My favorite books are cozy mysteries because they’re fun to read. They come in paranormal or regular, and I have favorites in both. If you know me at all, you know I’m especially drawn to those paranormal books.
Of all of my favorite authors, I have to say that Ann Charles is close to the top. She’s written several different series, and I’ve read a couple of them, but my very favorite is the Deadwood Humorous Mystery Series. The first book is titled “Nearly Departed in Deadwood,” and it introduces Violet and her zany friends and clients. It’s a contemporary mystery/romance peppered with humor and a touch (okay, more than a touch) of the paranormal.
The books star Violet Parker, a single mom of twins, all of whom live with Violet’s Aunt Zoe in Deadwood, South Dakota (a town which features almost as a character in the book). There is a crazy mix of friend and foe, lover and demon that inhabit Violet’s world. The book is bursting with interesting characters: her best friend, Natalie, her partner in mischief; a handsome newcomer to Deadwood, Doc Nyce, catches Violet’s fancy right away; And a grumpy detective who looks like Daniel Craig, has Violet kicking butts and taking names. Once you add in some colorful coworkers at Calamity Jane Realty, where Violet is a realtor, it becomes a fun-filled romp. I can’t bring myself to tell you about any more of the strange and entertaining people who populate these Deadwood stories. Suffice it to say, Violet’s life is going to become very, um, interesting, as she begins to encounter, ghosts, imps, demons and other otherworldly creatures she didn’t even know existed.
Well, I can’t help myself. I’ll tell you about a few more fascinating characters you’ll run into as you read your way through the Deadwood Mysteries.
The most entertaining is a tall, skinny man in a long black frockcoat and a stovepipe hat who looks like Abe Lincoln and doesn’t see the resemblance. That would be Cornelius Curion, a kooky oddball who fancies himself a ghost whisperer. He’s a client of Violet’s who is interested in buying an historic haunted hotel, and somewhere along the line got the idea that Violet is his assistant. His incessant requests for smoothies and various other strange items, not to mention his penchant for speaking cryptically, has Violet having to bite her tongue before she bites off his head.
And Old Man Harvey, one of Violet’s first clients whose property seems to host the most non-human of characters and miscellaneous loose body parts. Which kind of makes finding someone to buy the property pretty near impossible. Old Man Harvey is the uncle of the aforesaid grumpy Detective Cooper, and is a master of cringy double entendres.
Then there’s Prudence, a terrifying and full-on mean spirit with the ability to inhabit a person, take over their minds to see what she wants them to see, and scare the pants off Violet. By the way, Violet is soon to find out that she comes from a long line of Executioners, whose mission is to save the earth from the deadly undead who come in many sizes and capabilities.
I’ve read the complete Deadwood series not once, but twice. Twice! And I’m considering reading it again! But I would strongly recommend this series to my readers as well. It’s fantastically written and has a great plot.
I have a ton of great books on my Kindle. The danger about them is that they’re all written in series form, so if you start the first book and fall in love with the story and, by extension, the author, you’ll eventually be shelling out for every book in the series. It’s frightening to think about how much money I’ve spent on this little reading habit of mine! Does this happen to anyone else? Who else gets caught up in a good book series?
I hope you’ll check out Ann Charles and The Deadwood stories. Leave a comment if you’ve read it and tell me what you think.
Happy Reading!
-Pam