Dead Sleeping Shaman

March 1, 2010
On the verge of acquiring a literary agent for her mysteries and a more permanent job as a columnist for the local newspaper, Emily Kincaid stumbles on the strangled body of a psychic who had dirt on a local cult leader. Calling on her best friend, Deputy Dolly, for assistance, Emily swings into investigative action. VERDICT Buzzelli hits her stride in this third entry (after "Dead Dancing Women and Dead Floating Lovers") in a series about two women who have formed a tight friendship despite their different personalities and who discover that they are stronger than they believe. For readers who like Sue Henry.

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2010
Wannabe mystery writer Emily Kinkaid (she is thrilled to have an agent who may be able to sell her first book) is visiting a ghost town for a freelance newspaper article when she comes across a woman who appears to be sleeping but is, in fact, dead. Emily is drawn into the murder investigation because the local police department in small-town Leetsville, in lower Michigan, is overwhelmed, thanks to the presence of Reverend Fritch and his followers, who believe the world will end cataclysmically in 15 days. When Emilys friend Deputy Dolly Wakowski joins the cult, Emily has something else to investigate. The appeal of this third in the series comes both from Emilya likable character forging a new life after her divorceand the evocatively described, nicely detailed small-town setting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

March 1, 2010
At the start of Buzzelli's well-crafted third Emily Kincaid cozy (after 2009's Dead Floating Lovers
), the intrepid reporter discovers a dead woman under a pine tree near an abandoned logging town 15 days before the world's supposed to end on October 27, at least according to the End Timer cult that's causing a stir in Leetsville, Mich. Strangled by a rope similar to those worn by cult members, Marjory Otis was a shaman who'd come to Leetsville to tend to the crowd if the world didn't end. After Emily's policewoman friend, Deputy Dolly Wakowski, joins the End Timers, Emily once again turns amateur sleuth, encouraged by her newspaper editor, Bill Corcoran, among others, to help catch a killer and solve a cold case involving Marjory's past. Buzzelli's mix of mystery and humor doesn't include supernatural shenanigans like Charlaine Harris's Southern vampire series, but it does provide some sharp prose and spirited characterizations.