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Cleo & Tyler Mysteries #1
Too Near The Edge
A man falls to his death at the Grand Canyon. Accident, suicide or murder? What if you could ask him?
When park rangers find Adam's crumpled body 300 feet below the rim of the Grand Canyon, they think he was one more careless tourist. But back home in Boulder, Colorado, his grief-stricken wife Sharon is sure he was murdered. She won't rest until she knows why he was so troubled in the month before he died. Over the objections of her prominent father, she turns to grief therapist Cleo Sims, who runs a project that re-unites people with dead loved ones.
Despite threats and warnings, Cleo takes on the challenge to help Sharon contact Adam and solve the mystery of his death. She gets extra encouragement from Tyler, a surfer-dude spirit who visits her from beyond, offers cryptic advice, and pushes her to "ride the wave" with Sharon.
Tension mounts and Cleo's professional reputation and her life are on the line as her digging uncovers a sinister underbelly of scams, fraud and deceit in this hip mountain community.
If you're looking for a fast-paced mystery, with a courageous female sleuth, unexpected plot turns, a cast of fascinating suspects, a touch of humor and a paranormal twist, Too Near the Edge is the quick, enjoyable read for you.
Too Near the Edge won a silver medal for best regional fiction in the 2007 Independent Publisher Book Awards
When park rangers find Adam's crumpled body 300 feet below the rim of the Grand Canyon, they think he was one more careless tourist. But back home in Boulder, Colorado, his grief-stricken wife Sharon is sure he was murdered. She won't rest until she knows why he was so troubled in the month before he died. Over the objections of her prominent father, she turns to grief therapist Cleo Sims, who runs a project that re-unites people with dead loved ones.
Despite threats and warnings, Cleo takes on the challenge to help Sharon contact Adam and solve the mystery of his death. She gets extra encouragement from Tyler, a surfer-dude spirit who visits her from beyond, offers cryptic advice, and pushes her to "ride the wave" with Sharon.
Tension mounts and Cleo's professional reputation and her life are on the line as her digging uncovers a sinister underbelly of scams, fraud and deceit in this hip mountain community.
If you're looking for a fast-paced mystery, with a courageous female sleuth, unexpected plot turns, a cast of fascinating suspects, a touch of humor and a paranormal twist, Too Near the Edge is the quick, enjoyable read for you.
Too Near the Edge won a silver medal for best regional fiction in the 2007 Independent Publisher Book Awards
252 pages, Paperback
First published October 3, 2006
31 people are currently reading
216 people want to read
About the author
Lynn Osterkamp
9 books9 followersEver since I learned to read, I've lived much of my life in the land of books. I'm a writer and a reader and a publisher. I'm always in the middle of writing a book and reading several others. I love books!
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 9, 2011
I received this book through the Librarything Member's GIveaway program.
This is a book that could have used a good round of extra editing, both grammatically and story-line wise. The first issue is that it begins really slowly, for the first few pages it drags in building up the plot. The author made the rough choice of writing in the present tense, which is never the best option unless the author is a master. It's just very limiting.
The characters themselves are not as original as they'd need to be to make the book work, their actions are predictable except when they are so random the reader is left staggering and turning pages (or in my case epages) to see if there was anything I missed.
The middle section is better crafted, the pacing is steadier and much more amusing than the beginning, but as we get closer to the end, the plot stasrts to unravel again.
Some of the characters seemed superfluous, like Tyler, the main character's spirit guide, who offers nothing substantial to the story at all. Actually, the fact that the main character is a "psychic" makes no real difference.
It wasn't a horrible book, but it also wasn't anything to write home about.
This is a book that could have used a good round of extra editing, both grammatically and story-line wise. The first issue is that it begins really slowly, for the first few pages it drags in building up the plot. The author made the rough choice of writing in the present tense, which is never the best option unless the author is a master. It's just very limiting.
The characters themselves are not as original as they'd need to be to make the book work, their actions are predictable except when they are so random the reader is left staggering and turning pages (or in my case epages) to see if there was anything I missed.
The middle section is better crafted, the pacing is steadier and much more amusing than the beginning, but as we get closer to the end, the plot stasrts to unravel again.
Some of the characters seemed superfluous, like Tyler, the main character's spirit guide, who offers nothing substantial to the story at all. Actually, the fact that the main character is a "psychic" makes no real difference.
It wasn't a horrible book, but it also wasn't anything to write home about.
May 18, 2011
I was really intrigued when I started this book, due to the twist of talking with the dead. I love the main Character, Cleo, she is so down to earth that you like her right away. I liked that this book wasn't all blood and gore, but had a really nice plot and you didn't know who the murderer was until the very end.
The first few chapters were a little slow, I think because the author was trying to establish all of her characters, but then the book became much more interesting and the plot started to be revealed.
I wish that we saw more of Tyler since he seemed to be a big part of the write ups but hopefully we will see and hear much more from him in future books. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a really good, who done it plot!
The first few chapters were a little slow, I think because the author was trying to establish all of her characters, but then the book became much more interesting and the plot started to be revealed.
I wish that we saw more of Tyler since he seemed to be a big part of the write ups but hopefully we will see and hear much more from him in future books. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a really good, who done it plot!
March 31, 2022
I think I must have gotten this free for my nook. The first two thirds of the book wasn’t bad even though the main character, a psychologist, didn’t seem to possess much insight. The plot took a downward turn for me when Cleo suddenly decided to get on a plane and take her investigation to another city. The ending went on too long as Cleo had to repeat her story to three different people to wrap things up.
July 2, 2019
Kind of a strange mystery. Not sure how I really feel about this type of story. It seemed to drag out for me and choppy in some parts like it really did not add to the story but just a filler.
July 25, 2008
Too Near The Edge is set in present day Boulder Colorado and is told in the first person by a character named Cleo, short for Cleopatra. Her profession as a Medium and Grief Counselor brings her into touchy situations but she never thought it would lead her into a world of intrigue, mystery and murder. Cleo is asked to help a grief
stricken single mother who lost her husband Adam in a tragic accident but her client, Sharon, thinks her husband could have been murdered. Using Cleo’s techniques at helping her clients to contact their loved ones, Sharon gets clues from beyond the grave to help solve her husband’s mystery.
Cleo has problems of her own when Sharon’s life starts to interfere with her ivelihood, which forces Cleo to take a stand for her beliefs and come to the aid of her client.
The prominent characters in the novel move the story along to build suspense. Cleo gets visited from time to time by Tyler, a surfer apparition who gives her clues in slang surfer language that she has to decipher. Her “boyfriend” Pablo thwarts
her profession while Erik, a fitness trainer and nutritionist, tries to pawn his herbal business on her. Dr Waycroft, Sharon’s father, is an overbearing, self-righteous behavioral psychologist who ends up making Cleo’s life unbearable if she insists on standing in his way. The reader will be
able to identify with many of these characters in the book as well as the minor characters who play a role in the flow of the story.
Too Near The Edge gets a hold of you from the first page and you can’t seem to put the book down. The author makes you keep reading to see what Cleo is engaged in next. The reader gets carried away by Cleo’s actions and ends up rooting for her drive to do the right thing and hope she
doesn’t blunder into any trouble. Lynn
Osterkamp makes the reader frown at Pablo’s
insensitivity towards Cleo’s situation but you end up breathing a sigh of relief when he comes through for her.
The interesting thing about this novel is that it appears to be three mysteries entangled into one.
The reader must figure out what happened to
Adam as well as experience the sequence the
characters have to go through to figure out Adam’s demise. The third mystery lies with Dr. Ahmed, the physician in charge at the retirement home in which Cleo’s grandmother resides, and what he’s ivolved in.
This exciting novel by Lynn Osterkamp is
recommended to anyone who loves mysteries.
Throw in humor with a paranormal twist and you have an adventure on your hands.
stricken single mother who lost her husband Adam in a tragic accident but her client, Sharon, thinks her husband could have been murdered. Using Cleo’s techniques at helping her clients to contact their loved ones, Sharon gets clues from beyond the grave to help solve her husband’s mystery.
Cleo has problems of her own when Sharon’s life starts to interfere with her ivelihood, which forces Cleo to take a stand for her beliefs and come to the aid of her client.
The prominent characters in the novel move the story along to build suspense. Cleo gets visited from time to time by Tyler, a surfer apparition who gives her clues in slang surfer language that she has to decipher. Her “boyfriend” Pablo thwarts
her profession while Erik, a fitness trainer and nutritionist, tries to pawn his herbal business on her. Dr Waycroft, Sharon’s father, is an overbearing, self-righteous behavioral psychologist who ends up making Cleo’s life unbearable if she insists on standing in his way. The reader will be
able to identify with many of these characters in the book as well as the minor characters who play a role in the flow of the story.
Too Near The Edge gets a hold of you from the first page and you can’t seem to put the book down. The author makes you keep reading to see what Cleo is engaged in next. The reader gets carried away by Cleo’s actions and ends up rooting for her drive to do the right thing and hope she
doesn’t blunder into any trouble. Lynn
Osterkamp makes the reader frown at Pablo’s
insensitivity towards Cleo’s situation but you end up breathing a sigh of relief when he comes through for her.
The interesting thing about this novel is that it appears to be three mysteries entangled into one.
The reader must figure out what happened to
Adam as well as experience the sequence the
characters have to go through to figure out Adam’s demise. The third mystery lies with Dr. Ahmed, the physician in charge at the retirement home in which Cleo’s grandmother resides, and what he’s ivolved in.
This exciting novel by Lynn Osterkamp is
recommended to anyone who loves mysteries.
Throw in humor with a paranormal twist and you have an adventure on your hands.
September 1, 2008
Adam Meyer is deeply troubled and needs to get away. Everyone recommends going hiking at the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately for Adam someone pushes him over the edge to his death. However, the police rule his death as a suicide and do not do any investigating.
Cleo Sims is a grief counselor with an controversial way of helping her patients. She has a special therapy called the Contact Project. The Contact Project helps clients get in touch with loved ones who have died so that there can be closure.
Sharon Meyer desperately wants to see if the Contact Project could help her contact Adam. She doesn’t accept that Adam killed himself as they were so happy. The more Cleo finds out about details surrounding the death of Adam, the more suspicious she is that his death was no accident.
Who could have killed him and why? There are quite a few suspects. All of them have secrets and all of them want to keep their secrets hidden at all costs.
Cleo believes deeply in her Contact Project. Tyler, a true ‘surfing dude’, is a spirit that she unintentionally contacts during her first time in the “apparition room”. He pops in and out of Cleo’s world every once in a while giving her clues. The problem is the clues are in surfer’s lingo and very vague. The one consistent message is that she “needs to ride the wave to the end”.
Cleo’s biggest problem throughout is - who can she trust? What was bothering Adam so much that he had to go away to think about it? The mystery deepens and gets more complicated the more she finds out leading to a very exciting and unexpected stand off towards the end.
Cleo Sims is a grief counselor with an controversial way of helping her patients. She has a special therapy called the Contact Project. The Contact Project helps clients get in touch with loved ones who have died so that there can be closure.
Sharon Meyer desperately wants to see if the Contact Project could help her contact Adam. She doesn’t accept that Adam killed himself as they were so happy. The more Cleo finds out about details surrounding the death of Adam, the more suspicious she is that his death was no accident.
Who could have killed him and why? There are quite a few suspects. All of them have secrets and all of them want to keep their secrets hidden at all costs.
Cleo believes deeply in her Contact Project. Tyler, a true ‘surfing dude’, is a spirit that she unintentionally contacts during her first time in the “apparition room”. He pops in and out of Cleo’s world every once in a while giving her clues. The problem is the clues are in surfer’s lingo and very vague. The one consistent message is that she “needs to ride the wave to the end”.
Cleo’s biggest problem throughout is - who can she trust? What was bothering Adam so much that he had to go away to think about it? The mystery deepens and gets more complicated the more she finds out leading to a very exciting and unexpected stand off towards the end.
December 13, 2011
Too Near the Edge is a mildly suspenseful story about Cleo, a grief therapist, who has come up with a way to help her clients make contact with deceased loved ones from the other side using a mirror. Cleo is introduced to Sharon, a recent widower, by a mutual friend. Sharon's husband fell into the Grand Canyon. The authorities say it was an accident, a couple of people believe it was suicide, but Sharon is convinced it was murder. Cleo helps Sharon try and contact Adam to find the truth.
I found Too Near the Edge a light quick read, the kind of book that makes you want to guess who the killer is before it is revealed. I enjoyed Lynn Osterkamp's style of writing and the dialogue between characters was casual and comfortable to read. I was pretty sure I had the killer figured out, right up until the end, when I found out I was wrong!
The only down side to this book was that there were too many different story lines going for such a short book. Some of the minor characters just popped in and out quickly, especially Cleo's boyfriend. He didn't really seem to fit in the story, other than he was Cleo's boyfriend.
Overall, a good read. Would recommend this book to anyone looking for something light and quick to read.
I received the ePub version of this book free from Library Thing Member giveaways.
I found Too Near the Edge a light quick read, the kind of book that makes you want to guess who the killer is before it is revealed. I enjoyed Lynn Osterkamp's style of writing and the dialogue between characters was casual and comfortable to read. I was pretty sure I had the killer figured out, right up until the end, when I found out I was wrong!
The only down side to this book was that there were too many different story lines going for such a short book. Some of the minor characters just popped in and out quickly, especially Cleo's boyfriend. He didn't really seem to fit in the story, other than he was Cleo's boyfriend.
Overall, a good read. Would recommend this book to anyone looking for something light and quick to read.
I received the ePub version of this book free from Library Thing Member giveaways.
July 5, 2011
I won this book through LT giveaway
This is the second book in the Cleo and Tyler mysteries. As a mystery fan, I really enjoyed this blend of mystery with a touch of the supernatural. Cleo is a psychotherapist who specializes in grief counseling. In her counseling and in a class she teaches at the local university Cleo makes use of some of the latest studies regarding life after death. (The author cites reliable, well-known resources that she used in writing this book.) The element of the supernatural, ghosts and appearances never interferes with the plot of the story.
Cleo decides, against the advice of her best friend and clinical supervisor and the man she is dating, to help a 10 year old girl and her older sister to look into the death of their mother. The 10-year old has an intuitive feeling that her mother was murdered and Cleo battles against the girls' father and new girlfriend, Scientologists, and others who may or may not stand to inherit a lot of money that the mother has left.
I loved the character of Cleo created here as being a strong, independent woman who is not afraid to trust her own intuition.
This book is well written and I'd recommend to mystery lovers especially those who would prefer not to "see" the violence take place in the book.
This is the second book in the Cleo and Tyler mysteries. As a mystery fan, I really enjoyed this blend of mystery with a touch of the supernatural. Cleo is a psychotherapist who specializes in grief counseling. In her counseling and in a class she teaches at the local university Cleo makes use of some of the latest studies regarding life after death. (The author cites reliable, well-known resources that she used in writing this book.) The element of the supernatural, ghosts and appearances never interferes with the plot of the story.
Cleo decides, against the advice of her best friend and clinical supervisor and the man she is dating, to help a 10 year old girl and her older sister to look into the death of their mother. The 10-year old has an intuitive feeling that her mother was murdered and Cleo battles against the girls' father and new girlfriend, Scientologists, and others who may or may not stand to inherit a lot of money that the mother has left.
I loved the character of Cleo created here as being a strong, independent woman who is not afraid to trust her own intuition.
This book is well written and I'd recommend to mystery lovers especially those who would prefer not to "see" the violence take place in the book.
July 14, 2011
After having read her daughters book I decided to stay in the family and continued with Lynn Osterkamp's mystery novel.
Cleo is a grieve counselor and helps people through their loss and also to come to a conclussion by contacting the dead. This is just what Adam's widow does, because she's got the feeling his death was no accident. Throw in a handful of suspects who might be responsible for the murder and you're all set.
Smoothly written, yet a bit slow for the genre, with strong female characters and a whole lot of weird male ones, and after some twists and turns a convincing ending, make this a good book. The strange thing about it was how it felt like I've read it all before, but I know I haven't. The paranormal thread seems to lead to a case of deja-vu on my part. Or maybe I should blame the fact that I love reading mysteries and have heard aka read it (almost) all before thus similarities are probably inevitable.
In short: All in all a nice but not overly thrilling mystery novel!
Cleo is a grieve counselor and helps people through their loss and also to come to a conclussion by contacting the dead. This is just what Adam's widow does, because she's got the feeling his death was no accident. Throw in a handful of suspects who might be responsible for the murder and you're all set.
Smoothly written, yet a bit slow for the genre, with strong female characters and a whole lot of weird male ones, and after some twists and turns a convincing ending, make this a good book. The strange thing about it was how it felt like I've read it all before, but I know I haven't. The paranormal thread seems to lead to a case of deja-vu on my part. Or maybe I should blame the fact that I love reading mysteries and have heard aka read it (almost) all before thus similarities are probably inevitable.
In short: All in all a nice but not overly thrilling mystery novel!
July 11, 2011
I actually read the second book in the series first sunday am and than went back and read this book. Either one are complete stand alone stories with some same characters but the ones involved in mystery were different. I actually stayed up till 1:00am mon to finsh this book.
I like Cleo character but not too impressed with her boyfriends.Cleo is a grievence councler and has a specail trust that is free to help people connect too their dead ones. She sets it up and the person does the rest if they see someone great sometimes its not who they are trying to contact. Cleo gets involved with the people she's around with and trys to fix things. Tyler is a surfer dude deceased who comes in with surfer language and points her to someone to help. She did not know Tyler when he was alive.
the story has lots of twists and turns I was wrong on guessing who the murderer was. I was given this ebook in exchange for honest review.
I like Cleo character but not too impressed with her boyfriends.Cleo is a grievence councler and has a specail trust that is free to help people connect too their dead ones. She sets it up and the person does the rest if they see someone great sometimes its not who they are trying to contact. Cleo gets involved with the people she's around with and trys to fix things. Tyler is a surfer dude deceased who comes in with surfer language and points her to someone to help. She did not know Tyler when he was alive.
the story has lots of twists and turns I was wrong on guessing who the murderer was. I was given this ebook in exchange for honest review.
July 15, 2011
An Indigo child, a Scientologist, an art dealer, an hysterical student, and a computer gamer all clash as Cleo and her surfer dude spiritual guide try to discover the murderer of a wealthy Boulderite, while at the same time seeking a suitable nursing home for Cleo's grandmother. If you like your mysteries with a touch of the paranormal, this one's for you.
At times, I found this book lagged but, overall, I have to say that it was a lot of fun. And I didn't guess the murderer which is always a plus.
At times, I found this book lagged but, overall, I have to say that it was a lot of fun. And I didn't guess the murderer which is always a plus.
May 6, 2011
I got this book by accident, and I’m glad I did. A nifty little mystery that was a quick, but enjoyable read. Adam Meyer takes a hike in the Grand Canyon, and meets his end there.
His wife Sharon feels that he has been murdered, bring in Cleo Sims a grief counselor and medium. She helps unravel the mystery that will have you keep you guess, throw in a few other interesting characters and you will be unable to put the book done!
[Recieved through LibraryThing Memeber's Giveaway program]
His wife Sharon feels that he has been murdered, bring in Cleo Sims a grief counselor and medium. She helps unravel the mystery that will have you keep you guess, throw in a few other interesting characters and you will be unable to put the book done!
[Recieved through LibraryThing Memeber's Giveaway program]
September 26, 2011
Review of member giveaway eBook
Cleo is a psychologist who works with bereaved families. She uses psychic measures to help the families contact their dead relatives. She also has a spirit contact called Tyler, a surfer dude. Sharon asks her to help after her husband dies in mysterious circumstances and Cleo decides to investigate further.
This is a light easy read. Various diversions keep the pace moving along. Ideal beach or plane fare.
Cleo is a psychologist who works with bereaved families. She uses psychic measures to help the families contact their dead relatives. She also has a spirit contact called Tyler, a surfer dude. Sharon asks her to help after her husband dies in mysterious circumstances and Cleo decides to investigate further.
This is a light easy read. Various diversions keep the pace moving along. Ideal beach or plane fare.
October 4, 2011
I really enjoyed this book. It was different and I thought it was an interesting twist how she interacted with the "ghost". However, the character "lost points" with me because she came across as a boy crazy middle aged woman. I bought the second book as well, and definitely enjoyed this first book much more.
May 20, 2011
My first comment: OMG, I'm so hungry! The food...I want some of that food! My second: wow, some strong, open-minded women. I like that. The Contact Project: very, very interesting. Reading about it actually made me shiver. "Too Near The Edge", is a great read but it could have been longer.
October 10, 2011
This book is a murder mystery, paranormal ghost seeking, thriller book with some crazy therapists, psychics and university professors. It was a fun read, although most of it is pretty much unbelievable.
October 4, 2011
This wasn't a bad read, but it definitely wasn't as good as her first "Too near the edge". The main character, Cleo, makes just plain stupid choices for such a supposedly intelligent woman. She was written like the stereotypical woman in a B-movie horror story.
October 10, 2011
I wasn't terribly impressed with her writing. She wasn't very creative with her descriptions. I sometimes felt like I was reading a high school student's paper. Plus the ending was a little convoluted in my opinion. It wasn't very believable.
October 18, 2011
It kept me guessing the whole time. I really liked it.
October 31, 2011
A muder, mystery that was an easy read. It was interesting and not too detailed, which is what i wanted. Good for entertainment--light read at the beach or in between choirs,etc.ha!
August 21, 2012
Love the character in this story cleo !!!
December 23, 2012
I did not really enjoy this book. Slow start and lots of repetition and wordy to boot. I was surprised at who the killer turned out to be. Not my kind of read at all..
March 16, 2015
just about too stupid for words. MC is an absolute idiot!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews