Riga Hayworth is a metaphysical detective, who used to have very strong magical powers herself. Due to events not fully explained in this book - this book makes repeated references to a previous death match with a psychotic necromancer who summoned a demon to kill her (although the demon killed the psycho), but now that I have read the first of this series that is not the cause of the disruption in her powers - she has mysteriously had her magical abilities damaged. Now at Lake Tahoe for some R&R and time with her love interest, a casino owner, Riga is trying to recouperate and recover her powers.
Unfortunately a murder of another local psychic labels her a "person of interest" to the local police, and she finds herself in a quandry of unable to ethically investigate without a client, and unable to investigate without implicating herself.
Along comes a Supernatural Channel Reality TV show that wants her to be the host, doing a special on Tahoe Tessie, a supposed Loch Ness Monster style Lake Tahoe monster.
Riga takes the job, and by theorizing that the supposed monster sightings and the murder may be connected, finds herself investigating the murder and <spoiler alert> harrassment activities against other local psychics, including yet another murder.
Riga's sidekick is a Brigitte, a Gargoyle made of concrete yet able to talk, fly, walk about etc. Kind of a different twist on the sidekick theme!
The nemesis in the story is a local pastor of a splinter-group church picketing in front of the businesses run by these local psychics and playing the part initially of prime suspect (to Riga and the readers, if not to the police). Unfortunately, he too falls victim to what can only be described as a serial killer leaving evidence of involving summoning of demons.
As this is a series, Riga no doubt is triumphant in the end, but the reader would be hard pressed to figure out just how. Who the killer is, maybe could be guessed; I didn't, but I didn't try tooo hard. For me in murder mysteries, the killer's identity is kind of like having a baby - you know it will be a boy or a girl but I just like to be surprised ;)
Basically, what an INTERESTING murder mystery-detective story! This is the second of a series, of which I have not yet read book #1, and yet the main characters were well introduced and characterized without a lot of "in previous episodes" explanation. That is a definite plus.
The paranormal and occult aspects were laid out with sufficient detail that the reader can grasp what the author's construct of the magical aspect is all about while not being copycat of the generic popular trends. Clearly the author has done quite a bit of research and has included enough academic material to satisfy my tastes without (hopefully) overdoing it or being boringly pedantic. I certainly did not find it to be boring at all. Another Great Plus.
I love a female sleuth who is not simpering, man crazed, mother obsessed, uber-suburbanite housewifey, and who also has both positive and negative aspects to her personality like a real person. The leading man played a definite back seat role but was along for the ride, and the tension and dynamics in their relationship felt believable, and felt like that aspect added some colors and nuances to the story.
Lastly as an indie Kindle offering, I want to mention that typos were not a problem and story editing appeared to have had a good deal of attention as well.
This was a marvelous read.
I hope there is more to come of the Riga Hayworth series!
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More like The Alchemical Detective: A Magical Midlife Mystery (A Riga Hayworth Paranormal Mystery Book 1)
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From the Publisher
Welcome to the World of Riga Hayworth!
Paranormal mysteries with a no-nonsense heroine, a talking gargoyle, and supernatural adventures that prove you’re never too old to start over. Are you ready to be enchanted? Just turn the page and… voila!
Riga Hayworth Reading Order:
Prequel: The Metaphysical Detective
The Alchemical Detective
The Shamanic Detective
The Infernal Detective
The Elemental Detective
The Hoodoo Detective
The Hermetic Detective
Unbound
Riga Hayworth shorts:
The Sigil Detective
The Gargoyle Chronicles
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| The Metaphysical Detective | The Alchemical Detective | The Shamanic Detective | Riga Hayworth Mysteries 1-3 | The Infernal Detective | |
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| Price | $2.99 | $2.99 | $4.99 | $6.99 | $4.99 |
| A Twisty Mystery for You to Solve, with the Solution at the End | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Talking gargoyle | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Paperback | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Mature, Complicated Heroine | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Magic Based in Current or Historical Practices | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
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