One Tequila

Finished September 30

One Tequila by Tricia O'Malley

This is the first book in a series centering on the psychic Althea Rose. Althea lives in on Tequila Key in the Florida Keys, and shares a shop, Luna Rose Potions and Tarot Shop, with her friend Luna who mixes elixirs and who is also (secretly) a white witch. Althea has inherited her psychic skills from her mother who is a famous psychic with celebrity clients. The is also an older woman who lives down the street and who appears to be a voodoo priestess. 

Althea and Luna often hang out at the seaside bar of their friend Beau, and one night they meet some new real estate investors in town. Both of them are drawn to one of the men and soon agree to dates. Althea enjoys her date with Cash, but doesn't give in to his hints to take it further that evening. Luna's date doesn't call her back and she feels hurt by it, and wonders why (but, um, can't she use her magic to figure that out??) Also her diving buddy Trace suddenly shows signs of jealousy. 

There is a lot going on here, but it seems badly put together and ill-defined. The various paranormal elements are all combined together in odd ways, and the characters lacked depth. 

Althea was all over the place and couldn't seem to remember basic instructions, especially when things became tense. It seldom seemed to occur to her to use her skills to gauge situations before jumping in. 

The dialogue also needed work, and was often awkward and choppy. 

This is the first book in the series, and since there are several more, I'm hoping that means that the writing improved. 

Cocoa Beach

Finished June 13
Cocoa Beach by Beatriz Williams, read by Eva Kaminsky and Alex Wyndham

This story moves back and forth in time between events during and just after World War I in France and England, and three years later in Florida.
Virginia Fortescue has left her father and sister in New York City to volunteer in France during the War. She has a few reasons for leaving, although she does worry about her younger sister. She has used the mechanical skills her father ensured that she had to become an ambulance driver and mechanic. During her duties, she meets an English doctor, Simon Fitzwilliam, a few years older than her, and is drawn to him. He is in a complicated personal situation, but works to gain her love and trust. Virginia hasn't told him all her secrets, but she does feel safe with him.
Three years later Virginia has come to Florida with her young daughter following notification from Simon's brother that Simon has died in a house fire. Virginia left Simon shortly after their marriage, under circumstances we gradually learn, and has never let him know about their daughter. His voice is given in letters that he writes to her. Again, Virginia has a secret no one knows. She has a letter from him dated after his reported death, and so believes that he is still alive. She searches for an answer to her questions about Simon and his motivations, relying on his siblings for information. But is she trusting the wrong people?
This is a story of secrets, of worry and of trust. In a time of Prohibition, Simon has become involved in illegal alcohol provision, much like the smuggling of his Cornish ancestors. Has this activity become his downfall?
There are several interesting characters here, from Simon and Virginia to the black woman who manages the estate and citrus orchards that Simon inherited. Simon's brother is a bit of an enigma. We know he resents Simon and has all his life, but does that mean that he would actually do Simon harm. The cliffhanger ending leads me to expect another book with some of the same characters.

The Corruptible

Finished April 3
The Corruptible by Mark Mynheir
This is the second book in the series featuring Ray Quinn, a former homicide detective now working as a private investigator. I'd read the first in the series, The Night Watchman, and enjoyed it, so when I got this advance copy from Library Journal, I knew I'd want to read it.
Ray has been doing a lot of domestic work lately and getting tired of it, so when he is approached by the wealthy owner of an investment firm to find the security man who has apparently taken off with sensitive information, he is intrigued. The large fee intrigues him further. The security officer, Logan Ramsey, is an ex-detective too, and Ray knew him, so he is off to a good start.
Ray has unique access to the police as a consultant for them, and this access gets him directly involved in a murder case when Ramsey turns up dead. Ray usually trusts his instincts, but even he can be fooled sometimes.
Ray is an interesting character, and this story was well-plotted. I could guess some of it before it was laid out for me, but that didn't detract from the good story. Ray shows some growth personally, and so does his sidekick.

Florida mystery

Finished April 12
The Night Watchman by Mark Mynheir
This intriguing thriller has the main character of Ray Quinn, an ex-Orlando police detective, badly injured in his last case, now working as a night watchman at an apartment building.
His partner, Trisha, was killed at the same time that he was injured and he carries that knowledge as a burden. When there is a violent death in the building he works in, he initially distances himself from it. But when the sister of one of the victims comes to him looking for help, unsatisfied with the outcome of the police investigation, he finds himself being drawn back into investigative work.
With the help of the sister, and his coworker Clevis, Ray finds the investigation a trickier one that he thought and it may be putting other lives at risk.
Ray is an interesting character, with alcohol problems and many demons haunting him, but he is essentially an honest man and that is what he draws on to follow this case.
The author is a Florida detective and brings that knowledge to his writing.

Florida Mystery

Finished July 26
Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues by Blaize Clement
This is the latest in the Dixie Hemingway mysteries. Dixie used to be a cop, but when her husband and child were killed in an accident, she couldn't handle the job anymore and became a pet sitter. She lives in an apartment on a family property, with her brother and his partner living next door in the main house. She is still dealing with her grief around her loss, but has a way of stumbling into situations that involve murder and police.
In the book, she has been called and asked to go and feed an iguana while the owner is away, but on her way to this job discovers a dead gatekeeper at a mansion. She leaves, not wanting to get involved in another situation and lets someone else report it. Unfortunately she is see by someone and becomes involved anyway, as a suspect.
When she goes to the iguana job, she discovers the owner is ill and very strange and there are things going on in his house that look very suspicous.
Dixie is also starting to be interested in a relationship again, but she is drawn to more than one opportunity. And one of them is with someone in the police. She is still trying to sort out her feelings and working on instinct, and her motivations for helping others get her involved more deeply than she wants.
I also found it interesting that there is one storyline here that involves the 2004 tsunami, which I just read another book about.