Murder on The Mind by L.L. Bartlett.

Jeff Resnick is mugged and brutally wounded on his way home from a pool hall in New York. On waking up in hospital his older half brother Richard (they share the same mother) is at his bedside. Although they are virtual strangers, Richard, an eminent doctor who was brought up by his grandparents after his father had died, insists that Jeff travels back to Buffalo with him to recuperate at the home he shares with his partner, Brenda.

Jeff neglects to tell him at first that he has been having violent dreams and hallucinations since the mugging, about a murder where he sees the victim inviscerated like a hunted deer.

On arrival in Buffalo he is shocked to read in the local press of a murder which appears to be identical to his visions.

After convincing Richard that these flashbacks are not the result of brain injury, they follow up the clues which lead them both into danger.

The story is told at a cracking pace, and the descriptive narrative makes me feel I am in Buffalo. This isn't just a run of the mill psychic mystery story, because Jeff still needs all of his investigative powers to solve the murder.

All of the characters are believable, and I was sorry to come to the final page. I await the sequel with great anticipation!

Murder on the Mind
L.L. Bartlett
Five Star, Dec 2005, $25.95
ISBN: 1594143587

In Manhattan Jeff Resnick leaves a bar after winning some money playing pool. Outside, two teenage thugs demand he gives them his cash. He says he is out of work, but hands them what he has. They tell him it is not enough so they use a "Reggie" baseball bat to batter him.

Jeff's half-brother Richard Alpert brings him to recuperate in the Buffalo area where he lives with his lover Brenda. As he heals Jeff suffers nightmares and visions that include seeing someone filleted. When Richard's banker Matt Sumner is found murdered just as Jeff envisioned it, the New Yorker believes he has psychic abilities. He persuades a cynical Richard to assist him making inquiries with the victim's family and banking pal; not realizing that no one wants the siblings to investigate with one person killing again.

MURDER ON THE MIND is a strange but interesting who-done-it because of Jeff's psychic abilities that do not keep him or his sibling out of trouble once they begin to make inquiries. The reaction of those they question is priceless as no one wants to cooperate and seemingly everyone appears pleased that Matt is dead. Though Richard and Jeff hardly know each other considering they are siblings, fans will realize first hand how much the older brother cares. The killer is in plain sight yet most fans will miss the obvious clues. This fine paranormal amateur sleuth will send readers shuffling off to Buffalo to accompany Jeff on his investigation.

Harriet Klausner