Murder on the Mind by L.L. Bartlett (Jeff Resnick Mystery #1)

Murder on the Mind is the first book in the Jeff Resnick mystery series. When I downloaded it from Amazon (it was free), I was truly excited, because from the synopsis I understood that it is slightly paranormal in nature. Following a mugging, the main character, Jeff, becomes psychic, which means that he can see the murders in his mind, and has the ability to help solve the cases (which he actually does in this book).

Jeff is a laid off insurance investigator in New York city, who has a prospect in sight for a new job. One night going home from the bar he is attacked by some thugs, seriously beaten, his wallet and money stolen, and while he lays for days in the hospital bed, his home is ransacked and robbed of all his valuable possessions.

His stepbrother, Dr. Richard Alpert, convinces him to move in at least temporarily with him, back at home in Buffalo, while he fully recovers.

Jeff reluctantly agrees since his relationship with Richard has never been the closest. Richard is filthy rich, while Jeff is hanging by a thread. Now Jeff is by no means envious of his money, but still, they have never really hit it off, not even in their youths.

After his mugging, Jeff starts to have visions of a deer that is killed by a vicious hunter. Soon Richard’s girlfriend, Brenda, after reading the daily newspaper, realizes that Jeff’s visions are about a local killing – not of a deer, but of a real person.

Everyone in the house has to now entertain and get used to the idea that Jeff is psychic.

From here starts the story of Jeff taking clue by clue to solve the murder that plagues his visions. He doesn’t have a car, can’t even drive due to the injuries, so Richard is his temporary driver. Initially Richard is totally not convinced that Jeff is psychic, but when he realizes that Jeff knows things that he couldn’t possibly know through the normal 5 senses, he reluctantly agrees.

I really wanted to like this book (I read everything about psychics – fiction or non-fiction that I can get my hands on). However something fell flat here. I didn’t get as engrossed in the book as I thought I would. It was an interesting story, but not suspenseful, at least not for me. The book is classified as a ‘light mystery’, and it really earned its genre. It is a very light mystery. Nobody was ever in any real danger. A lot of the time was spent on Richard taxiing Jeff around the town and on their personal brotherly relationship.

However it was still a pleasant read. If I don’t like a book, I won’t finish it. Not so with this book. It was pleasant, a fun read, which sadly missed the ‘spark’ that would keep me glued to the pages until late at night to finish it.

Would I pick up the second book in the series to read it? I’m not sure, probably yes, just to see whether the suspense and action improved from the first.

What I know is that this book is perfect for a really light reading for people who want to avoid gore, thrills and chills at all costs, whereby even cozy mysteries might have it at times. This book will be perfect for them.

To check out more reviews for the book, or get it – right now it’s free for the Kindle, hop over to Amazon.

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