Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye

Abigail Cooper is a real psychic. She gives readings to clients, but she also helps her private-investigator gal pal out on cases. But that doesn’t mean the police believe Abby’s real, not even good-looking Roland “Dutch” Rivers, who had a single blind date with Abby.

When Abby gets flashes that help the police figure out who killed little a 4-year-old, even Dutch starts to think Abby might be the real deal. He and his partner Milo ask Abby about a former client of hers, Allison Pierce, who has just been murdered. But will Abby’s cooperation lead to danger to herself?

This cozy rom-com mystery at times is laugh-out-loud funny and always clever and amusing. I really want to hear more from Abby, and you will, too. I’ve already show more started No. 2, Better Read Than Dead. show less

Whoever has mused that covers attract hasn't lied, for I admit the cover of this book is what first drew me to it. I always am a sucker for cozy mysteries, and this proved to be a fun one.

Abby's personality is a contagious mixture of bubbling awkwardness, firm self-assurance, and strong sense of humanity. Although she's a psychic, she's sure to limit her clients to only two visits per year, in order to prove to them true answers lie within themselves, and not to fall into the trap of being a scam artist causing others to depend on psychics for all their endless answers. Detective Dutch Rivers was a fun, protective guy...what is it about detectives that usually ends up so hot in most books? His personality was great, from the awkward show more set-up date to the interrogations and, finally, to the ultimate revelation of his feelings.

The mystery itself was also a pay-off, as it was hard to pinpoint who the culprit was. As Abby tried on a few red herrings for size - and enraged the detective at the same time - it was good times. The slow unraveling of clues produced a decent mystery that wasn't conveniently answered, and the suspense scenes when shown (there weren't many), were well-written. Thankfully Abby did the clever thing when she was threatened at the end, not being overly heroic (read: silly and stupid). This gave her a depth of realism I always like to read about with my characters.

Not to mention, the psychic ability itself was just plain cool! Okay, I know there's misconceptions about psychics, but this is an ability I'd kill to have. She doesn't get strange premonitions out of the blue by touching various objects like overly-dramatic lifetime movie renditions, but instead it's just a natural flow of things for her. She's a strong psychic, as well, and I always like when it seems realistic.

There's humor, too, but not to where it's cloying. Some amusing situations that fit with the ironic side of life, but nothing forced and too comedic to where it takes over the book. Nothing overly violent - there are deaths, of course - but no descriptive phrases that would make the violence-weary shudder in their beds. It's an addictive book that's easy to get through; I read it in one day. The length isn't atrociously short, being 295 pages, but something about the subject and the author's great writing style made it easy to breeze through quickly. I can't wait for more of this series! show less

I thought that this was a fun easy read. Being a total dog person and having a doxie mix I loved that she had a doxie as her pet ;-) But, really I thought it was a cute story. I think my only issue is that this woman is in her 30s but really acts like she's in her early 20s. She seems to be a person who can run her own business but then acts like a young girl when it comes to men. I think I can get over it.

Abby Cooper is a professional psychic (the real deal) with a distinct distaste for the police. After reading stories of psychics who were accused of crimes because they knew too much when they were only trying to help has made her understandably wary.

But when she reveals her insights into a kidnapping case to impress her blind date, Abby gets in trouble. Because the skeptical but irresistible Dutch Rivers is a police detective, and he's convinced she knows something about this case - not to mention the murder of one of her clients...

The story is lightweight, witty, and fun, and the chemistry with Dutch is definitely there. Not to mention that there's room for the relationship to grow in the sequels. I actually really liked the fact show more that although there was definite romantic interest, the two leads weren't a firm couple never to be separated by the end of the novel - especially as it was fairly short.

I very much enjoyed the descriptions of how her psychic abilities worked and how they manifested themselves (not to mention that her friends worked completely differently). It seemed quite plausibly vague, yet specific enough to be helpful in investigation. And if Abby the amateur sleuth seems a little dense at times - and a little too willing to ignore her psychic warnings, at least she never reaches the level of too stupid to live - and, hey, she's new at this game. Hopefully she'll get better in the next books in the series (which I'm definitely going to be reading).

Perfect airplane read.

Also posted at my blog show less

This book was a quick, fun, and light read. It didn't have much substance but I wasn't hoping for any. Laurie had me laughing out loud at certain parts and commending her on many of her witty and sarcastic remarks. I really enjoyed the writing style and feel of this book. It was fast paced without being overwhelming and the subject of a psychic detective never felt contrived or unrealistic.

I enjoyed all of Laurie's characters. Abby grew on me quite quickly. She was funny, caring and in a little over her head, which I always find fun when paired with humor. She had a great voice that kept me interested and chowing down chapters. I especially loved Abby's interactions with other characters. Her budding relationship with Dutch was the show more highlight but I also really enjoyed the interactions she had with her sister, Cat. I can't wait to see the Abby/Dutch relationship furthered in future books. Getting to know and trust one another was funny in this book but I can't wait to see a true partnership form between them (both professionally and personally).

Usually I don't mention any author information in my reviews but I felt this was too relevant not too. Victoria Laurie is a real life police psychic. While my personal opinion is that that's a load of hoo-ha, I couldn't help but think how how cool it was that she made a cozy mystery out of her life. I think she did a great job touching on preconceptions people have and treating them with humor and levity. I think if more psychics had her attitude and approach, my image of a psychic wouldn't be Professor Trelawney.

See my blog for quotes and my thoughts as I read: http://bitten-books.blogspot.com/2011/02/review-abby-cooper-psychic-eye-psychic.... show less

I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I think I may have found a replacement for the now horrid Stephanie Plum series. Not that Abby Cooper is anything like Stephanie Plum. But sometimes I need a light mystery with some laughs, and this fits the bill. The characters are pretty likable, but flawed. Like, Abby actually has a bad day and goes off on people for no reason. You know, like a normal person. I appreciated that. And the psychic angle adds a nice little quirk. I really liked the fact that Abby's sister spends her money. I hate when there are rich characters in books who are too noble to spend their money. What's the point in being rich if you don't spend the money? There were a couple of things that did annoy me, but overall I show more really enjoyed this and would definitely read another in the series. show less

I was a little bit skeptical when I first started reading this book, thinking I wouldn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, but I ended up liking it better than I expected. I like how Abby stumbles into her police involvement with the case, and how love interest/police officer Dutch plays the skeptic that many of us are when reacting to people with psychic abilities.