Caught Dead Handed by Carol J. Perry is the first book in the new “Witch City” mystery series. Publisher: Kensington, September 2014

She’s not a psychic–she just plays one on TV.

Most folks associate the city of Salem, Massachusetts with witches, but for Lee Barrett, it’s home. This October she’s returned to her hometown–where her beloved Aunt Ibby still lives–to interview for a job as a reporter at WICH-TV. But the only opening is for a call-in psychic to host the late night horror movies. It seems the previous host, Ariel Constellation, never saw her own murder coming.

Lee reluctantly takes the job, but when she starts seeing real events in the obsidian ball she’s using as a prop, she wonders if she might really have psychic abilities. To make things even spookier, it’s starting to look like Ariel may have been an actual practicing witch–especially when O’Ryan, the cat Lee and Aunt Ibby inherited from her, exhibits some strange powers of his own. With Halloween fast approaching, Lee must focus on unmasking a killer–or her career as a psychic may be very short lived. . .

This was a fun book to read that was filled with suspense and intrigue. Is she or is she not? That’s the question I had as I followed the actions set forth by Lee as well as the clues in drama that was hard to put down. The author did a great job in the presentation of this novel, where nothing is as it seems and until you got closer to the end, did I suspect what I thought I knew. I Lee is a great heroine as is her aunt Ibby. The addition of O’Ryan and Pete rounded out the cast that supported them. Boasting engaging dialogue and the perfect background setting of Salem, MA and Halloween, this was a very enjoyable read and I can’t wait to read the next book in this wonderfully crafted series.

previously posted on the Cozy Chicks blog