Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend is the first book in the new “Fortune Teller” mystery series. Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime (Penguin), August 2011
In the fortune telling business there are a lot of pretenders, but Sunshine Meadows is the real deal—and her predictions can be lethally accurate…
Leaving the Big Apple for the quaint town of Divinity, New York, Sunny is determined to make it on her own as a psychic. With an ancient Victorian house as her place of business, Sunny uses various psychic methods to aid the town’s residents. But when she uses tea leaves to give a reading for a frazzled librarian, w hat she finds at the bottom of the cup is anything but helpful.
Sunny informs the police of her deadly vision, but her warning is too late. And with hard-nosed, ruggedly handsome Detective Mitch Stone denying her abilities and naming her prime suspect, the situation is dire. Now Sunny has to use her visions to clear her name, before the killer can put an end to the psychic’s future.
What an enjoyable debut! This well-written novel was action-filled, entertaining and fun. Any book that has me laughing out loud while on the subway is definitely a keeper. The banter between Sunny and Mitch kept me turning pages as I wanted to know what they were going to say and do next. The mystery kept me guessing but it was the relationship between Sunny and the secondary characters (friends and parents) that made me smile, waiting for their next adventure. Sunny can read my tea leaves any time she wants and I predict a long and fabulous future with Sunny and the gang in this charmingly enchanting and delightful series.
FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of this book