A Vision of Murder

Psychic Eye Mystery #3

by Victoria Laurie

Professional psychic Abby Cooper has invested in a fixer-upper, hoping to make a killing in the real estate market. But a killing of another kind puts her plans awry, as the ghost of a murdered woman and some troublesome poltergeists lead her into a mystery that stretches all the way back to World War II.  

Genres: Mystery, Paranormal, Cozy Mystery, Romance, Fiction, Chick Lit, Paranormal Mystery

296 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 6, 2005

About the author

Victoria Laurie is the New York Times bestselling author of 32 books and counting. Over the past 16 years Victoria has created several series and a few stand-alone novels. Her mystery series include: The Psychic Eye Mysteries, The Life Coach Mysteries, and The Ghost Hunter Mysteries. She's also the author of two YA books, When and Forever Again, as well as a middle-grade series called The Oracles of Delphi Keep.

Currently, Victoria is working on the 17th book in both the Psychic Eye Mysteries and the 3rd book in the Life Coach Mysteries, along with also working to produce a brand NEW series called Spellbound set for release winter/spring 2020.

Victoria loves to connect with her fans, and you can find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/Victo...

Reviews

[CJ - It's only a Paper Moon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abby, Abby, Abby - she needs an anger management class and perhaps someone should sit her down and make her read Taming of the Shrew. I have faith that Abby can be redeemed but her attitude is making me wince.

Anyway- The plot centered around a haunting of the house that Abby, Dave and Cat recently bought to fix up. There is a sociopath involved, stolen diamonds from a prominent WW II Jewish family and a very angry evil ghost.

Not too mention Abby is experiencing some serious sexual tension due to Dutch and his recent on the job injury.

Oh! and a certain ghostbuster makes an appearance in this book about year (or two) before her own series :) A treat for MJ fans.

[Yolibear · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was hard for me because I love the series but this one was just so annoying. She was like super sensitive and whiny throughout the book. And not to mention as a psychic obvious clues seemed to go unnoticed. She is supposed to be psychic and it appeared she barely used her abilities when the time and situation called for it. She was more concerned being a big baby in regards to her boyfriend. Who in previous books had no desire to use voice impressions but for some asinine reason he kept saying "sweethot" like Humphrey bogart. Which would have been cute once or twice. But it seemed like he did it all the time. He also was annoying as was her sister. I think the only character that was in previous books that didn't make me want to blow my brains out was Milo the police officer. Even her handyman was a pain in the ass. Yes, I will continue to read the serious, one bad book doesn't ruin the series. Nobody is perfect. I just PRAY she redeems herself in the next one.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very annoying main character takes this not-bad mystery down a couple of notches. She's so childish I couldn't wish for good things to happen to her.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

What could go wrong? Professional psychic Abby Cooper, her excellent handyman Dave McKenzie and Abby’s wealthy, domineering sister Cat go in together to flip a real fixer-upper house. What no one knew was that the house came with a ferocious, malignant ghost and a terrible secret dating back to World War II.

Author Victoria Laurie takes a complex story and never lets it drag this excellent story. This is my third read in the series, and I think I’ve loved this one the best of all.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* · Rating 3 out of 5]

My least favorite of the first three, Abby went from awesome main character I stood behind to one that made me cringe. While it was supposed to be funny, I guess, she came off too unsympathetic to Dutch's injuries (the potholes, ouch?) and was reckless with her safety. Stubbornness is one thing, stupidity is another. I like she has flaws, but her aggravation with Dutch being injured got tiresome. As an example, the first day he starts walking again, with a cane, she won't stop walking quickly to investigate a property, and only feels guilty when she looks back to see him pale and sweating from trying to keep up. She gets annoyed when he asks her to stay with him a bit while he's recovering to help him out since he can't move for a week or so, and the doctor suggests it. She keeps calling him "Gimpy" as a nickname because he is currently with a limp while in recovery. I mean seriously?

Cat felt a bit overdone as well with one particular scene but the side family dynamics are still enjoyable enough to add layers. Abby spends time with work but it's not the same feel since she didn't find her newest mystery through a client this time and spends hardly any time in the office. The mystery itself held backstory but some of it was predictable and it didn't hold my interest in comparison to the other two. Having a ghost is semi pointless when the ghost is around so little, so this doesn't bring in as much of a haunted element as I wanted, but the foggy effect and that one particular scene was downright twisted fun. Full review soon.

[Sina & Ilona Glimmerfee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abby Cooper hat ein altes Haus zusammen mit ihrer Schwester und dem Handwerker Dave gekauft. Doch sobald die Renovierungsarbeiten beginnen, fängt es dort böse an zu spuken. Alles spricht dafür, dass dort vor vielen Jahren eine junge Frau ermordet wurde, deren Tod nie aufgeklärt wurde. Bevor Abby sich versieht, ermittelt sie, sehr zum Missfallen ihres Liebsten.

Dies ist leider der dritte und letzte Teil der Reihe um das Medium Abby Cooper. Ich habe jeden der Teile sehr gerne gelesen und dies ist ein gelungenes Ende, mit einem Besuch der Geisterjägerin M.J. Holliday, die auch der Feder von Victoria Laurie entsprungen ist und eine eigene Reihe hat. Das Cover lässt auf einen lustigen Chick-Lit Roman schließen, doch der paranormale Krimi-Aspekt hat es in sich. Ein verspuktes Haus, ein dubioser Juwelenhändler und ein mysteriöses Kästchen lassen Abby kaum eine Atempause und für den Leser kommt keine Langeweile auf. Es ist spannend, aber auch die Beziehung zwischen Abby und ihrem Dutch kommt nicht zu kurz.
Eigentlich schade, dass es keine weiteren Bücher aus der Reihe geben wird, denn das Konzept und die Charaktere sind mir sehr sympathisch.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this book! Thank God I didn't pay for it. I couldn't even finish it. I got so tired of negative, unintelligent, whiny Abby. Personally, I think the author shows a lot of her own personality in her writing and she is an incredibly small minded, negative, angry person. She is one of those typical self-hating whites who is so filled with hatred for people, especially those with money. She could use some serious therapy!

[Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Vision of Murder by Victoria Laurie is the 3rd book in the Psychic Eye Mystery series. Psychic intuitive Abby Cooper buys an investment property with her sister Cat and handyman Dave only to find it inhabited by an evil spirit and the ghost of a murdered woman. A terrific, well-written addition to the series where the author does a great job in educating us in the paranormal. Fun characters and a very entertaining read

[Sandra Nedopričljivica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baš me opušta, iako su me duhići malo promrdali, i na drugo čitanje.

[Tèo Sip · Rating 1 out of 5]

I felt so disappointed and frustrated.

In the first book, Abby was childish and had her faults at times but that made her character even more lovable and easier to connect to. She was funny, brave, independent, and full of curiosity. I thought of her slightly stubbornness as determination and persistence. BUT all of that changed in the third book. Actually, Abby started to become an annoyingly stubborn and whiny, spoiled child since the second book. And she was downright stupid and rude in this one.

I had my reasons for saying that.

Someone broke Abby’s window and was still inside her house when she came home. He was definitely dangerous because Abby’s intuition went haywire and her “crews” were frantically warning her to run away. Even without psychic abilities, any sane person knew that. Hello? Broken glass? Damaged furniture? But guess what our “SMART” heroine did.

SHE CAME IN! ALONE! NOT CALLING THE POLICE OR ANYONE! THROWing AWAY ALL RATIONAL AND LOGIC!

But what if she could fight him, with no weapons? Don’t make me laugh. Abby was WEAK. She didn’t know how to throw a punch and when she was being attacked by the intruder, she cowered away doing nothing. Even though I didn’t blame her for that, I hate her for being so blindly stubborn and arrogant to admit her weakness. She totally could called the police (or Dutch, or Milo, or Dave), hid somewhere and wait to see the man’s face WITHOUT being noticed. What was the point to come in when the intruder was still in there?

After that, Dutch and everyone told (pleaded) Abby not to do anything dangerous alone. Yet, she ignored all the warnings and ended up getting injured several times. Abby even said rude things to Dutch (she managed to had a fight with him three times in this book) as he just simply being protective. Her curiosity and determination gradually changed to stupidity and stubbornness.

Sadly, by the time I finished this book, I really HATE Abby.



P/s: Abby was not the only problem I had with this book. It was just the biggest one.

[Trish · Rating 1 out of 5]

Must be a glutton for punishment b/c I didn't even finish the second one (read review here) and yet went on with the third one anyway. UGH. I don't know what made me think that Abby - of really, the author - would have grown up any between books, but this one, I had to give up on early on. The characters are not remotely believable and now I don't even like them at all. Abby is still the self-absorbed petty narcissist incapable of thinking of anyone or anything other than herself. She's still takes incredibly stupid risks, despite numerous warnings. I really hate STUPID female protagonists. The stereotype of the dumb blonde does not deserve to be perpetuated. Also, I find lengthy descriptions of "hunky" men puerile. Never reading another book by this author again.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't decided if I will be reading the next book in this series or not. I was disappointed in this book, not that I had huge expectations, but I enjoyed the first two books and expected the same from this one. Abby was really starting to annoy me in this book. She lost her appeal and reality when for the umpteenth time she knowingly went into a dangerous situation out of spite/anger/curiosity/rebellion. I felt like I was on a Ferris wheel going around and around. Dangerous situation, her radar goes off, she proceeds anyway, someone gets hurt or has a near miss, boyfriend gets mad, they make up and then around we go again.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

3 stars to the story. Abby, Cat and Dave go in together to buy a flip property. Unfortunately, the house is haunted by a vicious poltergeist. That sends Abby, Dutch and Milo on a mission to solve what happened in the house so they can send the spirit to the other side. It was an interesting puzzle.

1 star to Abby for doing what I hate most in these types of books. She repeatedly goes off on her own, gets attacked/injured then flips out when Dutch tells her she needs to stick with him. "Don't force your will on me!" BS. If you don't get that it's for your own safety, then you're just being willfully stupid.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a while since I've read a book in this series and this one reminded me of why I like it. It was fun watching Abby use her gifts to help figure out what was going on with the house she was rehabbing. I also enjoyed that they were piecing together things going back to WWII. Can't wait to read more in the series.

[Yrsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jag hoppas att Abby och Dutch kan hitta någon ”common ground” och inte bråka, jag tror de kan vara ett fint par då.
Litet minus på betyget för deras bråkande. Ser fram emot nästa bok! Jag tycker om hela psychic-delen.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars rounded up to 3 Stars.

[✴ Cindy ✴ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my 3rd time reading the series and I have to say that I'm noticing some things about Dutch that I went unnoticed the first 2x I read the series. Under the guise of caring for Abby, he treats her like a child. Granted, she does some risky things and isn't trained to handle them, but there are ways to have a rational conversation to ensure your partner is acting safely, but he demands her to do things. He hides her car keys which only forces her to behave in a more risky manor. In this book, Abby reminded me a lot of Stephanie Plum and Dutch made me think of Joe Morelli. Those are Janet Evanovich's characters.

I still love the series, though.

[Liisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found "A Vision of Murder" (the third in the Psychic Eye Mystery series) by Victoria Laurie to be enjoyable but not on par with the first two books of the series.

We are once again treated to twists and turns, our favourite characters and this time a ghost with attitude but there was just something amiss about this adventure with Abby Cooper.

There were moments when I literally laughed out loud but I did find this story more predictable than the previous books. Saying that I already have "Killer Insight" (the fourth) ready to read.

Enjoyable but not brilliant.

[Petula Darling · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abby went from being a relatively likable character in the first book to being a horrible, idiotic, overgrown child in this one. She did such stupid things for such ridiculous reasons that I found myself almost cheering the antagonist on during their inevitable showdown.

[Debra McEathron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Abby, her sister, Dave, Milo, and Dutch they are all great characters. Sometimes Abby has to realize that Milo and Dutch need to be included when she solves a mystery to keep her alive. The haunted house story and her parents control over her sister was fun.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third in the series....they are fun, but aren't quite living up to the promise of the first. I have the fourth floating around here someplace.

[Ravenna Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series. Such a fun well-written story--psychic romance suspense and I am in! Moving on to the next because I need to see how this plays out...I feel an addiction coming on.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't usually review books I give low stars to. It kind of doesn't feel worth my time. But this had some seriously terrible and offensive things going on, so I'm going to write about it.

First the treatment of the MC's boyfriend's college buddy. They visit him, and as they're heading back to the car she starts teasing her boyfriend about his friend and what good taste he has and how he likes show tunes. And then she tells the boyfriend that his friend is gay and has a crush on him, and as backup for this they talk about how the friend did decorate the boyfriend's house for him. This scene pulled out just about every cliche in the book.

Then let's talk about the boyfriend. He's supposed to be a good guy apparently. But the two characters drop into random, extremely childish fights for no real reason other than the story must have needed some drama at those points. But that's not the worst of it. Frequently the boyfriend gets angry because the MC does things he told her not to. Like he has any right to tell her what to do! And at one of those times, when she went out when he told her not to because it wasn't safe, he took her car keys. Including going into her purse to take her spare set. So that she couldn't leave his house (where she was staying to nurse him from a bullet wound). So, controlling and abusive and really just horrible. This stuff is NOT a show of how much someone cares about someone else.

It took me this long to write this up because I was so angry about this horrible jerk that I couldn't write about it without just screaming on the page. I'm really disappointed in this story because I really like the premise of the series. But I'm tired of the childish, ridiculous, and outright harmful behavior of these characters (I didn't even talk about the MC's sister and her completely outrageous and unreasonable behavior!). This is definitely not for me.

[Crazy for Books (Stephanie) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving this one less stars than the other installments. It's not that I didn't like this one as much as the others, cause I did. And it had some really funny moments. I think I just have more to critique as the series goes on.

Abby did some things in this one I found just stupid. I know the author needs to carry the story forward. But the running off when there's someone who is killing people and has destroyed a lot of her things, is just plain stupid. That's not a spoiler. When you read it, you will know what I'm talking about. How she thought that Jean-Luke would all of a sudden figure it out when he hadn't for that long, was beyond me. Just wait for Dutch to be done with physical therapy or call Milo at the least. Also, we never find out if her sister got the guts to kick her parents out and fire her housekeeper. It was just a dumb move.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next installment.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abby encounters a ghost. Although it's her handyman Dave who first encounters it, when it takes offense at his demo work on the first house their new flipping business takes on and starts flinging Dave's tools at him. When Abby and her boyfriend Dutch come by to check things out, they see a dead woman at the foot of the basement stairs. And then she vanishes. Obviously a ghost. The book mostly involves Abby and Dutch negotiating their relationship, and Abby researching the history of the people who once owned her flip house. It's a good read. I liked it a lot.

[Martina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obožavam Abby Cooper!

[☆☆Hannah☆☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another good mystery in the series. I do like Abby but sometimes she really doesn't think before she acts. I enjoyed the mystery part. It covered a lot time and we got to learn about the family history. Thankfully in the end Abby not only solved the case but finally got alone time with her boyfriend.

[Alix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just flying through these!

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing premise, well done characters; Abby's sister is a bit much. Good plot, though some parts I figured out way too early. Interesting, and I'll try another. Real rating about 3.5

[Kayla Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this series, it keeps me laughing and wanting the next book.