Mixed Signals

Mixed Signals
Jane Tesh
Poisoned Pen Press
October 2012
ISBN: 9781464200618 Hardback
ISBN: 9781464200632 Trade Paperback
$ 24.95
250 pages

We all have some kind of emotional baggage which weighs us down. For private investigator, David Randall, it's his eight-year-old daughter who died in a car accident. Since then, he has divorced twice and believes that he has found the love of his life with a much younger woman, Kary, who is not going to quickly jump into any commitment.

Accompanying his friend Camden, the two discover the dead body of Jared Hunter, who has been stabbed numerous times. Being that Cam has psychic ability, he actually repeatedly sees the brutal slaying of his former friend and is constantly haunted by this vision. The two plan to investigate this to be certain the they are not involved, even though the police are working on it. It just might clear the nightmares.

At the same time, a series of robberies are happening in an older section of this city, Parkland, which seems to be somehow related to a recent robbery at a history museum. This along with the newspaper, have common elements. What is combining these with the murder? Why is one of Cam's former friends hiding? Why is a friend of Jared now locked at a mental facility?

One unpredictable suspect is a person in a red and yellow costume calling themselves, The Parkland Avenger. Being that this character sometimes has caused more problems than help, this masked super hero/villain is getting the attention of the newspaper and the local community. There is even a Super Hero Society of Parkland whose masked members deny any knowledge of the Avenger.

Jane Tesh retired from being an elementary school library media specialist while becoming a writer and continuing her love of the violin, piano, and the community theater. She is also a certified kickboxing instructor who lives in North Carolina.

Mixed Signals is the second in this Grace Street series by Jane Tesh. Being that this is part of a series, it does help the reader to read the first book Stolen Hearts first to help understand the characters and their relationships. She has written another series featuring Maddy Maclin with the books A Case of Imagination, A Hard Bargain, and A Little Learning.

The basic storyline is unusual, logical, and engaging. The characters are believable, even eccentric at times in this well-organized tale. All of this mixed in a brew of a delightful romp connecting the threads of a haunted psychic. Without having read the first book, it is difficult to completely connect with the characters at first since their development was in the previous book in this series. Mixed Signals is definitely a lesson in history, public records, as well as a delightful romp with red tights and a cape.

I look forward to more book in this humorous, cozy series.