Review: MADAM TULIP by David Ahern

“Ask anyone about Madam Tulip’s legendary talent with tarot and crystal ball or her astonishing knack for detecting crimes, and you’ll be told her father is the seventh son of a seventh son. Everybody knows that in Ireland seventh sons of seventh sons have extraordinary powers and can do all kinds of mystical things.” (9)
Madam Tulip’s story begins with Derry O’Donnell, who was as broke as you can get. And just a little bit psychic.
Yes, there is some prestige to being an actress, but, of course, there’s a correlation between “artistic success” and “financial failure.”
With the help of her friend and at the insistence of her overbearing mother, Derry takes on a job as a fortune teller named Madam Tulip. Actually she was advertising herself as a “celebrity psychic.” I guess that’s where the real money would be.
Characters were Irish so they had a flare of that theatrical wit and blasphemy. Of course, some of the banter struck me as vapid and overrated, and certain expressions may not be easily understood (I know I didn’t get all of it.) Still, readers will be enchanted by Derry’s good-hearted nature and folksy charm.
I honestly just love stories about psychics and this one certainly seemed interesting; however, it lagged a little too much. Yes, Derry did have visions during the card readings, but they were far more downplayed and I thought they could’ve been a lot more interesting than they were.
The writing was okay, but, again, story dragged too much.
Overall, I’d rate this okay but not great.

My rating: 3 stars