Thirty years ago, there weren’t a lot of crime fiction books that featured Black female sleuths. Barbara Neely and Eleanor Taylor Bland were blazing a trail for female crime writers of color. Then along came Valerie Wilson Wesley. When Death Comes Stealing, was the first in her Tamara Hayle series. Hayle wasn’t the wealthy gentlewoman who solved crime while sitting in her garden sipping tea. A former cop, single-parent, and private investigator, Tamara Hayle represented the changing societal norms. She was tough as nails and a real woman with whom modern readers could identify. Now, Valerie Wilson Wesley, is blazing a new trail with her latest sleuth, Odessa Jones.
Readers are introduced to Odessa Jones in the first book in the series, A Glimmer of Death. Recently widowed, Odessa Jones is struggling. She’s struggling to cope with the death of her husband and best-friend. She’s struggling to figure out the purpose and mechanics of her inherited gift, the ability to read emotions and foretell danger. She’s also in desperate need of money to save her home and the catering business that she and her husband ran together. To make ends meet, Dessa takes a job at Risko Realty. When the owner, Charlie Risko, is murdered and another coworker is arrested for the murder, Dessa struggles to make sense of everything to get to the truth.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading, A Glimmer of Death. Wilson has a gift for creating characters that are complex, just like real people. Good Guys can be cruel and Bad Guys can be tender and kind. I especially loved Dessa’s Aunt Phoenix, who also has “the gift.” Older and wiser, Aunt Phoenix uses her gift to pick winning lottery numbers and impart words of wisdom and encouragement to her niece (before she knows she needs them). There are no perfect people in this book, just as there are none in real life. The mystery itself is well-plotted and includes lots of twists and turns that will keep readers guessing until the very end. There are also recipes. YES!
In the first of a thrilling new series, one woman’s extraordinary psychic gift plunges her already-troubled present into chaos—and puts her future in someone’s deadly sights . . .
Until now, Odessa Jones’ inherited ability to read emotions and foretell danger has protected her. But second sight didn’t warn her she would soon be a widow—and about to lose her home and the catering business she’s worked so hard to build. The only things keeping Dessa going are her love for baking and her sometimes-mellow cat, Juniper. Unfortunately, putting her life back together means taking a gig at an all-kinds-of-shady real estate firm run by volatile owner Charlie Risko . . .
Until Charlie is brutally killed—and Dessa’s bullied co-worker is arrested for murder. Dessa can’t be sure who’s guilty. But it doesn’t take a psychic to discover that everyone from Charlie’s much-abused staff to his long-suffering younger wife had multiple reasons to want him dead. And as Dessa follows a trail of lies through blackmail, dead-end clues, and corruption, she needs to see the truth fast—or a killer will bury her deep down with it.
Selected as a Pioneer Woman Best Beach Read!
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