REVIEWED by Jen B.

TITLE:  Shadow’s Edge

SERIES:  Psychic Detective Mysteries #1

AUTHOR:  S.C. Wynne

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:   155 Pages

RELEASE DATE:  January 19, 2017

BLURB: 

Liam Baker can see things. Dead people like to visit him and tell them how they were wronged. Some might call it a gift, other’s a curse. But either way this ability makes him useful to Los Angeles homicide detective Kimball Thompson.

Some madman is slitting the throats of young male prostitutes and then dumping their bodies in the desert with vague clues of pink feathers and the number five. Usually Liam can talk to the spirits of the dead. But someone is blocking him. Someone is taunting him.

The case is rapidly deteriorating into a violent, psychic pissing contest and Liam can’t see far enough ahead to figure out who wins or who dies.

Liam is a psychic who is contacted by spirits who were murdered.  After almost nine months, he is still grieving the death of his partner/lover, William.  William and Thompson were detective partners, and while Thompson still mourns the loss, he is ready to move on.  He has been enlisting the help of Liam, both as a means to help Liam move on, as well as to help solve the recent murders of an apparent serial killer.  The victims contact Liam, or he is able to contact them at the scenes, but it is a small window of opportunity and understanding their messages and figuring out clues is a bit tricky.

This story is about the murders of the young gay men and Liam’s psychic abilities, but it is also about Thompson trying to get Liam to move on.  Thompson has harbored feelings for Liam for quite some time, even back from when Liam was with William, but he eventually gives up hope where Liam is concerned and decides to move on.  This is finally the spark that Liam needs to start living again and opens his eyes to the connection they have.

I took to Liam right away.  We got to see glimpses of the man he was before William died, and it was clear to see his life was turned upside down by his passing.  I don’t recall ever finding out what actually happened to William and while I guess it isn’t important, I kept thinking we would find out.  But life goes on, and there was plenty of other stuff to grab my attention.  Trying to figure out the mystery of the killer and what the clues meant was interesting, but again, I don’t recall if we ever found out the point of the pink feathers.

In the end, Liam and Thompson made a good team, and I liked them together.  I loved learning about Liam’s abilities, how he was able to see or hear things differently at different times, flashes of things that happened that he only got one shot at seeing before they vanished, etc.   This was a fairly quick read that kept my attention to the end.  I am definitely looking forward to reading more of this series and am interested to see what case needs solving next.