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Karma Crime Mystery #1
Body of Intuition
Alternative healer Cally Lazar is a "recovering attorney" who possesses sensory skills that help her find the stress in her clients' auras. Once in a while, however, what she finds will make her jump out of her skin.
When Cally sees a bottomless darkness in the widowed Mrs. Snell, and hears the voice of her client's dead husband, Cally senses there was more than suicide involved in his death.
When Cally sees a bottomless darkness in the widowed Mrs. Snell, and hears the voice of her client's dead husband, Cally senses there was more than suicide involved in his death.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 3, 2002
55 people want to read
About the author
Claire Daniels
68 books3 followersA pseudonym used by Jaqueline Girdner
Series:
* Karma Crime Mystery
Series:
* Karma Crime Mystery
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 8, 2023
Cally’s client was widowed by an unlikely suicide at a couple’s retreat. She investigates with friends. One predicts danger for her. Also present is a man she loves. They aren’t dating because he senses dark energy around himself, that he considers dangerous. I willingly embrace speculative fiction if its parameters work. Cally’s romance had no bearing on this novel, nor was she in any more peril than anyone near a murderer. Fuss was made about cosmic fate at the retreat and with the beau, which came to nothing.
What didn’t gel for me is that numerous series details attempted to take shape forcibly. A first volume requires setting-up but this was excessive. Establishing future premises and certainly any focus granted to external characters, must never compromise each individual mystery. Introducing all of Cally’s siblings, who believed in a cosmic threat enough to ditch their jobs and visit the retreat, was an unnecessary stretch. The brothers disappeared after arriving. Everyone was uselessly absent when the killer did strike. More detail was expounded about their quirks and career fame. A cartoonist sister spoke entirely in her creation’s voice!
I dislike what I call “false action”: plots not advancing through detection nor real events. The character is merely answering knocks and ringing telephones. The outrageous thing about dizzying visits from every character, is that they were together all week-end! Claire Daniels made it sound as if each struggled to get a word in! Every scene: a kiss, resting on the beach, urgent conversations, was interrupted. This “false action” was detrimental to the novel. All it would have taken is one finished conversation, or psychic reading for the person with pertinent information, to solve this mystery. Extrasensory perception is a topic I enjoy but unfortunately, this novel consisted of more filler than the mystery.
What didn’t gel for me is that numerous series details attempted to take shape forcibly. A first volume requires setting-up but this was excessive. Establishing future premises and certainly any focus granted to external characters, must never compromise each individual mystery. Introducing all of Cally’s siblings, who believed in a cosmic threat enough to ditch their jobs and visit the retreat, was an unnecessary stretch. The brothers disappeared after arriving. Everyone was uselessly absent when the killer did strike. More detail was expounded about their quirks and career fame. A cartoonist sister spoke entirely in her creation’s voice!
I dislike what I call “false action”: plots not advancing through detection nor real events. The character is merely answering knocks and ringing telephones. The outrageous thing about dizzying visits from every character, is that they were together all week-end! Claire Daniels made it sound as if each struggled to get a word in! Every scene: a kiss, resting on the beach, urgent conversations, was interrupted. This “false action” was detrimental to the novel. All it would have taken is one finished conversation, or psychic reading for the person with pertinent information, to solve this mystery. Extrasensory perception is a topic I enjoy but unfortunately, this novel consisted of more filler than the mystery.
September 14, 2019
The first half, of this first in the series, is slow moving, and only picks up a little more speed during the 2nd half. Cally, who couldn't stomach being a lawyer any longer, could see auras all her life, so becomes an energy healer (that's Reiki to you and me). She doesn't believe in evil, darkness, that people have badness in them; so basically a New Age "fluffy bunny". One of her clients, a very loud and annoying woman, named Trica doesn't believe her husband committed suicide, so asks Cally for help. Why is a mystery, since she doesn't know Cally's background as a lawyer, so why have her investigate?
Cally goes to a workshop at the inn where Trica's husband dies and meets a cast of wacky, aggressive, whiny, and totally annoying characters. Kind of makes the reader hope the murderer, if it was a murder in the first place, kills them all. This first could have been much better if the "all is happiness and light" didn't become so nauseating, and if the main character, Cally, had more backbone. Perhaps shove her cane up her spine would help? Anyway, I have 3 more books in the series (thankfully I was given all 4 books for free), so I'll plod on into the next and see if it gets any better.
Cally goes to a workshop at the inn where Trica's husband dies and meets a cast of wacky, aggressive, whiny, and totally annoying characters. Kind of makes the reader hope the murderer, if it was a murder in the first place, kills them all. This first could have been much better if the "all is happiness and light" didn't become so nauseating, and if the main character, Cally, had more backbone. Perhaps shove her cane up her spine would help? Anyway, I have 3 more books in the series (thankfully I was given all 4 books for free), so I'll plod on into the next and see if it gets any better.
January 28, 2023
Cally can read most people auras which gets her involved with Mrs. Snell. Mrs. Snell was newly widowed and when Cally was on the massage table Cally picked up her aura and her her dead husband speak to her. Of course Cally wants to help Mrs. Snell and goes to the retreat where he "killed himself". Loved her "sword play" during the story.
April 15, 2023
Mildly entertaining. Found the main character's aura reading to be inconsistent - she made it seem that she constantly saw people's auras, yet times when it would have been useful, she didn't even try. The use of her family's apparent cutesy "swear" words got increasingly annoying as the book went on.
February 14, 2019
To be honest I wasn't impressed, I thought it would be better. I really didn't like the main character.
April 20, 2021
Who would think an intimacy seminar could be deadly? Cally Lazar learns exactly that from her new client Trica Snell during her energy healing session. Cally is able to see auras around people and works to correct them to healthy colors. Trica Snell is a challenge since she does not believe her husband Seeger committed suicide as the police ruled. She is certain it was murder.
Accompanied by her octogenarian attorney friend Kapp, Cally signs up for the next intimacy workshop held at a small inn on the Pacific Coast Highway. She is surprised to find her good friend Dee-Dee Lee, a hynotherapist, also attending along with Cally’s ex-boyfriend Roy, who emanates negative colors. Many of the participants from the previous fatal seminar are also in attendance now. The group is a lively bunch of mismatched couples including a grieving woman who can only stop crying long enough to explain that her sister died in a freak weight-lifting accident, a wanna-be novelist who records everything in his notebook, a bitter widower who takes out his sorrows on his bagpipes, Seeger’s business partner from their store known as The Sensual Body, not to mention the seminar leaders who are trying desperately to keep their reputations intact.
The list of characters (and I use that term loosely) would not be complete without mentioning the two lesbians who run The Inn and who are doing their best to protect their credibility with the community and retain custody of one’s ten-year-old son. Did I mention Cally’s two sisters and brothers? Or Seeger’s rich and grieving parents? Or the chief of police whose nose-studded niece helps out in the kitchen? I worried about keeping the participants clear in my mind, but each is introduced with ample clarification of their roles in this comedy, er, mystery; a list of names and key quirks is included at the front of the book.
Cally is quite endearing as auras swirl around her while she tries to “read” each person and learn about possible motives. Her willingness to talk to everyone and her open door policy lead to intimacies she doesn’t expect. A new death sharpens the portrayal of the foibles of all the guests and locals in the town of Fiebre.
Hilarious and outrageous are words that come to mind in trying to describe this tale. Alternative medicine could have taken a real beating as a form of therapy, but it holds up quite well as a credible modality. It is the denizens of the story that provide the fodder for laughter. Their interactions with each other add fuel to a smoldering fire bursting with the colors Cally sees emanating from each body.
This is the first Claire Daniels novel, but not the first book produced by the owner of this pseudonym. Her wry wit shines through with entertaining clarity. The tone is conversational, almost as if Cally were sitting at my dinner table telling a grand story.
Murder is no laughing matter, but in Claire Daniels’ capable hands, catching a murderer has never been so amusing.
Accompanied by her octogenarian attorney friend Kapp, Cally signs up for the next intimacy workshop held at a small inn on the Pacific Coast Highway. She is surprised to find her good friend Dee-Dee Lee, a hynotherapist, also attending along with Cally’s ex-boyfriend Roy, who emanates negative colors. Many of the participants from the previous fatal seminar are also in attendance now. The group is a lively bunch of mismatched couples including a grieving woman who can only stop crying long enough to explain that her sister died in a freak weight-lifting accident, a wanna-be novelist who records everything in his notebook, a bitter widower who takes out his sorrows on his bagpipes, Seeger’s business partner from their store known as The Sensual Body, not to mention the seminar leaders who are trying desperately to keep their reputations intact.
The list of characters (and I use that term loosely) would not be complete without mentioning the two lesbians who run The Inn and who are doing their best to protect their credibility with the community and retain custody of one’s ten-year-old son. Did I mention Cally’s two sisters and brothers? Or Seeger’s rich and grieving parents? Or the chief of police whose nose-studded niece helps out in the kitchen? I worried about keeping the participants clear in my mind, but each is introduced with ample clarification of their roles in this comedy, er, mystery; a list of names and key quirks is included at the front of the book.
Cally is quite endearing as auras swirl around her while she tries to “read” each person and learn about possible motives. Her willingness to talk to everyone and her open door policy lead to intimacies she doesn’t expect. A new death sharpens the portrayal of the foibles of all the guests and locals in the town of Fiebre.
Hilarious and outrageous are words that come to mind in trying to describe this tale. Alternative medicine could have taken a real beating as a form of therapy, but it holds up quite well as a credible modality. It is the denizens of the story that provide the fodder for laughter. Their interactions with each other add fuel to a smoldering fire bursting with the colors Cally sees emanating from each body.
This is the first Claire Daniels novel, but not the first book produced by the owner of this pseudonym. Her wry wit shines through with entertaining clarity. The tone is conversational, almost as if Cally were sitting at my dinner table telling a grand story.
Murder is no laughing matter, but in Claire Daniels’ capable hands, catching a murderer has never been so amusing.
June 8, 2010
This is a cute cozy about a possible murder at an intimacy seminar. Good thing Cally, an energy worker is on the case to investigate for one of her clients. There are lots of colorful characters to keep the story moving. It seems pretty clear that this is a first in a series as it doesn't feel quite fully developed and several characters seem to be added to make future appearances (especially Roy and Cally's siblings). Overall, it was a little more predictable than I would have hoped, but interesting enough to keep me reading to the end. I'll also pick up more books in the series as well. I did enjoy how the "New Age" topic was treated with respect and just the right amount of tongue in cheek.
January 21, 2011
I really didn't like the first 50 pages of this book at all. The plot was slow and the characters were never really developed. After that, the mystery picked up a bit and more light was shed on the characters. I did find the substitute curse words used by the main character to be very annoying throughout. Overall, a good whodunnit that kept me guessing until the very end.
August 18, 2008
This book was really neat. The main character used to be a lawyer but is now an energy worker. She goes to a weekend seminar trying to figure out who killed a successful businessman. It was a fun book with new-agey undertones. I am definitely going to look for more books from this author.
August 22, 2009
Good story. Also some laughter while reading the book.
October 18, 2010
A bit hokie! I guess I'm not into the new age stuff.
February 5, 2016
A nice quiet mystery with New Age healing thrown in. Will probably read the next one in this series.
March 1, 2016
Body of Intuition: Karma Crime Mystery, Book 1, Claire Daniels, PB-B, @ 2002, 8/04. Cally Lazar, alternative healer, a suicide case...not. Okay.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews