This is the seventh book in the Burning Cove series which takes place during the 1930s in the glamorous coastal town of Burning Cove, a seaside resort town popular with the rich and famous. I loved it! This is my favorite book in the series. It is full of suspense, murder and romance and takes place in the unique time period of the Golden Age of Hollywood. (It can stand alone although it helps to have read one or more of the other books in the series first.)

Prudence Ryland is working as Psychic Dream Consultant, Madame Ariadne, in San Francisco. One day, horrifyingly, when a client tries to kill her, she uses her psychic energy to escape and he later dies. She moves across the state to start over at a college working as a paranormal research librarian. She hopes to build her professional reputation with plans of someday owning her own paranormal bookshop. But it’s not long before disaster strikes again when she is kidnapped in the library and wakes up to find herself in a bloodstained wedding dress, with a knife in her hand, in bed next to the dead body of Gilbert Dover, heir to the Dover fortune.

Prudence has a history with the Dovers. Gilbert’s mother, Clara, had wanted Prudence to marry him but she refused. Clara believes she has psychic powers of her own. She wanted Prudence to marry Gilbert so her grandchildren would have psychic skills as well. Furthermore, the men in the Dover family have violent tempers and she believes Prudence could act as a calming influence on the Dover male bloodline. Prudence was warned by her friends in the psychic community that Gilbert was dangerous and was rumored to have injured several women so Prudence steered clear of him.

Prudence realizes she needs help so she calls powerful Luther Pell, owner of the Paradise nightclub, whom she met through her friends Maggie and Sam (from When She Dreams). Luther introduces her to Jack Wingate, a criminal consultant, who promises to protect her and help solve her case. She and Jack initially butt heads. Jack thinks she’s a fraud and Prudence thinks she needs a private investigator not a consultant.

Jack uses analytics and numbers and  he builds a crime tree by using data from the crime scene, and from family and others connected to the victim. He thinks the best plan is to use Prudence as bait to draw out the murderer. Prudence tells him that his method of analyzing the behavior of the criminal mind sounds a lot like a psychic reading. :)

Jack thinks Clara is possibly behind the framing of Prudence and leaks photos of Prudence and Jack to the newspapers. Soon Clara, her doctor Harvey Flood, and her companion Maud, come to town. Also arriving are Clara’s other son, Rollins, and his wife, Ella who are worried about Clara’s eccentric behavior and her claims that she sees visions of Gilbert.

As Prudence and Jack work together, not only does the suspense build but the sparks fly between the two of them. Everything about Jack fascinates Prudence and Jack thinks Prudence is refreshing, stimulating and “very energizing”. After they escape from a fire at Jack’s home they end up sharing a room at the fabulous Burning Cove Hotel. When they come together and share their love, things get pretty hot, so hot in fact that Prudence’s crystal necklace glows.

My one issue is that Jack and Prudence endlessly discuss whether Jack actually has a psychic talent or just a strong intuition for solving crimes and this went on a little too long for me. But this was minor and the story is truly enjoyable with an intriguing cast of characters. Just when I thought I knew who the murderer was, everything changed and kept me guessing until the end. This is a fun book for fans of suspense and romance with a touch of the paranormal and the energy of love.

I am thankful to Amanda Quick aka Jayne Krentz/Jane Castle for writing so many wonderful stories. I think I’ve read them all. They have brought me comfort when I needed it most and I am grateful.