Meet Dae O'Donnell, a woman with a gift for finding lost things-and the stories behind lost lives...
Dae O'Donnell is the mayor of Duck, North Carolina-and the person everyone turns to when they've lost something. One touch and Dae can find it, and missing pieces seem to find their way to her, whether she wants them to or not.
When Miss Mildred asks Dae to find her missing watch, Dae finds herself looking for more than mislaid jewelry-she must prove the town matriarch isn't a cold-blooded killer.
Joyce Lavene and Jim Lavene are a wife and husband team who have written and published more than 70 books since 1999. They live in North Carolina with their family and enjoy cooking, photography and ghost hunting.
This story moved very slowly for me. I didn’t like the way the police handled Mildred (elderly lady with some dementia). I couldn’t really engage with any of the characters; however, I will try the next book, and hope my opinion changes.
Dae O'Donnell is the MC in this first-class paranormal cozy mystery. It is one of the Levene's books. Dae, the mayor of Duck and the Missing Pieces shop is able to find missing items by touching a person arm. The residents of the Island all know and recognize her ability. An elderly friend asked her to friend her Mother's gold wristwatch she loaned to her sister. A manor storm has arrived on the island and Dae while searching the sister she meets Kevin Brickman, retired FBI. She stumbles over the buried body and Kevin helps save the body before is swept out to the sea. The story has enough twists and turns to hold your interest. The ending is a surprise and I praise this book and plan to read the rest of series.
I really enjoyed this book. The setting in the outer banks drew me in and I liked the small town atmosphere that helped bring the characters to life. I found the main character to be just slightly two-dimensional but that could be either because it's the first book in the series and as such, the characters are still being fleshed out by the authors, or because this book is a team effort and they haven't yet found their groove. Either way, it did not detract from the story, but kept me from really caring about the characters and their futures/welfares. I found this to be a fun, engrossing read with a great plot that kept me guessing and I'm looking forward to future books in the series.
Best thing about this story is where it's set. I crave for idyllic lieus that act as a soothing background for grisly happenings in the fore. Small towns that attract tourists is what I'm talking about. In this way this series resembles the Chocoholic series that I've enjoyed (but never rated highly) in the past. There's little to be said about these kind of books that I haven't already mentioned. Suffice to say that this series does just enough to be interesting. It's infuriating sometimes though. In this particular book, most of the good work is written at the middle of the tale, between the murder and the detective work of Dae. I'm giving this book a 3/5, given everything considered.
This book was just my type of book. The main character seemed like she was talking to a friend and explaining herself as the book moves onward. You feel like you are with her each step of the way. I'm fond of these two Authors and will eagerly await the next book in the series. It was a fascinating mystery of old days and current.
The main characters were great, but 2 of the sideliners were truly odious. I wish they'd been a bit more likeable (only because they were 'friends' with the main character). Was a cute idea and a cute book, I may read the next one in hopes that her two friends get smacked or something.
Wonderful first installment in the "Missing Pieces" Mystery series. Very cozy atmosphere and characters, with a touch of paranormal. I wish Athens had a Mayor like Dae! don't miss it!
I picked up several volumes of this series at the second-hand store a few years ago, & in my efforts to clear my shelves, I tried the first one. It's a nice cozy mystery with engaging characters, a great setting on the Outer Banks, a good mystery with ample clues, & a heroine with the ability to find lost things if she's touching the person while they are imagining the item. So a little paranormal mixed in, but in a realistic way. She's also the mayor of their little town. When she's asked to find an elderly woman's lost watch, many secrets from the past become unearthed when the woman's watch is found on her dead sister's wrist.
Dae O'Connell, mayor of Duck, North Carolina, owns Missing Pieces, an antique store, and is the person to see to find what you've lost. Town Matriarch, Miss Mildred, seeks Dae's help to find a watch she loaned to her sister. When the watch turns up on a dead woman's arm, Dae becomes involved in the search for a killer. Entertaining, interesting characters and setting. I'll read more in the series.
The Unlikely Sleuth: Dae O’Donnell, owner of secondhand store Missing Pieces and mayor of the small, tourist town of Duck, North Carolina (I checked, it’s real!) Dae also possesses a psychic-like gift where she can locate missing objects.
Synopsis: In the small ocean side town of Duck, North Carolina, everyone knows everyone and nothing much ever happens. All of that changes when Miss Elizabeth, a 90-year-old lifelong citizen of Duck is found murdered. The likely suspect: her older sister, Miss Mildred. While the police seem satisfied to pin it on Mildred (who has feuded with her sister their entire lives), Dae knows Mildred is innocent. Now, all Dae needs to do is to find the real killer before it’s too late.
Plot Pace Rating: 4/5 I was entertained. Success!
Mystery Rating: 3/5 While I enjoyed the mystery plot (for the most part), it was very much based on lack of police procedure and knowledge. I know, I know –this isn’t CSI, it’s a fun cozy mystery. But the evidence was pretty circumstantial, but it was treated like there was no other possible explanation. The police chief, despite being a Duck local, acted like he would rather just pin the murder on someone than deal with it rather than having to actually investigate. And everyone just does along with this.
The one question that no one asked was: How does a 90-something-year-old woman kill her sister and attempt to burry her on the beach?
The other BIG thing was that there was another murder mystery plot introduced later on, but it’s kind of shrugged off. I didn’t realize it until I was done and thought back, “Oh, hey, what about…?” I’m guessing it will be answered in future books.
Character Rating: 3/5 I liked Dae and I especially enjoyed the fact that she held a position in her local government. She truly cared about the people of Duck, so it made sense that she would want to not only clear the name of one of its oldest citizens, but protect them all from letting the real killer go free.
With that said, she didn’t have much of a backbone. In investigation matters, Dae seemed to go along with whatever the “old boys” said. They very much treated her like she was a child, and that’s not unthinkable since they are older and they really did know her when she was a child.
The rest of the characters were enjoyable enough (aside from Dae’s “friend” Shayla, who was selfish, self-absorbed and I can’t possibly understand why Dae even put up with her). The feisty Miss Mildred had me laughing out loud.
Romance Rating: 3/5 Dae isn’t a romance-focused kind of woman, so it really doesn’t play a huge part in this book. She seems generally apathetic to dating and love. Kevin Brickman is a former FBI agent from Washington D.C. who, looking for a change of pace, moved to Duck to reopen the old Blue Whale Inn. Being the new guy in town, this makes him the most eligible bachelor. It’s obvious the two have chemistry and Kevin all but spells it out to Dae that he is interested in her and not interested in her friend Shayla, but Dae continues to believe not only that he’s not interested in her but that he’s in a relationship with Shayla. I’m not sure what dating means in North Carolina, but I think one would actually have to go out a few times to be dating, but whatever. Anyway, it was a little frustrating to see Dae constantly put herself down and assume Kevin didn’t like her like that.
The Best: The setting. You can almost always tell if an author just picked a location because they liked the way it sounded or if the author really knows the place they’re writing about. A Timely Vision is definitely the latter. I fell in love with Duck and its residents. I could picture the little houses and tourists meandering from the beach to browse the small shops (like the one owned by Dae). I even looked up the real Duck to see if it was just how I imagined it. It was.
The Worst: Dae needed to stop being such a pushover.
Dae O'Donnell has an unusual gift - if someone has lost something and thinks of it while Dae is touching them, she can find the missing object. Dae is also the mayor of Duck, North Carolina and the owner of a local store called Missing Pieces where she sells assorted bric-a-brak. When Dae is asked to find a missing watch the last thing she expects is to find it attached to a dead body, and with an old friend likely to be charged with murder Dae steps in to investigate with the help of new guy in town Kevin Brickman, who happens to be a retired FBI agent.
I first heard about this book from some friends who are fans of the author's other books and decided to give it a try. I like things set in North Carolina (I'm a massive Dawson's Creek and One Tree Hill fan) and this book has a great small-town feel while still remaining in touch with the area's unique history.
The mystery itself is well plotted and full of twists and turns. I had no idea who the killer was right up until the last minute, and I loved trying to figure it out. I really liked Dae as a lead character, and her gift was a unique idea. I can't wait to see how Dae uses it in future books. I also loved the supporting cast, especially Dae's golf-cart driving grandfather, and the book has a brilliant ending.
The only thing that bothered me about the book was the half-hearted romantic subplot, and it's a fairly minor irritation. I don't mind if my cozy mysteries come with a touch of romance, nor do I miss it if it is totally absent. However this book has Dae being unenthusiastically proposed to by Tim, one of the local cops, and hesitantly flirting with Kevin. Hopefully Dae will be a bit more decisive in future books, especially as she says Tim only proposes to her when he is single.
All in all, this was an awesome cozy read and I'm looking forward to the next book A Touch of Gold.
I love mysteries... all sorts of mysteries, all shapes and sizes. Hardboiled, crime noir, historical, humorous, futuristic, paranormal... I adore them all. I particularly relish a good cozy mystery. So when I saw the first book of Joyce and Jim Lavene's newest series in the "just released" bay at my bookstore, I had to take a look at it. And let me tell you, they don't get much cozier than this.
Dae O'Donnell, mayor of the tiny Outer Banks town of Duck, NC and proprietor of "Missing Pieces" (not an antique shop or a thrift store. but a kinda' combination of the two), has the remarkable gift of being able to locate lost objects by touching the one who's looking for them. When Miss Mildred, one of the two town sister matriarchs, asks Dae to find her mother's watch, which she loaned to her sister Miss Elizabeth (who did not return it), she readily agrees. The sisters have a history of sibling rivalry and while Dae is not keen on refereeing, she can see how much the watch means to Miss Mildred. She sees that the watch is in a dark place. She finds it buried in the sand on the beach. What she doesn't count on is finding the dead body of Miss Elizabeth still attached to the watch.
Miss Mildred is accused of the murder. The murder weapon, a pair of bloody work gloves and her sister's purse are all found in her home. And she insists that her dead sister delivered the purse to her for safekeeping. She is sent to a forensic psychiatric facility to await a competency hearing.
None of it feels right to Dae and she is certain that someone is setting Miss Mildred up to take the rap for the crime. With the help of the new guy in town, she begins her own investigation and uncovers a decades old mystery. The obligatory happy ending is complete with some well deserved come-uppance for several unsavories.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are engaging and the setting is believable. The supernatural aspect enhances the storyline without turning it witchy. If you like cozies, this new series might interest you. I certainly will be on the lookout for the next installment.
This is a first in a new series by the Lavenes, authors of The Renaissance Faire mysteries and The Peggy Lee Garden mysteries, among others.
Dae O'Donnell is the mayor of Duck, North Carolina, a tiny seaside tourist town. She also owns a collectible shop called Missing Pieces. Oh, and she's psychic. Her specialty is finding lost things, which she can usually do if she has physical contact with a person who has lost something.
Just after the Independence Day parade, elderly Mildred Mason asks Dae to find the watch she'd inherited from her mother, which she's lent to her sister Lizzie a few days earlier. Lizzie wasn't answering her phone, and Mildred's (who wouldn't admit to worrying about her sister) request was her way of asking Dae to check on her.
Dae "sees" Lizzie's arm with the watch on it, and goes to her house, but she is nowhere to be found, and when a storms blows in, the townsfolk organize a search party. With the help of new Duck resident and ex-FBI agent Kevin Brickman, finds Lizzie's body, and attempts to convince official investigators that Mildred is not responsible for her sister's death.
The Lavenes are extremely good at creating a Sense of Place. One can almost see the town of Duck** and its residents from their skilled descriptions. Hopefully the second in the series will be published soon.
Not bad! More like 3.75 stars or something, but I'm rounding up. The small touristy beachtown is a great setting for the series, and the main character is an interesting mix of business owner/mayor/local psychic/do-gooder. It's definitely a light beach-read, but there's still a bit of depth to Dae and to her reactions to the events she witnesses. There's a backstory too, one that's only hinted at so far, and will obviously be revealed as the series progresses, which encourages you to keep reading. I always find it a little annoying when a mystery series focuses on an amateur female lead, whose only connections to the cases she investigates are the professional law-enforcement men in her life. It's more than a little condescending. This series certainly fits that bill as Dae's got a handful of police-adjacent men: her retired cop grandfather, the police chief who is her grandfather's bff, the deputy that she went to high school with and who keeps proposing to her, the new-guy-in-town who is obviously going to be her one true love and also happens to be former FBI. However, she IS the mayor of mystery-town and that makes up for it a bit, even if being mayor is only a part time gig that she does in her free time while running a thrift store. I like the ghostie bits and the psychic thing isn't overdone so I will likely order book #2 for the library.
I was nicely intrigued when I read the premise for this series. Can't remember where I read it, but the locale of Duck, North Carolina was part of the draw. Something about the East Coast along the water seems perfection for cozy mysteries and the premise of the main character's ability to find lost objects by touching the losing person's hand I thought was pretty cool. And I was rewarded for my intrigue with a well written cozy mystery with plenty of atmosphere and excellent characters. I love Dae's multi-tasking self of being mayor of Duck and owning a shop of treasures, Missing Pieces. I want to go to Duck and visit or live there and I want to go to the shop and root around the treasures there and I want to help save the turtles. There's the atmosphere part of the draw. The other hook is the mystery. There is a murder and really there are a lot of suspects, rather good ones and the end had me saying, 'Well, HUH!" A believable suspect with a believable reason.... All told, the atmosphere and characters are the main reason I'll come back to the series and look for the other series this duo writes, Renaissance Faire Mystery series, Peggy Lee Garden series, and it looks like it they write some sci-fi, too. Five treasures and turtles beans....
This is book #1 of a series called Missing Pieces. It was a very cozy cozy mystery. The bad guys weren't very bad. I would have liked to see the heroine in a little more trouble (mean of me) and solve the mystery by following clues instead of by accident. However, the book kept my interest and I love the premise of the talents of the protagonist. All in all I'll look for more books in this series.
Dae O'Donnell, a thirty-something year-old woman in Duck, NC on the Outer Banks, is mayor of the small town. She runs a sort of antique/ souvenir shop called Missing Pieces because her talent is finding things. People come to her and ask her to find an object. She touches their hand and knows where it is. When the town matriarch, 94 year-old Miss Mildred, comes to her to ask her to find her mama's watch Dae sees it very clearly- on the wrist of Miss Elizabeth, Miss Mildred's 92 year-old sister. And Miss Lizzie is missing.... Add to that a handsome new man in town who bought an old Inn called the Blue Whale that had been closed for 30 years. The Blue Whale has its own secrets.
This was a fluffy little cozy. I liked the central few characters, but outside of the main character, her dad and presumed future love interest, the characters were very shallow. I will give her the benefit of the doubt that they will fill in some as the series goes along.
I thought I knew who did it early and was wrong, so that was fun. It suffered from a bit of what Anne George books do, in that the author doesn't share the clues, so it isn't a who-dunit that you can sift thru to put the pieces together. She pulls out the logic from background that the reader has no way of knowing. I prefer to have it all cleverly hidden to see if I can pull the clues together, but it was still a fun book and I'll read more of the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Outstanding first novel in the Missing Pieces series. Dae is the psychic mayor of Duck, NC - the Outer Banks area. Her usual responsibilities take a boost when elderly Millie asks her to find her missing watch, and it turns out to be on the arm of Millie's twin Lizzie, who was evidently murdered. It looks like Millie might be blamed, but Dae is sure of her innocence and ropes new neighbor and retired FBI agent Kevin into finding out who really dunnit.
I actually guessed right about who was really involved in setting Millie up, but not why. I figured those who looked to profit from it had the best motive as they were very quick to take over Millie's affairs when she was believed to be incompetent.
Though I had a few issues with this book overall I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not only did I enjoy reading it but I looked forward to being able to spend some time reading it which hasn't happened with very many books lately. I liked the characters and the location. I felt that the paranormal aspects were just right - enough to be interesting but not overwhelming. I'd like to see more about the Blue Whale and it's history. My main problem was that the story felt a little cluttered. It might have been setup for the series but it just felt that there were too many pieces that didn't have to do with the primary plot. This aside I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of this series!
In the Lavene’s mystery novel, Dae O’Donnell is the mayor of Duck, North Carolina. She also has a gift that allows her to “find” missing items with one touch, a talent passed down through the women in her family. When Miss Mildred seeks out Dae to find her missing watch, the vision that comes leads them straight into a murder investigation. When all the evidence points toward Miss Mildred as the murderer, Dae pulls out all the stops in an attempt to prove her innocence. Retired FBI agent Kevin Brickman is new to Duck and willing to help Dae in her investigation if only to keep her safe.
Fast-paced, clever, truly delightful. A Missing Piece Mystery is a great series.
I really enjoyed the debut of this new paranormal cozy mystery series. Dae is able to find things for people when she touches their hands, she also is a finder of lost special objects that she sells in her store "Missing Pieces" if and only if the buyer passes her tests. She is also the mayor of Duck, a small town on the North Carolina coast. We meet charming, quirky, and yes, irritating characters. There is a budding romance with a new arrival, Kevin, who is retired from the FBI. And of course, Dae with the help of Kevin and a few others, is able to help the elderly Miss Mildred who is accused of the murder of her equally elderly sister Elizabeth.
This was a cute little cozy taking place in Duck, NC. Dae is the mayor of this quaint town on the Outer Banks. She has a special skill of helping people find missing things through her special 'visions.' When Miss Elizabeth, an older member of the town's small population is killed, she must prove that Miss Mildred, Elizabeth's sister, is innocent. The story sounds simple, but the characters make an interesting mix of good, bad, and sneaky neighbors of Duck all possible killers-at-large. The reader has a lot to keep track of and worry about, especially when poor Miss Mildred could be the murderer and end up in an institution. A quick, fun read for a cozy night of mystery reading.
I REALLY enjoyed this book. The way they write keeps your attention so much and it was very hard to put down. The characters are great!! The town they live in was described so well that I could imagine living there myself....
Dae O'Donnell is the Mayor of Duck, North Carolina and she can find things by just touching something/someone. Sometimes this is great and sometimes it isn't. When one of the local women is found murdered the police immediately think her sister is behind it. Dae is not so sure. So her along with her new friend ex-FBI agent Kevin they unravel the truth, but will it be too late to save Miss Mildred and her home?
I found this book and its authors because of my friend Dru. She ran a contest on her blog site and I was the lucky winner. I immediately decided to grab the earlier books in the series from my local library and start from the beginning. I'M GLAD I DID. This series is extremely cute and enjoyable. I'm sitting in my house sick all day and this book kept me company. In fact I only put it down long enough to make potty stops. LOL
I hope this series runs well into double digits book release wise.
This is an entertaining mystery, set in an interesting location. The main character is likable, although she does have the simplistic amateur attitude writers don't even try to get around anymore--the police arrested the wrong person, no problem. I'll just find out who the real killer is and tell them--but she isn't too stupid and her occupation and hobby are intriguing. The relatives, friends and other citizens are also fun to read about, so it's a promising start for a series.
Dae O'Donnell, mayor of Duck and proprietor of Missing Pieces, has a handy talent. She can find lost things. Sometimes she finds treasures for her shop, and sometimes she retrieves important items for friends. Unfortunately, she also seems to be able to find missing corpses.
The characters are well-written, the pacing was great, and the puzzle had me going for longer than most mysteries. I'll definitely check out the rest of the series.
I like quirky characters and this book has quite a few! It reminds me more of New England than the Outer Banks. I enjoyed this book a lot and plan on reading the rest of the series. What else will happen in a town called Duck?
Dae is the Mayor of Duck, NC as well as owning a shop called Missing Pieces. She also has a gift of finding things, if you lost something Dae can hold your hands and see where it is. This book has great characters and is fun to read.