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Book Review - Haunting Refrain

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Haunting Refrain
by Ellis Vidler
Silver Dagger Mysteries, June 2002
184 pages, $13.95
ISBN 1-57072-197-1


Kate McGuire is persuaded by her father's old friend, Venice Ashburton, to join the local college's parapsychology group in order to meet other people. Since her divorce from a local politician, Kate has kept too much to herself, concentrating on getting her portrait photography business up and running.

So Kate agrees to accompany the flamboyant Venice to the meeting. Though Venice is psychic, Kate has never before had any psychic visions so what harm can come of it? Then Kate picks up an item, a headband, and she suddenly has a clear and horrific vision of murder. The victim is a missing student, Kelly Landrum. Venice wants to go to the police, while Kate just wants to forget about it. She has nothing concrete to tell the police--just the vivid vision of being strangled by an unknown person.

Venice, however, has her own agenda, and under false pretenses, introduces Kate to a local reporter. John Gerrard has been covering the Kelly Landrum case since she was first reported missing. He is skeptical about Kate's newly discovered psychic abilities--even more skeptical than Kate is herself. He writes a short article about both Venice’s and Kate’s psychic abilities in the local paper. Kate, distrustful of reporters since her newsworthy marriage and divorce, tries to distance herself from the engaging John even though she is attracted to him. John believes that people have the right to know the whole unvarnished truth. But when a body is found in the surroundings as described in both Kate's and Venice's visions, and Kate is besieged by a local "prophet" as well as a number of unexplained "accidents", John starts rethinking his stance on reporting the news. For John may have unwittingly sent a killer after Kate. A killer that believes that Kate is truly having visions of his victims, especially after another victim’s body is located.

Kate's character is nicely developed over the course of the tale, while John and Venice stay a bit of a mystery. Kate does not want her psychic gift but grudgingly learns to accept it as she fights for credibility. The story itself flows at a nice pace, with romantic encounters breaking the suspense. However, it seems nonsensical to have Kate break into a murder suspect's house for the reason that she couldn't instantly get hold of the investigating police detective. On the whole, Haunting Refrain is an engaging suspense story that will keep your rapt attention.

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