Review: A Vision of Murder by Victoria Laurie

Title: A Vision of Murder 

Author:  Victoria Laurie
Publisher: Berkley Books 

Publishing Date:  December 6th, 2005

Pages: 296
Genre: Adult Paranormal Cozy Mystery

Series:  Psychic Eye Mystery #3
Source:  Audio

 

Professional psychic Abby Cooper has invested in a fixer-upper, hoping to make a killing in the real estate market. But a killing of another kind puts her plans awry, as the ghost of a murdered woman and some troublesome poltergeists lead her into a mystery that stretches all the way back to World War II.

This is the third book in the series and I am still loving the series. I love the characters in this series and I am happy to know I have a while before I will catch up to the latest book. I love the mystery, the banter, the humor. They just keep me on my toes for sure. 

Abby and her sister, Cat, decide to take on a new investment. Along with Abby's handyman, they buy an old house to fix up and sell. This sounds like a great idea until they try their first renovation day and find that the place is haunted... and by a pretty pissed off ghost. Abby must find a way to deal with this ghost before their investment turns into a flop. Not only does Abby have to deal with a mean ghost, but she has to deal with an injured and overprotective Dutch, a freaked out handyman and a mad sister. Things are getting crazy for Abby. 

This book was pretty funny just like the other two that I read. I really do enjoy this sassy character and her crazy set of friends and family. I really do love Abby. She is just so ridiculously funny and snarky and just a pain in the rear at times. she doesn't know when to give up and she doesn't let anything keep her down. 

I did a few minor issues with this book. Nothing that kept me from enjoying the read and loving it the entire time. Just a few things like eye-rolling moments when Dutch is being a male chauvinistic. I mean he really goes overboard with trying to protect Abby at times. I get that she finds herself in trouble all the time. But really it's getting old how many arguments they get into because of this. Abby gets a little aggravating at times too when she overreacts with Dutch. I think it's about time to just let the couple be happy and learn to work together and live together in love and harmony. 

For the most part, I like Dutch. He is a pretty good match for Abby. They definitely make each other work hard for the relationship. He fully works with her gift now and he is pretty supportive in most aspects of her life. I just think the cop in him makes him a little too pushy on he stay safe front. Most of the time I just adore the interactions between Dutch and Abby. 


The only other issue I had and really this may have been my mood, I found this story lacking interesting moments a bit compared to the other books. I just didn't feel as invested in the story as I did the others. It felt too much like a history lesson and it just didn't keep my mind interested. I just wanted to know who did it and get it over with. I enjoyed the personal life of Abby more. 

The one thing I loved about the story was the ghosts. I did get into the haunted house, the imprints, the crazy stuff going on... I just didn't like the story behind the hauntings. It took a while to get there and I felt it was in a roundabout way. Once it all came together it made sense but I would have never gotten there on my own for sure. 

I think though, it doesn't matter what the story is. I  just enjoy being a part of Abby's life and her crazy antics. She is a breath of fresh air when it comes to heroines. 

It may seem I didn't like this book much. No, I did. I loved it as I have the other two. I just liked the story in the previous two much better. I really can't wait to read more in this series. 

Just a fun cozy mystery with all the paranormal crazy. 

Victoria Laurie is the New York Times bestselling author of 30 books and counting. Victoria divides her time between her two adult mystery series, (The Psychic Eye Mysteries, and The Ghost Hunter Mysteries), and a Y/A thriller, When (Formerly titled Death Date), to be released in early January of 2015.

As a professional psychic, Victoria's protagonists - psychic Abigail Cooper, and spiritual medium M. J. Holliday - tackle the tricky world of the paranormal while fighting bad guys and demons with plenty of plucky humor and determination.

And using that keen understanding of the paranormal, Victoria also created the character of Maddie Fynn, a teenager with the unique intuitive ability to predict the exact date of someone's death.

To showcase her writing range, Victoria has also penned a children's epic adventure series, The Oracles of Delphi Keep.