Customer Reviews

Killer Insight (Psychic Eye Mysteries, Book 4) (Psychic Eye Mystery)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Abby Cooper is a private eye with an edge that others in her profession would like to have. She is a psychic who has five spirit guides that help her in her cases and at critical times her clairvoyance and precognition kick in. When she has a flaming row with FBI agent Dutch Rivers, she thinks they are over so when her friend Ellie calls her from Denver asking her to be a bridesmaid, she quickly and gladly accepts.

When she arrives, she learns that the person who she is replacing stepped out of town without personally informing Ellie. When Abby looks at a picture of the absentee bridesmaid, she knows she is dead and with the help of her guides draws a picture where the body is. When the corpse is found, the wallet of Ellie's fiancé Eddie is on her; adding to the stress Ellie is undergoing a second bridesmaid has gone missing and then a third. Ellie's sexy brother Sheriff Duffy uses Abby in his investigation because he cares about Ellie and doesn't want her to be the killer's next victim.

Readers who like Charlaine Harris's newest private eye series will absolutely adore the latest "A Psychic Eye Mystery." The heroine is so in tune with her powers that she uses them as a tool in her job and personal life. People accept her because scientific evidence to the contrary, they believe in her. Victoria Laurie writes a dazzling amateur sleuth tale with a nice romantic sub-plot, giving KILLER INSIGHT cross-genre appeal.

Harriet Klausner

I loved all of the books in the series, the plot lines are unique in each book, and this one is especially good. The killer was a surprise (for the most part, since I tend to read the ending about half way through-the suspense makes me nuts!) and the characters well developed. Abby isn't perfect, and neither is anyone else in the book, which makes it all the more enjoyable. If you are on the fence about getting this one, jump over and join the rest of us! It's great!

As a fan of the Psychic Eye Mysteries and Victoria Laurie, I eagerly anticipated Killer Insight, and boy, it is GREAT!
This outing, Abby Cooper, raw from a break-up with hunky Dutch, goes to a childhood friend's wedding in Denver. The Denver family has been a major part of Abby's life, a surrogate family so to speak. Abby is asked to be a replacement bridesmaid when one of Ellie's (the bride) bridesmaid suddenly leaves.
In the course of Abby learning about the circumstances of the diappearance of the first and subsequent disappearances of other bridesmaids, she and her crew get to work to help.
She sees her childhood friend, Duffy (Ellie's brother), and he has grown to be a sexy Sheriff and that chemistry plays greatly in the story.
This outing gives a greater range for Abby and her talent. She is a more rounded person and maybe it is the change of scenery, or the dealing with family and the engaged couple. Whatever, I couldn't wait for the next page!
Ms. Laurie alway gives us insight to what is is like to be a psychic and its responsibilities. I enjoyed her explaining her preparation to do a reading and zeroing in on her gift.
Page 108 shows her process - and the analogy of her getting in the zone, like Tiger Woods does when he is on his 'A' game. That concentration is pure discipline to keep yourself focused on the job. Really makes things easier for the reader who has not had much experience on that end, and her process of meditation and asking for help with Angels and her crew to help her give the information needed to be said, is fascinating.
The climax of the book is stunning and gives us a clue of what a NDE feels like - not going to spoil that -
There is a sneak preview of the next of the series, Crime Seen, that starts with Dutch asking Abby to help him with his crime investigations - Dutch was once skeptical of Abby's gifts but now he sees the potential in her using her talent for his investigative work. Should be another great read - AND Ms. Laurie is introducing a new Ghost-Buster series, the 1st titled What's a Ghoul to Do? Can't wait!
As I have said before in previous reviews of Ms. Laurie's books, I visited her website and had a reading with her - I think many would find a reading with her to be very helpful.
On top of that Ms. Laurie is a delightful gracious young lady with great gifts.

A little more depth is given to the characters esp. Abby. This is a very good mystery/story and who would have thunk it, didn't figure out the murder in this one! It helps to read the previous books in this series before you read this one since it deals with Abbys social life a little, but you will not regret having to read the whole series, it's that good.

I had no idea that so many spirits were hovering around just to prove that Abby's powers are genuine. The book was great, but the constant grandstanding "oh, you don't believe me? Your dead relative says _______" really ruined it for me. There was also one part where Laurie really contradicted herself, as in one part where she said that psychics weren't always turned "on", yet Abby is always able to switch on to contradict a skeptic or get that oh so convenient clue.

Anyway, onto the plot. The plot surrounds Abby as she heads back to her old home town for a friend's wedding. What should have been a fun trip back to memory lane turns into disaster when Dutch dumps her on Valentine's day and a missing bridesmaid ends up being dead.

I did enjoy this book, but like I said... Laurie seems to spend way too much time showing off to skeptics. It's a horrible trend in her books that every skeptic is "shown the way", yet the only person who doesn't believe her is automatically a drunk loser. (Who is the only person in the series so far who wasn't convinced by Abby's miraculous psychic abilities.) That normally wouldn't be so bad, but I get the feeling that Laurie's using these books to lash out at the naysayers. The book is good & I recommend it, I just wish that the books weren't so formulaic. If not for that problem I would have easily given this book a much higher score.

3.4/5

EDIT: Please don't vote my review down just because you don't agree with my rating of it. Vote "no" only if it is truly unhelpful to you- not just because Madam Laurie has told all of her "fans" to vote down any review lower than 4 stars! That's fraud, you know...

Victoria Laurie knows how to pull you right into the story. Her powerful imagination, her control and use of words, and her deep understanding of events that are psychic makes reading her stories an edge-of-chair experience that feels like being on a roller coaster from the fast start to the faster finish. I really like her protagonist's personality and I am very fond of reading stories told in the first person. It creates the sense of sitting across the table from someone telling the story just to you.

Abby Cooper is very upset when on Valentine's Day, she breaks up with her boyfriend, FBI agent Dutch Rivers. However, she has committed to be a bridesmaid at the wedding of her long time childhood friend Ellie, who lives in Colorado. After all, change is good for a broken heart, so Abby leaves her darling doggie, Eggie, with Dave, the handyman, and goes to Colorado. Soon she is embroiled in Ellie's wedding crisis, and when her psychic intuition tells her that one of the bridesmaid, Gina, is dead, Abby soon finds herself working with Ellie's sheriff brother Duffy to find out what happened to Gina. Abby's psychic "crew" soon lets her know that the chief suspect seems to be Ellie's fiancé Eddie, even though the signs and signals from the "crew" are confusing to Abbey. When Gina's body is found, and when 2 more bridesmaids turn up missing, Abby and Duffy realize that someone is committing murder to stop Ellie's wedding. Abby continues to help Duffy investigate the case, but she begins to have disturbing visions about her own death.
Abby is a strong heroine, brave and compassionate and secure in her psychic abilitites. Even though her relationship with both Dutch and her cold, uncaring parents hurt her, it doesn't stop her from trying to do the right thing and help Ellie. The other characters in "Killer Insight" are well rounded and believeable, especially Ellie's aunt Viv, a very old, very funny character who seems to think nothing of filling her large purse with forks, knives, soaps and food from restaurants. Abby and her sister Cat, further cement their sisterly relationship in this book and some funny sisterly dialog is cleverly handled. Author Victoria Laurie does a great job of explaining the processes of a psychic mind, from decribing Abby's preparation for a reading, to describing how Abby can tell if someone is dead by looking at their picture, or how Abby can pick up someone's energy by touching jewelry and other inanimate objects. The mystery moves along briskly and there are plenty of suspects and I had a hard time figuring out who the murder really was.
I have become a fan of Ms. Laurie's Abby Cooper, and hope to read many more of her psychic mystery adventure. All in all a very entertaining read.

This is the fourth book in the Psychic Eye series, but the first one that I have read in the series. I picked it up at Half Price Books where they did not have the first one in stock...
The main character is a professional psychic named Abby, and in this book she breaks up with her commitment-phobic FBI boyfriend and catches a plane to be a last-minute bridesmaid in her childhood best friend's wedding. When she arrives, she reconnects with the bride's brother Duffy, and although I don't like romance in mysteries, they make a great couple. Shortly after, she discovers through her spiritual "crew" that the missing bridesmaid is dead. She can tell by looking at a picture; the dead are always flat and lifeless. Then another bridemaid goes missing. The great thing about this book is how she goes back to where she grew up, the family that raised her -which is the bride's family - and and no one questions her psychic ability. The book is well written and pulls you into the story instantly. I was really enjoying the story until the end, where it prompty did an about-face and wrapped up very strangely. For example:
1. She breaks up with her ex after he asks for time apart on Valentines Day, gives her the worst gift ever - a phone with a gps locator and one year paid bill that he got for FREE with HIS new phone. Good riddance right?
2. After meeting a great guy who actually respects her, they become so close that after staying with him, she decides to move to Colorado where he lives - HOWEVER -in the last few pages of the book, she gets shot and accidently speed dials her ex who flies in to be with her in the hospital and they instantly get back together. She gets a dying vision of a girl and Duffy, who turns out to be her doctor in the hospital and decides they're meant to be. She leaves her new boyfriend, the family that raised her, and goes back to her old life with no friends, no family, and her old boyfriend.
Until page 262, I had decided to pick up the next book in the series, and most likely read the first three books as well. The ending was completely out of character with the rest of the book, ruined the story of her starting over a new life, and completely dismissed the chemistry she had with her new love interest. Almost as if another author had taken over and finished the story in a hurry for an upcoming deadline. VERY disappointing. I am done with this series. That said, the quality of story-telling is good enough for me to check out the authors NEW paranormal series Ghost Buster, starring another psychic named MJ.

I'd say so! For the first time in the Psychic Eye series, Victoria brings the story out of Royal Oak as Abby is called on to be a bridesmaid at a friend's wedding in Colorado. The change of pace really pushes the series forward. We get to check in with the regular characters, but we're also introduced to a whole new group of colorful, interesting people.

The book gets off to a heck of an exciting start, and it slowly becomes clear that Abby's fellow bridesmaids are getting killed off. It puts a damper on the wedding, but it makes for really exciting reading. As a fan of this series, I look forward to each volume because the author keeps switching things up. But she also keeps things grounded with a terrific main character who you really want to get to know. With so many authors faltering in their series, it's a thrill to see someone who keeps growing from book to book. I can't wait to see where Abby ends up next!

Oh my God!! Victoria Laurie is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!! She writes the best books, I would definitely put her next to Janet Evanovich . . . YES I MEAN IT!!! She writes so incredibly well, you feel like you know the characters so well and Abby is so fun to read about - I love the psychic stuff and the humor is always right on target!! I never, ever can figure out the twists and turns and that is because Victoria keeps you guessing throughout the whole book!!!! I cannot wait for the next Abby installment and am very sad that I only have a few pages left, but I had to give kudos out to Victoria for writing such an awesome masterpiece!!
I would highly recommend ALL of Victoria's books AND getting readings from her - she is amazingly accurate and so friendly, you feel like she is the sister that you never had!!
YEA! for Victoria - keep em coming!!!!!!