annieb123
Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
Flight Risk is the second Booking Agents paranormal cozy by Cherie Priest. Released 15th Nov 2022 by Simon & Schuster on their Atria imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback format due out third quarter 2023 from the same publisher. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats, it makes it so easy to find info with the search function.
This is such a well written, quirky, and genuinely funny series. The main protagonist is a travel agent working in her own agency who has an undependable unasked-for sixth-sense clairvoyant talent. She's approached by a man looking for his sister who disappeared under a cloud of embezzlement accusations and with a giant grudge against her cheating husband who didn't even report her missing. The case soon ties up with a case from homicide Detective Grady, whose golden retriever has entangled him a new case when he (the dog) fetches a disembodied leg, wearing a shoe.
I liked that Leda has a great relationship with her best friend Niki who also helps her uncover clues and isn't afraid to drag her off for a drink or three if she's getting too wrapped up in her own head (she has some unresolved trauma from the loss of a partner some years earlier). The disparate threads entwine more closely throughout the book into a clever and satisfying denouement and resolution. Her cooperative work with police detective Grady is very well written and it's a lot of fun to read their interactions. It's so nice that there wasn't any insta-romance or foreshadowed attraction between Grady & Leda - they're colleagues (at least for the present).
Four stars. The author is adept, the mystery is very well constructed, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes next for Leda, Niki, & Grady. The language is PG rated and there's no explicit content. Fans of Darynda Jones' Sunny Vicram and Cosimano's Finlay Donovan books are in for a treat.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.