Loose Ends: A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery

Author: Terri Reid

Type: E-book (Kindle)

Genre: Supernatural/Mystery

Series: Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery series

Series Order:
1. "Loose Ends" (2010)
2. "Good Tidings" (2010)

First Line: "Galena, Illinois - 1980's: The candidate stood at the front of the ballroom a few feet behind the podium on a makeshift stage."

Synopsis: Mary O'Reilly's life drastically changed when she was shot and killed in the line of duty ... then came back to life. After that near death experience Mary was left with the ability to see and communicate with ghosts. Now ghosts seek her out in order for her to help them pass through to the other side. Using the skills she learned in her former job as a Chicago cop as well as her new abilities, Mary has started her own investigative company specializing in solving mysteries involving the dearly departed. One of Mary's biggest difficulties is convincing the living (especially the new, handsome police chief Bradley Alden) that she's not crazy for (apparently) speaking to herself and talking about ghosts.

In this first book of the series, Mary is approached by a Senator to look into the death of a young woman who died in the Senator's pool 24 years ago. This young woman is now haunting the Senator and his wife. Initially listed as an accident Mary soon learns that the woman was murdered. As Mary uncovers more information about the woman's death she unearths a connection between that murder and the disappearance years before of several young girls.

My Thoughts: A paranormal romance novel with not a vampire or werewolf to be seen!?!?! What a novel idea!! I thought that this was a great first book by Terri Reid. I love that she got this book published via Amazon (instead of a traditional publisher) -- how cool is that, I ask you?!

This is a great first book and a promising start to a new series. It had a bit of romance, good humour and a suspenseful mystery with enough twists and turns to keep me interested (I finished it in 2 days!). I really liked the idea that Mary could speak to and see ghosts and think that this ability will lead to many diverse storylines.

Mary was an interesting main character. She's a strong woman but she also shows such compassion for the ghosts who were asking for her help. She has a good sense of humour (she'd have to have one with the ghost of a dead Civil War veteran living in her basement!) and the sexual chemistry between Mary and Bradley was interesting especially since Bradley is unavailable ... or is he? I can see his mysterious wife being part of future books to add a nice twist to the romance angle.

Despite some truly chilling scenes the book doesn't get bogged down in the macabre of dealing with ghosts and dead bodies. The storyline flows well and the ending wasn't obvious (at least to me). The secondary characters, specifically Rosie and Stanley, were cute but I would prefer them to be included more and offer more of a comic relief or quirkiness. I love me some quirky secondary characters!!

Side Note: I think this premise and cast of characters would make a great TV series (if the Hollywood powers that be stayed close to Reid's vision)!

My only issue with this book is that it was very poorly edited. We're talking paragraphs issues all over the place making it difficult at times to know who is talking. Seeing as I only spent 99 cents on this book I'm not going to have a hissy fit but as a Type A person those kind of things bug me. I'm hoping that Kindle gets that worked out because I look forward to reading many more books from this author.

My Rating: 4/5 stars