Innocent Prey (A Brown and De Luca Novel)

Psychic murder mysteries are one of my favorite types of reads. This is the third book(plus a novella)in this series, and I have read, and enjoyed them all. Rachel de Luca is an author of best selling, self help books, and up until a few months ago, was blind. After a corneal transplant, she can now see. Mason Brown is a homicide detective, and it’s his brother’s cornea’s that Rachel was given. Since the beginning, these two have shared an emotional connection, especially when Rachel starts dreaming about the serial killer that Mason is hunting. By this time in these books, the two have solved more then several murders, and even saved Rachel’s assistant, when she was kidnapped. The two work extremely well together in solving crimes, and are really starting to work well together in their personal lives, as well.

This time around, Mason is called to look into a judges daughter’s disappearance. Although initially hesitant, Rachel joins in the investigation.The judges daughter is newly blind, and that resonates with Rachel. It’s not long before they realize there are nine missing young girls. And then, the police start finding bodies.

I always enjoy the characters of Rachel and Mason. To me, it’s like connecting with old friends now that we’re three books in. The two are still dancing around each other about their true feelings for each other. They’ve got the friends with benefits thing, down pat. Rachel is full of snark, and usually thinks what she writes is total bull, but it’s made her rich, so she keeps on writing it. Mason pretty much loves everything about her. He’s the total package, strong, smart and honorable. However, my favorite character is still, Myrt, the blind bull dog, and I think most readers come away from these reads, agreeing with me. The relationship between Rachel, and her dog, is really a beautiful thing, and as usual, I loved that aspect of this series. The mystery and investigation is both interesting, and exciting, with enough action to keep the story moving at a good pace. I love the way Maggie Shayne tells a story, and I have actually been reading, and enjoying her mysteries for a number of years.

If you like mysteries with a psychic element, then this would fit the bill for you. These are always well written, with a “getting better each book” romance and danger lurking around a lot of the corners. I would recommend this and the whole series for adult romantic thriller readers.