Members of the recreation league keep dying. Poison darts end their lives, purple froth emerges from their mouths, and Heather sees a mysterious purple haze hanging over them.

Police Chief Martin Grueder believes in Heather’s powers -- she evidently helped him find cattle rustlers after steak earlier on. But her mother disapproves, to the point of kicking her out of the house. Neither Roy nor Langdon count as believers, either. Her lack of perception in this silly mystery made me a doubter as well. I never felt a connection to the main character.

The villain has a dual identity. She’s a black-and-white advertising exec by day and a multi-toned purple prostitute by night.

While the author’s sense of irony was often amusing, I viewed this more as a comic strip than a novel. I never really connected with Heather, the timeline was confusing, and some of the action was bizarre. Heather was able to jam gum in a closing door before the villainess noticed her presence. Poison dart murders where the darts are removed but DNA is found? And comfortable sex with a guy who has just had a brand new pin put in his hip?

The novel is fun, but rather ridiculous. The story has snake pits, deserted islands, and purple, purple, purple. The tarot cards and the rather inept Cross Point police force solve the crime eventually. And the main characters tie up although the reasons they have been apart are pretty vague. This failed for me, both as a mystery and as psychic adventure.

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Sweet

Reviewer: Lynn Bushey
November 18, 2008