Book 22, 2026

[chez_jae]

The Five Strangers by Mary Bowers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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Knocked back The Five Strangers by Mary Bowers over the course of 24 hours. It’s the 18th book in her “Tropical Breeze” series of paranormal cozies. The main character is Taylor Verone, who refuses to admit she may be psychic.

A sudden influx of strangers into the small community of Tropical Breeze stirs both curiosity and concern. There’s the harridan who opens an antique store just a couple doors from Taylor’s resale shop, a charismatic busker, a preppy CPA, and a possible vampire. Local handyman, Jasper, claims the woman who opened the antique store has placed a curse on him, and he retains the services of paranormal investigator Edson Darby-Deaver to get to the bottom of it. With Ed involved, Taylor gets dragged into the drama as well. She thinks that Sheila is a witch, but not a Witch. Before Taylor can convince Jasper he’s in no danger, someone is murdered and now the entire town is on edge.

This particular installment in the series had it all: mystery, humor, paranormal elements, and just enough creepiness to keep my attention. The only drawback, in my opinion, is that Ed wasn’t very Ed-like. Instead of being reserved and socially awkward, he seemed more feisty and in charge. Not necessarily a bad thing, but out of character for him. Other characters were portrayed well, from the regulars to the newcomers. The plot was fast-paced and held my attention.

Favorite lines:
♦ “Now tools don’t work and ladders are falling over and even turtles are coming to get me.”
♦ It would have been just like Ed to throw things off by suggesting that evil-wishers don’t use gopher tortoises because they’re too slow.
♦ “Have you been just hoping for a case of hag-riding one of these days so you could test out a theory?”
♦ When Abraham was a proto-kitten and lined up for a personality before being born, he must have gotten into the sloth line by mistake.
♦ “Wait, I’ll go with you. We can go on the warpath together.”
♦ “He thinks he’s got vampires now?” Jasper hadn’t mentioned that at the diner, and when you’re consulting a paranormal investigator, you’d think a thing like that would come up.
♦ “If you decide to just go over to his house and knock on the door, make sure you don’t go after dark. I hear vampires are trying to get into his house.”
♦ “I don’t think any of them have even seen her shop yet. It’s actually more horrible than she is.”
♦ “You will eat quiche off of antique china and like it.”
♦ “Even I had my doubts when I heard about the tortoise attack.”

Marvelous fun! Five stars