I do not think that there can ever be enough books about anything and I say that knowing that some of them are going to be about Pilates.The more knowledge the better seems like a solid rule of thumb, even though I have watched enough science fiction films to accept that humanity’s unchecked pursuit of learning will end with robots taking over the world.-Sarah Vowell

Friday, October 9, 2026

Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest

 

This cozy mystery centers on Leda Foyle, a travel agent who runs her own business and has a bit of a psychic streak.  When she saves Detective Grady Merritt from a plane crash by booking him on another flight back to Seattle, he looks her up and asks her to help him find the killer in an old murder case he can't solve. Leda is new to this psychic business and performs at a bar called Castaways, where audience members give her things to hold; she has a vision and sings a song that speaks to that person.  This is causing her abilities to strengthen.  Leda hopes that while working with Grady, she will also be able to solve her fiancé's murder of three years ago.  

Grady takes her to the crime scene and has her touch the evidence encased in plastic, and she does indeed get some odd clues.  He takes her and her friend Niki to reinterview some of the suspects.  Niki is the comic relief of this novel, hobbling around on a giant medical boot and being a cheerleader to Leda.  In Grady's investigation, they find that everyone wanted to kill Christopher, one of the dead guys found in a low-rent motel.  The other victim, who was found in the parking lot and is Christopher's son, Kevin, is believed to have been killed because he saw the murder.  Unlike his father, he was beloved by all.  As the mystery progresses, the insights she gets from touching things are better understood now.  Also, it turns out that Leda's murder inquiry and Grady's murders are connected somehow. 

Priest has written over thirty books spanning steampunk, urban fantasy, horror, and young adult.  This includes the books in her Clockwork Century series, which starts with Boneshaker (winner of the Lotus and PNBA Awards), and Four and Twenty Blackbirds from the Eden Moore series.  This was a pretty good book, and it was short, less than three hundred pages.  The killer is pretty easy to figure out if you read mysteries like I do.  This is a book you can curl up with and finish in a day.  You won't have to think too hard, and its simple, candy-like plot will keep you entertained until the end.  This is the first book in a series, and I plan to check out the rest.


Quotes

If you die and go to hell in the South, you have to stop in Atlanta.
Cherie Priest (Grave Reservations, p.1)

Listen to us kids, old man.  We know things about how to communicate when the world is super awkward.  Text messages are your friends.  She can answer when she feels like it or not at all.
Cherie Priest (Grave Reservations, p.74)

-It's a Star Trek thing.
-More of a Star Wars guy, to tell the truth.
She groaned. This is never going to work.  She said it half-jokingly, but the words sank into her soul regardless.  If they couldn't agree on which sci-fi memes to deploy in conversation, how would they work together long enough to fix anything?
Cherie Priest (Grave Reservations, p.104)

All knowledge is contained within the internet!  Even if it's found in rumors on Reddit or whatever.
Cherie Priest (Grave Reservations, p.144)

You can turn literally any good thing into a Greek tragedy.
Cherie Priest (Grave Reservations, p.283)





Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)