In the Spirit of Murder

<br />Detective Claudia Hershey and her 13-year-old daughter are recent transplants to Indian Run, a small Florida town where there is very little real crime... which is exactly what she wanted.<br /><br />But the universe has a surprise in store for her. She's always disliked Halloween and she likes it no better now, now that a medium has been murdered on her most un-favorite night. The woman's face is gone. <br /><br />It takes a lot of good police work to track down her clients and try to figure out if one of them had a grudge .. or was this a robbery ... or a random kill be someone unhinged?<br /><br />She's fighting the good-old-boys network as the only female cop ... and the only one with experience dealing with homicides. Even her boss is not too happy ... he claims she's trying to make him and the department look bad.<br /><br />But before she makes any inroads into this vicious murder, another medium is killed in exactly the same way ... and the body count does not end there.<br /><br />It's when this serial killer makes things personal that the veteran homicide detective decides she will need to do whatever it takes to bring this animal down.<br /><br />Claudia is a great series character ... she's tough, thorough, and wants to see justice dished out. She's also a single mom .. and that comes with its own problems. There are plenty of suspects and just to make things really interesting, most of them were in costume for the holiday. <br /><br />Due to the author's background and her diligent research, this story has much credibility. This is a well written, action-packed page turner. I look forward to following this series and going along with Claudia on her next adventures.<br /><br />Many thanks to the author for this digital crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.<br />

Haven't read this book in several years, but now that it's finally available for the Kindle and iPad I'm reading it again as an ebook. Couldn't find anything better at the moment. But then, I wrote it so I'm probably biased. . Weird to read something you've done yourself. And hey, whoever called it a cozy? It isn't. It's your everyday police procedural. First of three in the Claudia Hershey series. <br /><br />Don't worry. I won't wreck the rating system by biasing the ratings with a review or rating at all. I just find it interesting to sneak back in time and see the movement in the publishing field -- something I COULD write reams about. <br /><br />By the way? All these years later? I still think it's pretty good for a first novel. Can't decide which of the three are my personal favorites. All were an enormous investment in time and passion. <br /><br />

Apart from Agatha Christie, I don't read a huge amount of murder-mystery, but this book may change all that. A modern day 'who dunnit'; it had me gripped from the get-go. I appreciated that the lead protagonist was female and the only member of her police department who was actually adept at her job (which is usually the case, if you ask me!). The characters were well-rounded and believable, and the plot was fast-paced and never dull. At times, the book was extremely gritty, which added to the suspense. I did happen to guess 'who dunnit' about three quarters of the way through the book but that's only because I'm a super sleuth and should probably have joined the police force myself! Anyway, I loved this book and will DEFINITELY be reading the others in the series.

tough woman cop solves several cases: drug dealers, blackmailed, spree killer and the kidnapping of her own daughter.

First, truth in advertising. The author, here, is my sister. And I love her work! I've just reread this, the first in her terrific series. I originally read it, a few chapters at a time, as she was writing. This seemed an auspicious time to go back, given that this book involves a murder that takes place on Halloween. And not just any murder--this is a vicious murder of a medium.<br /><br />Laura's protagonist, Claudia Hershey, is a smart character, good at detecting. She relocated to a small town in central Florida to get away from the big-city crime of Cleveland. Hah! Little did she know! She dragged her teen-age daughter with her to the middle of nowhere, which did not please Robin one little bit. As Robin wrestles with teen angst and algebra, Claudia wrestles with a murder that makes no sense. And then another. And, well, I can't say any more. On top of this, she's in a cop shop full of good ole' boys who resent the big-shot detective from up north who, on top of everything else, is a woman. <br /><br />In addition to drawing solid, believable characters, Laura evokes place very, very well. You can feel central Florida as you read--the heat and humidity, the cloying small town (and police dept.), the cows, the bugs around the lake, and more.<br /><br />Of course this is a solid mystery, with a most satisfying ending. In fact, even though I remembered the ending as I got to it, my heart was still in my throat.<br /><br />Try it. I'm sure you'll like it.<br /><br />LITTLE SPOILER ALERT: At one point, Claudia meets a graduate student who has been studying the relevant psychic/medium community. Claudia all but drools and asks for the woman’s data, threatening legal action when the student claims confidentiality. Laura and I had a massive fight over this. Even though most research data have no protection, short of special situations, like child abuse, we protect the confidentiality of our research participants. Sociologists have spent months in jail rather than turn data over or identify research participants. But, we know that authors take creative license. Laura is the author here, so she won the argument. She’s my sister and I love her to bits, anyhow.

I enjoyed this book - the pacing and tension was taut and the characters were interesting and rather unusual. The detective (the leading character) is a tall, beautiful, intelligent and resourceful new employee on the police payroll (okay - so that's a bit of a cliché LOL). She is a single mother with a rebellious and in-my-opinion needs-a-good-spanking teenager daughter. I could have used less on the family drama end, but it did add to the final climax of the story in a way.<br /><br />The murder victim was a psychic medium, and her life and friends were fun and colorful and made for an interesting group of people to read about. These psychics, who lived in their own little enclave, weren't fortune-telling gypsies or ditsy new-age self-deluders. They were split-level suburbanites and they were created with, I believe, a certain amount of amused, affectionate skeptism.<br /><br />The unraveling of the mystery, the dangers therein, and the twists and turns along the way make a film version of the story probable. There were even times I felt I was reading a screenplay and not a novel!<br /><br />I recommend this to anybody who enjoys a murder mystery or thriller. It's not terribly gruesome (the murders aren't described in sordid depth) and the language is accept to most teenagers (perhaps a few words here and there - but not a non-stop torrent of obscenities).

EBookDiscovery

Loved it, great characters, good and bad. Almost felt I was there!

This was well written and edited. I enjoyed meeting Claudia. I got this book as a freebie from the author. I did say I would write a review. My issue now is I believe the review needs to be on a site the author was using. I will look into that. I enjoy how the small town police department came across as "small town" without putting them down. The only issue I had with the story is I figured out the killer early on and did not give in the to clues to distract from my pick!! I see there are other books in the series. I believe once I complete the 4 I have from the library I will check the next out. If you need a good read and a quick read, I firmly believe this will do the trick!!!

This is the first book by this author I have read, and although it seemed to start out slow it certainly finished with a thrilling bang.<br />I loved the character Lieutenant Claudia Hershey - prickly, tough yet loving mother who is struggling to balance a punishing work schedule finding a serial killer with raising her acerbic teenage daughter. Add in a possible new romance and a subplot involving a slimy politician and you can see she has a lot on her plate.<br />Well written with an interesting plot, my only complaint is that Claudia does come across as a bit too prickly and stand-offish, but her character may round out in further novels of the series.