I have been with Shelby Nichols and chronicler Colleen Helme from the get go, and with each new Shelby Nichols adventure you can actually see the author improving in her storytelling and writing abilities. You can also experience Shelby - and husband Chris, their kids, Uncle Joey the Mob Boss and Ramos the Hitman maturing and growing within the context of the stories as you read (or listen).
Now, this is a wonderful thing. An author improving is always good, but it always feels like I'm experiencing Shelby and company in real time as I journey. That means she is more coming to terms with her mind reading abilities and learning how to manage them. So is her husband, and her friend Dimples the police detective, and Uncle Joey, and Ramos.
No matter how hard she tries to lead a quiet simple life, Shelby likes to help people and she has a very strong sense of right and wrong, and a caring personality, so she constantly gets into trouble no matter how hard she tries to avoid it.
In Midsummer Night’s Murder (which I first got last summer as part of an anthology with many other EXCELLENT cozy mystery authors), Shelby is called by her police detective friend to come and listen to the thoughts of one Angel Molina, accused of murdering his girlfriend Molly. But he didn’t do it. He is overwhelmed with guilt because he had a fight with Molly just before she was killed. His is overcome with worry about his adorable dog Pepper, a black and white lab/beagle mix who went missing when Angel was arrested.
But if he was innocent, who killed Molly? And Why?
As with all Shelby Nichols adventures, the plot thickens quickly, and a few sub-plots and twists emerge. There’s Ethan in Chris’s office who may be double crossing Chris, Shelby’s husband and partner in his law firm. But why would an intern be in cahoots with State Prosecutor Strickland? And why does he have it in for Chris? And are there violent gangs involved with this case? And could it even lead back to Uncle Joey?
When the bullets and the cast iron skillets start flying, you can bet Shelby is in the thick of things, trying not to get brained by the skillet or shot again!
This adventure is like a small 5 hour energy drink: You get a condensed jolt of Shelby with all the trimmings in a smaller package!
One other thing that comes to light in this book is that in addition to getting “impressions” from the spirit world, which apparently Shelby can do, she can also communicate – at least empathically – with animals. Or dogs anyway.
Could there be a doggy companion in Shelby’s future? Maybe even a doggy partner? I guess we’ll have to wait until the New Year to find out.
Why do I like Shelby Nichols so much? Well, first of all, they are extremely well written and I always like good writing and storytelling and engaging characters in any genre. Colleen Helme is top notch. Secondly, the books are so good that even having read the story I can go back to skim and look up certain points and details of the story line and I like it so much that I get sucked into reading it all over again! It is THAT engaging.
I recommend these books for anyone who enjoys a good read, a good mystery, and great writing with outstanding characters who seem to be taken from real life.
If you have not yet gotten hooked on Shelby, this would be a great first read. Just a word of caution, it is going to become a habit by the end of the story!