heart of the murder. It soon becomes a race to see if the police will close in on a killer before he can get to either Lee or Janie.

The story was fun and fast-paced, although I confess I miss going on assignment with Lee as an investigative reporter. Her visions didn't play as important a role in this book as in others, but she did have some recurring dreams that seemed to offer clues. The ending was immensely satisfying, with Lee only being on the fringes of danger this time. O'Ryan, the cat, played a big role, as did other animals in the story.

Favorite lines:
♦ "I can't tell the chief that I need another officer to protect a lady clown because my girlfriend's cat says she's in danger."
♦ Cats don't take commands, even when they understand perfectly what you want them to do. Especially when they understand perfectly what you want them to do.

Very good, five stars!