Grave Reservations: A Novel

Cherie Priest

Oct 2021 · Booking Agents Series Book 1 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

“Delightful.” —The New York Times Book Review

A psychic travel agent and a Seattle PD detective solve a murder in this quirky mystery in the vein of Lisa Lutz’s The Spellman Files and Charlaine Harris’s Aurora Teagarden series.

Meet Leda Foley: devoted friend, struggling travel agent, and inconsistent psychic. When Leda, sole proprietor of Foley's Flights of Fancy, impulsively re-books Seattle PD detective Grady Merritt’s flight, her life changes in ways she couldn’t have predicted.

After watching his original plane blow up from the safety of the airport, Grady realizes that Leda’s special abilities could help him with a cold case he just can’t crack.

Despite her scattershot premonitions, she agrees for a secret reason: her fiancé’s murder remains unsolved. Leda’s psychic abilities couldn’t help the case several years before, but she’s been honing her skills and drawing a crowd at her favorite bar’s open-mic nights, where she performs Klairvoyant Karaoke—singing whatever song comes to mind when she holds people’s personal effects. Now joined by a rag-tag group of bar patrons and pals alike, Leda and Grady set out to catch a killer—and learn how the two cases that haunt them have more in common than they ever suspected.

Ratings and reviews

I absolutely enjoyed this book!! I almost read it in one sitting, barely convinced myself to sleep about halfway through and finish it the next day. I love the characters and the premise. Like other reviewers, I am definitely hoping for sequels! (I will note that I felt a little disappointed that we didn't get any final thoughts from Grady, it felt unfinished to me somehow. Obviously Leda is the main character and it should end with her for sure, but I'm just curious what Grady would have said/felt about... the exciting scenes at the end. Still loved it though!)

Mystery – Comedy - Action This is a very good book. I would love for it to be the beginning of a new series (hint, hint). This would make the best comedy/action suspense movie. It is a murder mystery that involves a psychic, her friends, and a police detective in Seattle. The humor is honest with nothing slap-stick about it. The plot was well thought out and just convoluted enough to keep it very interesting. It is also more of a 'cozy' mystery in that it is not graphic, contains minimal violence and no horror. It should not give anyone nightmares. I really enjoyed the book, read it in one day, and did not want it to end. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

About the author

Cherie Priest is the author of two dozen books and novellas, including the horror novel The Toll, acclaimed gothic Maplecroft, and the award-winning Clockwork Century series, beginning with Boneshaker. She has been nominated for the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, and she won the Locus Award for best horror novel. Her books have been translated into nine languages in eleven countries. She lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband and a menagerie of exceedingly photogenic pets.