Kari Lee Townsend – Trouble in the Tarot

The third book in the Fortune Teller Mystery series, published March 5, 2013.
Genre: psychic cozy mystery
Cover: love it.



For psychic Sunshine Meadows, sometimes fortunes can be deceiving . . .

Lately Sunny has been experiencing a period of big opportunity: her business in Divinity, New York, is thriving, and Detective Mitch Stone has finally agreed to take Sunny on a date. But thanks to her clairvoyant abilities, Sunny knows better than anyone that life deals out bad cards along with the good.
When Sunny agrees to read tarot cards at the annual Summer Solstice Carnival, she meets her Granny Gert's "arch nemesis" Fiona Atwater, and is overcome by a vision of Fiona in a violent argument. Sunny knows trouble is brewing when Granny and Fiona start having squabbles all over town. But the fighting comes to a head when a local baker gets run over by a big white Cadillac - and Granny and Fiona are found at the crime scene.
Sunny knows she should step aside and let Mitch handle the investigating, but she's not about to ignore her visions and leave her granny's life in fate's hands . . .


Sunny has agreed to be the fortune teller at the Summer Solstice Carnival, a weeklong event for charity, organised by the local Sewing Sisters. Sunny’s Granny Gert is a member of the Sewing Sisters, so how could she refuse the request? So instead of doing the readings in her own Victorian house she called Vicky, she is doing tarot readings in the park’s gazebo. With her cat Morty as moral encouragement.

Her first customer of the day is a very vibrant older lady, about her Granny’s age, but she could not be more different. Granny Gert dresses very oldfashioned, she makes her own aprons out of flower sacks, as she lived through the depression. Even though she has more than enough money, she still turns every penny around. Nothing is wasted when Granny Gert is around. But this lady, Fiona Atwater, dresses like a modern woman, with a nice hairdo. She wants to have an adventure and asks Sunny if that is in the cards for her. But Sunny does not see a lot of positive things in the cards in the future for Fiona; she appears to have an enemy who really has it in for her. Envision her surprise when Granny Gert happens to be that person! Apparently they once were great friends, until they both fell in love with the same man, and Frank chose Gert. Ever since, they have been rivals. And now the Sewing Sisters are about to engage in battle with Fiona and her Knitting Nana’s!

Whose crafts bring the highest price, and especially, who can bake the most delicious goods! And when Fiona sees that Gert has a soft spot for Captain Walker, the battle is on. They have to fight and make a scene where ever they meet, and in a small village, that is way too often. Sunny is totally done with it; she doesn’t even recognize her sweet Granny anymore.

And when both Fiona and Gert are the prime suspects in the murder of their main competitor for the bakery contest and for Captain Walker’s attentions, Sunny really is done with them. She needs to call her mother, who is one of the best defense lawyers in the country, to come and get her own mother out of jail. And to her horror, both Gert and Fiona are sentenced to house arrest in her house! They even get ankle bracelets! The bickering doesn’t stop for 5 minutes and Sunny is fed up with so. So even though she is not supposed to get involved in the murder investigation, she wants this over, and fast! So when her prospective boyfriend and police detective doesn’t want to share with her, she will start investigating on her own.


This is a real funny cozy mystery series, with a paranormal twist, especially in the form of Morty, Sunny’s cat. I really want to find out more about Morty, and I am very happy that he had a bigger part in this book.
I like Sunny, she knows what she wants, and she goes after it. Although she is a bit insecure about Mitch, as their dates keep getting interrupted, she seriously wants to give it their relationship a try. Mitch, or as she calls him, Grumpy Pants, has a lot to learn about women and relationships, as he keeps offending Sunny and her psychic powers. But I think this time Morty does convince him there is more going on.

The mystery plot was a convoluted one, with multiple criminal things going on. One involving an animal shelter, the chosen charity for the fair, and I am very happy with how that issue was resolved.

This is a fun cozy mystery series, the main characters sure are unique and quirky and lovable. Except for Sunny’s parents, I really don’t like them. I am very much looking forward to the next book in this series.

9 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian