The Star: A Tarot Card Mystery (Tarot Card Mystery S.) [Hardcover]

David Skibbins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 2007 | Series: Tarot Card Mystery S.

After two recent encounters with crime, Warren Ritter is determined to live the quiet life, but fate isn't paying any attention. His daughter, Fran, with whom he has only recently become acquainted, is in serious need of his help. She has separated from her husband, Orrin, who has taken their five-month-old son and refuses to give him back. If she challenges him, he will lie about her suitability as a mother. He's a police officer and she is afraid he can get away with it. Things become even more complicated when Orrin is found dead and Fran becomes the prime suspect. Now it's going to take Warren's full store of resources to clear his daughter's name.

David Skibbins's two previous novels have received high praise, both for his unusual and likable sleuth, the "hippie of a certain age" Warren, and the vivid Berkeley setting. With this third installment, Skibbins gives readers another thrilling adventure embellished with the mysteries of the tarot.
 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Warren Ritter, ex-'60s radical and sidewalk tarot-card reader in Berkeley, Calif., works to clear his daughter's name in Skibbins's inconsistent if entertaining third mystery (after 2006's High Priestess). Believed killed in an explosion in 1970, Ritter has only recently resurfaced from a life on the run and learned of the existence of his daughter, Fran Wilkins. Now, Fran turns to her long-lost dad for help when her abusive husband, Orrin, a Santa Cruz policeman, declares her unfit because she suffers from bipolar disorder, and moves out with their five-month-old son. Fran steals her baby back from her husband's strict fundamentalist parents, but then lands in the hospital under police guard—rescued from attempted suicide and suspected of murdering her husband. In a dramatic conclusion, Ritter orchestrates a violent confrontation that reveals the true killer, but some details strain credulity and readers hoping for more tarot tips might be disappointed. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Warren Ritter--Eight of Swords (2005) High Priestess (2006)--is certainly not a typical detective. On the lam after participating in radical politics and coping with bipolar disorder, he ekes out a living reading tarot cards on Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue. When a daughter, Fran, whose existence was unknown to him, asks for help, he cannot refuse. Fran is separated from her husband, Orrin, a police officer who has taken their five-month-old son. Fran would like to get her child back, but Orrin will declare her an unsuitable parent if she tries. When Orrin turns up dead, Fran is the logical suspect, and Warren must rise to the occasion. With the help of his unconventional group of friends, which includes a former Black Panther, a biker psychiatrist, and his disabled computer-expert girlfriend, the tarot detective turns all the right cards. Skibbins' third mystery combines lots of action, a scene-stealing supporting cast, a well-constructed plot, and liberal doses of Bay Area atmosphere at its most quirky. Barbara Bibel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (February 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312361939
• ISBN-13: 978-0312361938
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,419,880 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Skibbins, Ph.D won the St. Martin's Press 2004 Best Traditional Mystery Contest with his first fiction book, Eight of Swords. His previous self-help guide, Working Clean and Sober was published by Hazelden Press in 2000.

He's been practicing as a psychotherapist for twenty-five years. He is a certified life coach, and was the founding Coordinator of the of the John F. Kennedy University Life Coaching Certificate program. He also supervises coaches-in-training at Coaches Training Institute. His latest non-fiction book, published by New Harbinger Publications is: Becoming a Life Coach, A Complete Workbook for Therapists.

The next book in The Tarot Card Mystery Series came out 2006, and was titled High Priestess. Book number three. The Star, came out in 2007. The forth and last in the series was The Hanged Man, published in 2008. The hero of this series, Warren Ritter, is a ex-revolutionary manic-depressive, Tarot card reader on Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue.

He also has a novel in the works, Burning Rose, and is currently co-writing a book on Leadership. David lives on the Pacific Coast at The Sea Ranch, California with his brilliant wife and his frisky Portuguese Water Dog.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Warren is a fascinating character..., April 4, 2007

By 

Kay Martinez "Kay" (Lubbock, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Star: A Tarot Card Mystery (Tarot Card Mystery S.) (Hardcover)

Warren wants so badly to live a quiet life in Berkeley, doing his tarot readings for customers and leaving his past buried. Unfortunately for Warren, life doesn't seem to be that simple. He has a daughter named Fran

that he has only met recently and she turns up asking for his help. Her husband, Orrin, has left her, taking her five-month-old son, Justin, and he is refusing to give him back.

Orrin is soon found dead, Fran is the prime suspect and calls Warren. Even worse, it is apparent to Warren that Fran has another thing in common with her father, she too is bipolar and even worse, is not receiving treatment. Warren knows that for him to help Fran, he will need the help of his girlfriend, Sally, teenage friend Heather, and his therapist, Rose.

I devoured this book! Warren is the kind of friend anyone should have watching their back. He's determined, loyal, trustworthy, and won't quit even when the odds are stacked against him. I can't wait to see where his

next adventures take him.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable but the star was a bit dim, March 10, 2007

By 

L. J. Roberts (Oakland, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Star: A Tarot Card Mystery (Tarot Card Mystery S.) (Hardcover)

Warren Ritter's peaceful day reading Tarot cards on Telegraph Ave. is brought to an abrupt end. His daughter, Fran, whom he has only met, shows up. She is separated from her husband, a police officer, and he has now taken their baby away from her refusing to give her back. Soon, the husband is found murdered and Fran is the prime suspect. It's up to Warren to prove her innocence.

There was much to like about this book and a few things that didn't quite work for me. I very much enjoy Warren. He has a great voice and provides the reader with an excellent understanding of clinical depression, although it's almost a bit too much so, at time, as it can slow the pace of the story. I liked that the plot revolved around Warren's family as it gives more dimension to the character. The sense of place is well done and gives the reader a real view of Greater Bay Area/Northern California towns. I'm not one who usually pays much attention to the physical book I'm reading, but I did notice it here. I Ioved the type font used for the headings and, with the story taking place around Christmas, the use of old carols at the beginning of each section. However, the publisher has changed the style of the covers and I really preferred the old ones. Now we come to the "didn't quite work for me" part. One problem with writing in the first person is conveying what happens when the character is not on scene. I felt it a bit awkward to think so many people would remember long conversations verbatim. I also kept wondering where were the detectives who would have been investigating the husband's murder. However, there were more things to like about the book than not. The plot was interesting, the story definitely kept me reading and I enjoyed it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just keeps getting better, February 6, 2007

By 

Lesa Holstine (Glendale, AZ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Star: A Tarot Card Mystery (Tarot Card Mystery S.) (Hardcover)

If you haven't read David Skibbins' earlier mysteries in the Tarot Card Mystery series, now is the time to pick up Eight of Swords and High Priestess. It's important to know Warren Ritter before he delves further into his personal life in this book.

Ritter is a tarot card reader, but also was a member of the Weatherman Underground thirty years earlier, so he's been a fugitive since then. He also suffers from bi-polar disorder, which doesn't make it easy for him to build and maintain relationships.

In The Star, he's forced to work on those relationships, when his daughter tells him her husband, a cop, took their baby and left, because of her bi-polar disorder. When he's later found murdered, Warren doesn't know if his daughter did it. He's forced to work with friends and family to help his daughter, and search for the killer.

This is the most intimate look into Warren Ritter's life yet. If you enjoy mysteries for the characters, check out The Star.