Jane Tesh A Case of Imagination

A Case of Imagination

Jane Tesh

Poisoned Pen, Feb 2006, $22.95, 344 pp.

ISBN: 1590582209

In Parkland, North Carolina, her former employer and the person she leases her office from, Reid Kent, blithely informs Madeline Maclin that no one would hire a former Miss Parkland as an investigator, but she plans to make Madeline Maclin Investigations a success though she has no clients. Her friend, psychic Jeremyn Fairweather asks her to accompany him to inspect his new inheritance, a home in nearby Celosia that he obtained from his late Uncle Val Eberlin, who the locals classified as a nut. Mac agrees while thinking Jerry looks sexy, but fears a rebound love following the debacle of a marriage to her former husband selfish Bill.

In Celosia Jerry thinks of converting his new house into a psychic shop. Meanwhile beauty pageant director Evan James tells them he is having problems with protesters and ghosts, so naturally Jerry and Mac become involved; he on the spiritual plane while she on the mundane realm. While his acrimonious girlfriend Olivia hates seeing Jerry and Mac together, they investigate allegedly otherworldly interference, though the homicide seems more human spawned than supernatural.

This is a charming regional who-done-it filled with eccentric characters, including, if one believes Jerry, a ghost or two. The relationship between Jerry and Mac is terrific as fans will expect romance to blossom, but both also carry baggage, hers being her former husband and his being a dark secret. Once the audience meets the key players enough to understand much of their respective motivations, the Celosia mystery takes charge of the storyline leading the reader to wonder if there are spirits at play, and will the two stars become a romantic entry or not? This is a first-class Carolina caper.