The12th Charlie Moon mystery (after 2006's Stone Butterfly
) from world-class storyteller Doss has more twists and turns than the road to Charlie's acerbic Aunt Daisy's. The ratings for Colorado's most famous TV psychic, Cassandra Spencer, go through the roof when she describes a truck-stop murder as it takes place, but she fails to predict the horrific death of her newly wed eldest sister, Astrid, apparently mauled by a wild animal. Rancher Charlie Moon, a Ute tribal investigator, and his best friend, Granite Creek police chief Scott Parris, team up with Aunt Daisy and her connections in the spirit world to search for an inhumane—and possibly inhuman—killer, while Cassandra and her remaining sister, Beatrice, vie for the hand of Astrid's widower, who has secrets of his own. Doss's narrative and chatty asides are finely cut gems. This latest Colorado mystery leaves no doubt that Doss has carved out his own niche. (Nov.)
