Review: The Alchemical Detective

The Alchemical Detective by Kirsten Weiss

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Book Info: Genre: Paranormal mystery
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: fans of paranormal/supernatural mysteries.
Trigger Warnings: murder, assault
Animal Abuse: a cat is killed, a dog runs away to avoid the same fate

My Thoughts: So, this book is set near Lake Tahoe rather than in San Francisco, where Riga usually lives. I rather like this setting. It sounds like a lovely place.

I was very amused by several things in this book, but mostly Riga's sometimes silliness, like when she was looking around the office of a murder victim and didn't see anything, and thought this: “Well, what had she expected to find? A note from the killer jammed beneath the door? She checked, hopeful.” I was also amused to learn that Martin Luther strongly approved of alchemy, so I guess Lutherans can rest assured that the practice of alchemy is a-okay in their dogma.

The editing wasn't too bad—I have definitely seen much worse—but there were a couple weird things, like a door swagged with crime scene tape. What? Swagged? I think she must have meant swathed. Most of the problems I saw were details, aesthetic choices, and confusion over when to capitalize and not capitalize titles, nothing too terribly distracting or unusual or egregious. Plus I was extremely impressed to find the correct use of not only the term “magnate” (which I have seen spelled “magnet”) and mic (for microphone, not the commonly misused “mick”).

All in all, a great continuation of the series, despite Riga's too stupid to live behavior when she felt she had discovered who the killer was. At least she had a backup plan, but why do these people always go to face the killer with no weapons or additional people? Still, if you like mysteries featuring metaphysical/paranormal/supernatural elements, you'll like this.

Series Information: Riga Hayworth Paranormal Mysteries
Book 1: The Metaphysical Detective, review linked here where formatting allowed
Book 2: The Alchemical Detective, picked up on Amazon during KDP promotion
Book 3: The Shamanic Detective, picked up on Amazon during KDP promotion
Book 4: The Infernal Detective, received from author for review

Disclosure: I picked up a copy on Amazon during a KDP promotion. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: A psychic has been murdered in an occult ceremony and the police pay a visit to Riga Hayworth, metaphysical detective. But this time, she’s not a consultant on the case, she’s a suspect.

There’s a storm on the horizon. Riga’s lost her magic and has come to Lake Tahoe to recover and spend quality time with her new love. But life for Riga is never that simple. A psychic’s been murdered, and the police believe Riga has a connection to the crime. They’re right. And if that’s not enough, Riga is drafted as the host of a reality TV show about the local lake monster, and her niece is rejecting her metaphysical abilities. Juggling demons, daimons, and angry tarot card readers, Riga must catch a killer before she becomes the next target.



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