Allison Kingsley – Mind over murder

The first book in the Raven's Nest Bookstore series, published April 20, 2012
Genre: cozy mystery with just a touch of psychic power
Cover: nice



Cousins and best friends, Clara and Stephanie Quinn run The Raven's Nest Bookstore, where people go to find their most coveted reads. But they have no idea it's the psychically-gifted Clara who's reading them...
The bookstore has made an enemy of the town crier, Ana Jordon, who claims that the store's occult collection is "poisoning" the town's youth. Meanwhile, the store's number-one employee, Molly, has made no secret of her anger over Ana's antics. So when Ana is found dead, killed by the bust of Edgar Allen Poe sculpted by Molly, the evidence is stacked against her. And Clara must rely on her gift to make sense of this senseless murder...


I have bought this series after reading a review on a blog I like. Diana and I share a very similar taste in cozies. Unfortunately, I was not blown away by this first book in the series. Clara Quinn and Stephanie Quinn grew up not only as cousins, but as best friends. In their family runs a certain psychic “power”, the Quinn sense. As young children, Stephanie dreamed of having it, but Clara was reluctant. She went along with her harebrained cousin’s schemes, and of course she is the cousin that got the Quinn Sense. And she doesn’t want it. It is unreliable and never around when she really needs it. Clara describes it as voices in her head, whispering to her. Really, I would not want that either. Stephanie really does not understand her cousins reluctance, she would have loved having it. She keeps pushing Clara to use it, to try to figure out who killed their neighbour in her bookstore’s storeroom. She just knows her assistant Molly did not kill Ana.

There are a lot of unlikable and even creepy secondary characters in this book, and every one of them could be the killer. Stephanie keeps pushing Clara to investigate and interrogate these persons, never once giving her some real help or solid ideas on how to do it. She thinks the Quinn Sense will work flawlessly and find the killer without any danger to themselves.

I did not like Stephanie very much, for not being more sensitive or understanding of her cousin’s reluctance. Stephanie is happily married with children, she owns and runs her own bookstore, but secretly she wishes for more adventure and now she thinks that she can have that by using Clara. She also keeps pushing Clara to go out on a date with one of the possible suspects, while Clara has been badly burned by a man back in New York city, and is not looking for a relationship, or ready for dating just yet. So, pushy Stephanie and Clara who gives in as she loves her cousin.

I do own the other books in this series, and will of course read them some day, but for now, this is not looking to be one of my favourite series. I like a little bit more humor in my cozies, and a heroine who wants to investigate just because she is curious/nosy/stumbles upon clues and dead bodies, and now someone who gets pushed into it reluctantly.

Of course, as a reader, I like the setting of a bookshop, and I do like paranormal cozies, but this one just did not cut it for me. Too little paranormal, and I have nothing at all with Edgar Allen Poe or horror or occult books.

6 stars.

© 2014 Reviews by Aurian