Saturday, April 8, 2017

Occult and Battery - Blog Tour Cozy Mystery Review + Giveaway


Occult and Battery by Lena Gregory

Occult and Battery (A Bay Island Psychic Mystery) Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series Berkley (April 4, 2017) Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages ISBN-13: 978-0425282762 E-Book ASIN: B01J2STXD0

Synopsis

A murder mystery weekend becomes a little too real in the latest Bay Island Psychic Mystery from the author of Death at First Sight
Cass Donovan uses her skills as a former psychiatrist to get away with pretending to be psychic, but she’s not about to let anyone get away with murder...
The outlook is not so good for Cass’s psychic shop, Mystical Musings. With winter winds discouraging tourists from riding the ferry from Long Island to Bay Island, Cass hopes to draw in more customers by hosting a murder mystery weekend, complete with a séance, in a supposedly haunted mansion.
But Cass begins to lose her spirit when her ex-husband shows up, along with his fiancée—Cass’s ex-best friend. Then, after one of the guests is found dead, a blizzard blows in, trapping everyone inside with a murderer. Now Cass must divine who did the deed before her reputation and her livelihood fade away.

My Review:

This series just became an auto-buy for me which is pretty impressive considering it's the first book I've read by Lena Gregory.  It was an absolute delight.  I pretty much want to go hang out with Cass, Bee (especially Bee), and Stephanie and play with Cass's enormous dog Beast.  Though perhaps I might wait to hang out with them when they're not falling over dead bodies.  The characters were so likable and interesting.  I loved that they're such great friends and that Cass is really aware of how special their relationships are.  I really enjoyed getting to know Cass herself which isn't always the case with the primary character as in cozy mysteries they tend to be incredibly nosy.  Cass is nosy but I wanted to know the answers just as much as she did so I had no problem there.  As well her interactions with her ex-husband and ex-best friend were perfectly low angsty.  She didn't dismiss her feelings but at the same time didn't dwell on them.  It felt very realistic and mature.

But I'll take a break from gushing about how much I loved the characters to talk about how much enjoyed the mystery.  It was solid and interesting with lots of hidden secrets and just a little touch of paranormal.  Just the way I like them!  The reveal was surprising, entertaining and thoroughly satisfying.  If you're new to Bay Island and Cass's world don't worry about jumping in here.  This was the first book I'd read and I knew who was who and what was what pretty quick.  Plus, now I can go back and read the first book while I wait for Lena Gregory to write book #3!  Rating: Very Good

About The Author

Lena lives in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island with her husband and three children.
When she was growing up, she spent many lazy afternoons on the beach, in the yard, anywhere she could find to curl up with a good book. She loves reading as much now as she did then, but she now enjoys the added pleasure of creating her own stories.

Author Links: Website: http://www.lenagregory.com/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lena.Gregory.Author/?fref=ts
  Twitter: https://twitter.com/LenaGregory03 
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lenagregoryauth/?etslf=2219&eq=lena%20gregory 
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14956514.Lena_Gregory 
Purchase Links Amazon B&N Penguin/ Random House Kobo Books-a-Million Target

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Tour Participants
April 4 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews – REVIEW
April 5 – Laura's Interests – REVIEW
April 5 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too! – SPOTLIGHT
April 6 – Socrates' Book Reviews – REVIEW
April 6 – StoreyBook Reviews - GUEST POST, SPOTLIGHT
April 7 – Bookworm Mom – REVIEW, GUEST POST 
April 7 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 8 – I Wish I Lived in a Library – REVIEW
April 9 – Island Confidential – INTERVIEW, SPOTLIGHT
April 10 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW 
April 10 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW
April 11 – A Holland Reads - REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
April 12 – Community Bookstop – REVIEW 
April 13 – Brooke Blogs - REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
April 14 – Cozy Up With Kathy - REVIEW, GUEST POST
April 15 – Readeropolis - REVIEW
April 15 – Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews - CHARACTER GUEST POST, SPOTLIGHT
 April 16 – Melina's Book Blog – REVIEW
 April 16 – Author Annette Drake's blog – INTERVIEW
 April 17 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews – REVIEW
  Have you signed up to be a Tour Host? Click Here Find Details and Sign Up Today!

7 comments:

  1. I love the name of your blog and really enjoyed your review of Occult and Battery. I can't wait to read it!

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  2. Thank you for sharing the release of Occult and Battery! And thank you so much for such a lovely review! I'm really happy you enjoyed the story :)

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  3. Great review. Like the psychic aspect in the book. Can't wait to read.

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  4. An auto-buy from the first book is quite an endorsement! This does sound like a great one, Katherine. Definitely one that is going on my wish list.

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  5. Becoming an auto-buy after the first book is high praise indeed! I will have to look for this one.

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  6. Wonderful that it was such a great read and that the main character was so likeable.

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  7. I can't tell if it's good or bad that I'm liking the premise. That is such a weird life decision to go from psychiatrist to psychic. I wonder how she pulls it off? Having to interact with the ex-best friend and ex-husband makes this even more interesting. It seems like such a guilty pleasure which I guess all cozy reads can be considered.

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