Fools Rush in [Paperback]

The heat is on in the San Joaquin Valley which includes the area around the small town of Kearny and its local law enforcement is feeling it. Not just in the terms of the summer weather but in terms of crime and the reports that are generated each time an incident occurs. For Office Assistant III Christy Bristol of the Sheriff's Department, it means more and more paperwork to process. The last thing she really needs is for her old boyfriend James "Wolfman" Wolfe showing up at work to see her.

Wolfman has recently been reassigned to the undercover narcotics unit and isn't paying her a social call. His snitch, Johnny Blue, is missing and most likely dead. Wolfman is trying to build a case against a major Methamphetamine dealer named Lloyd Parr. Without his snitch the case is in deep trouble and Wolfman is desperately trying a different angle. He wants Christy to do Parr's astrological chart. Astrology is important to Christy as she has the gift and appreciates its power. Astrology became a huge issue when Wolfman and Christy were dating and in large part, his lack of respect for it and ultimately her caused their relationship to collapse. Now six months after their breakup, Wolfman focused on his needs only, has waltzed back into her life and expects her to grant him a favor of doing Parr's horoscope. Not only does he want her to do it, he wants her to make up some stuff to go along with what she really sees to scare Parr.

Offended and disgusted, Christy refuses initially but eventually creates one and assists in the delivery to Parr. Her eight years of working in the Sherriff's Department as an office assistant never prepared her for being kidnapped by Parr's crew as he acts on her message from the stars.

This is an enjoyable lightweight cozy mystery that is far as it possibly could be from the Hollywood style image of wealthy drug dealers or the dark world of noir mystery. Flashy images, strings of vulgarities and obscenities, or detailed brutal murders are not the focus here and rarely will one encounter in fiction such well spoken drug dealers. This can not be considered a graphic read on any level and instead focuses on interpersonal relationships of characters and how lives are wasted in false pursuit of drugs and money.

As in her other works, author Sunny Frazier focuses more on the lives of the characters involved and as such, the novel turns on character development, or lack of same, as she illustrates that some characters, just like some people in real life, never had a chance to do anything different with their lives. While some characters never had a chance, her main character, Christy Bristol, finds out far more about herself after her week in captivity than she ever thought possible.

This enjoyable cozy style mystery doesn't follow the Hollywood or noir formats and as such is a read that works for readers of almost any age. The characters are complicated; the heroine is genuine and interesting as are the sections involving Astrology, and the story moves forward at a stead pace. The result is a good read for the start of a planned series and worthy of your consideration.

Kevin Tipple (copyright) 2006

If you've ever been to the San Joaquin Valley, why did you ever leave? Hot
summers and a fruit basket from one glorious end to the other.

This paradise is the home of substation officer Christy Bristol. A snitch
disappears, and coerced by her former boyfriend, an undercover detective,
she joins in a plot to trap the head of a narcotics ring. Her job? Engineer
a horoscope to flush him from his lair. Yes, Christy's an astologist on the
side...but not on the sidelines.

Her family, complete with a sentient nun sister and a grandmother with the
gift which skips a generation, provides a solid and compelling background
for the intrepid girl.

Anyone interested in learning to walk the fine line between riveting
suspense and landing a character in the hospital every other chapter can
enjoy a text book case in this mystery. Christy is kidnapped by a very ugly
gang of convincing villains. They're flesh-and-blood real and about as scary
as they come.

Anything but a first novel, this professional effort deserves a second look.
More adventures, please, Sunny, for this new best friend.

Drugs, law enforcement and astrology - all are featured in this fascinating novel, Fools Rush In (Christy Bristol Astrology Mysteries), that offers a peek into each of these worlds, even as it leads us down suspenseful country roads and highways that traverse California's Central Valley.

Christy Bristol is an office assistant at a Sheriff's Department substation in the fictional town of Coronita, but her specialty is horoscopes. When her ex-boyfriend "Wolfe," an undercover "narc," asks her to do a horoscope of a drug dealer, who is a fan of astrology, she hesitates. But then finally complies. And then everything in her world is turned upside down.

The action escalates as author Sunny Frazier propels us down one country road after another to the drug dealer's compound, where Christy is held hostage.

Can spinning more horoscopes for her captor lead to her release? Will the law enforcement officers at the substation realize her danger and come to her rescue? Or will Christy have to escape on her own, using her wits and her abilities with charts?

I couldn't put the book down until the final page, and then I was eager to see what would happen next in Frazier's new sequel Where Angels Fear.

A definite five-star read.

Laurel-Rain Snow

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 8 reviews  4.9 out of 5 stars