"Murder on the Mind" by L.L. Bartlett

[sahmoun2778]

“I set off at a brisk pace, heading for my apartment three blocks away.” – opening line

And life for Jeff Resnick will never be the same again. You see, our hero is violently mugged and finds himself in a coma in the hospital the next morning. When he wakes up he finds that he has the beginnings of a psychic ability and he is haunted by visions and nightmares of a horrific murder.

Jeff is taken in by his older half-brother and his wife and relocates from New York City to Buffalo. When he arrives in Buffalo he hears that a prominent banker has recently been murdered. As his mind and body start to heal he remembers an encounter he had as a teenager with the murdered man that significantly impacted his future. He also realizes that the nightmares he’s been having are about this man’s murder. Having previously been an insurance investigator he decides to put his skills to use and follow up on the clues his mind is giving him. With the help of his brother he starts tracking down the life of this man and what led someone to kill him. In the end, he solves the mystery but I’m not going to tell you anymore because, as usual, I want you to discover the story yourself.

I was a little unsure when I first picked up this book if I would enjoy it because I think it can be hard to write about psychic abilities in a way that doesn’t sound far-fetched. By I think the author has done the job well here. I really liked the main characters and they were really well developed throughout the book. Jeff and his brother are very likeable and the second theme of the book is they development of their relationship to each other.

I am giving this book 3.5 out of 4 stars, my only hesitation being that a few of the transitions seemed a little stiff. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and overall I really enjoyed the story. It was well paced and I liked how she incorporated elements of the city of Buffalo into the story. I would not hesitate to pick up another book by this author and hope you too will try and enjoy this book.