A Sinister Sense - the 2nd Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery

It was definitely time to return to Raven's Nest bookstore to see what trouble Clara Quinn and her cousin, Stephanie Quin, will find themselves in this time.  Surprisingly, the author, Allison Kingsley, moved away from telling the story from both cousins' points-of-view and instead focuses more on Clara in this book.  We only get one brief chapter from Stephanie's point-of-view, and it is merely her trying to get ready as she and Clara prepare to confront the person they believe to be the killer.  Personally, I prefer the story being told from one character's point-of-view, as the alternative POVs can become a bit much at times.  So, I'm happy Kingsley settled on just one character to take us through this second mystery in the Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery series.

A Sinister Sense does not give us a time frame for how long it has been since the cousins managed to unmask the killer in the previous book.  There are a couple of mentions in passing of the women having involved themselves in the last murder mystery, but it comes across as if that happened months ago, if not longer.  Clara and Stephanie have settled into their routine at Raven's Nest, with the help of their young assistant, Molly, and Clara continues to fight her obvious attraction to that hunk of a man who works at the hardware store across the street, Rick Sanders.  And, of course, that ever-bothersome Roberta Prince still runs her stationary store next door, and she still has her eyes set on Rick, even though he has absolutely no interest in her whatsoever.  Life has settled back to normal in Finn's Harbor, and we all know what that means - time for another murder!

Kingsley starts the story innocently enough - Rick's ex-wife has dropped off their humongous shaggy dog for him to take in; and the first thing it does is chase after poor Roberta, who made the mistake of offering it a few dog biscuits, in the hopes of getting in good with its owner.  The next thing you know, the dog chases Roberta into Raven's Nest, and Clara has to prevent the dog from damaging the store!  Rick shows up, bandaged finger and all, to reclaim the dog and explain the situation to Clara (who, by the way, was not even aware Rick had an ex-wife!).  Rick explains how he hurt his finger, giving details about the man who came in asking directions to city hall, the other customer browsing through the garden tools, and him trying to keep control of an uncontrollable dog.  Little do any of them realize that all of these daily things are about to lead to a murder...

The next day, Clara learns that a body was discovered in the back of Rick's truck, apparently placed there last night while Rick was at the bowling alley.  He is only a person of interest at first, since the body was found in his truck and the police have no clue as to the identity of the victim.  Soon enough, however, the evidence against Rick starts piling up.  The victim was in Rick's store the day before the murder.  The hammer used to kill the victim was from Rick's store.  And the clenching piece of evidence is Rick's DNA discovered from the blood on the sleeve of the victim's shirt!  The mayor is clamoring for Rick to be arrested, charged, and convicted so that the tourist town can once again be safe.  But Clara is confident Rick is innocent, and that little voice inside her head (otherwise know as the "Quinn Sense") is telling her the same thing.  The question is, though - who did kill the man and why?

Kingsley crafts a wonderful tale filled with plenty of suspects, and she keeps the clues given by the Quinn Sense vague enough to keep the reader guessing.  But every whispered word Clara hears, and every vision she sees, they all connect and point to a very specific person as the murderer.  For seasoned mystery readers, the killer will likely comes as no surprise (as with the first book, the identity of the killer is not hard to spot - it's the motive that takes some time to figure out); but it's getting there that is all the fun!  The "Quinn Sense" is not overused, nor is it a crutch that Clara is able to rely on to give her clues at exactly the right moment; rather, it is an unreliable tool that requires Clara to research and dig more into things to figure out what the clues mean.  Kingsley also manages to sneak in a bit more about Clara's past in New York and what happened between her and her fiance, which gives the reader a stronger sense of sympathy for the main character, making you root even more for her and Rick to get together!

 

One other thing I enjoyed about this book is seeing (reading?) more about Clara's relationship with her mother.  There is some strain, some love, some contrast, some battles, and ultimately some family bond that shines through, and it comes across very natural and real.  

 

Definitely a must-read for mystery fans and especially those who love these type of cozy mysteries.  It's truly a shame the series didn't make it past four books, but I guess those four are better than none at all!

 

RATING:  9  Northern Italian dinners out of 10 for another fantastic mystery with just a touch of psychic thrown in to make it all the more interesting!