Caught Dead Handed

Witch City Mystery, Book 1

By: Carol J. Perry

Narrated by: C.S.E Cooney

Most folks associate the city of Salem, Massachusetts, with witches, but for Lee Barrett it's home. This October she's returned to her hometown - where her beloved Aunt Ibby still lives - to interview for a job as a reporter at WICH-TV. But the only opening is for a call-in psychic to host the late-night horror movies. It seems the previous host, Ariel Constellation, never saw her own murder coming.

Lee reluctantly takes the job, but when she starts seeing real events in the obsidian ball she's using as a prop, she wonders if she might really have psychic abilities. To make things even spookier, it's starting to look like Ariel may have been an actual practicing witch - especially when O'Ryan, the cat Lee and Aunt Ibby inherited from her, exhibits some strange powers of his own.

With Halloween fast approaching, Lee must focus on unmasking a killer - or her career as a psychic may be very short lived.

©2014 Carol J. Perry (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The atmosphere of this mystery is delightfully spooky, and the psychic elements add mystical touches that enhance the plot." ( RT Book Reviews)

Unusual and interesting story, awful reader

A few aspects of this book made it especially unusual. Without giving too much away, what I mean, are the psychological history and relationships of some of the main characters.
Unfortunately, the person who read the book was the worst reader I've ever heard! She read the book in a completely flat voice, and at the same time, over-annunciated constantly. This distracted from enjoying the story. It might have been much better than I thought it was, had it been read by a professional.

Good read

enjoyed the book,wished reader voice wasn't so flat, but plot was great. will get the next one ,
, since I already have the print one.

Predictable

I enjoyed this audible book but I could see the “big plot twist” a mile off. The other annoying thing is the narrators breathy performance. It’s like she’s trying to make every female sound like Marilyn Monroe.

multiple personalities

started out with decent story line but the reason behind the multiple personalities a bit disturbing for me highly doubt I continue on with series

Shows promise, but...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Sadly, I can't recommend this particular book. The writing is perfectly serviceable and the character is fairly likable. However (CONTAINS SPOILERS)



The solution to the mystery is A) fairly obvious and the protagonist just remains oblivious for far longer than she should.
B) Incredibly transphobic. This is the sort of story that we saw all over the place in the mid-90's thrillers like Sliver. It's outdated and unfortunate and kept me from enjoying the story.