The Talking Cure: A Sean Joye Investigation

by Kathy L. Brown

Sean Joye Investigations, Book 2

Haunted woman claws her way back to reality by reconnecting with her magical powers in The Talking Cure, a supernatural Yuletide follow-up to The Big Cinch.

Committed to an insane asylum, Violet Humphrey is isolated on the Illinois prairie with only her own thoughts and a persistent new voice in her head for company. When she is accused of murder, Violet suspects her road to both freedom and recovery lies through confronting her painful past and solving the crime.
Magically summoned, Sean Joye skids through an ice storm to help Violet, but can they catch the killer and defy an eldritch horror before Violet loses her tenuous grasp on reality?

"The Talking Cure is a marvelous story—an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery infused with a strong sense of the Weird... and a hearty dose of magic on the side. It's ideal for all fans of the sinister, the surprising, and the strange."
—Cherie Priest, award-winning author of Boneshaker

304 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 25, 2025

About the author

Kathy lives and writes in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Her hometown and its history inspire much of her fiction. When she’s not thinking about how haunted everything is, she enjoys hiking, crafts, and cooking for her family. Her latest novella, Wolfhearted is a departure from paranormal crime investigations into epic steampunk fantasy. Her novel, The Big Cinch, was published in 2021 by Montag Press. It went on to win a 2022 Imajinn Award for best urban fantasy novel. Two earlier stories in the same series, The Sean Joye Investigations, are the novella, The Resurrectionist, and the novelette, Water of Life. These are available in ebook and paperback from Amazon.com. Kathy’s short fiction has appeared in the Bards and Sages Anthology, Great Tome of Forgotten Relics and Artifacts (The Great Tomes Series, Volume One), with earlier works in Bards and Sages Quarterly, Golden Visions Magazine, and Mused Literary Journal. Follow her on Instagram at kathylbrownwrites, Facebook at kbKathylbrown, and Twitter at KL_Brown Kathy’s blog lives kathylbrown.com.

Reviews

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ms. Brown's research shows on every page, a meticulous recreation of 1920's Illinois. The rating is due to the mystery's unfortunate inability to mesh with the occult aspects. In the latter, Brown references a legendary author of the supernatural. His work never gave the comfort of a mystery solved but let the unknown devour everything we take for reality.

[Kathy Brown]

Second novel of the Sean Joye Investigations art. I'm marking this here, in this way, so my friends can see I have a new book out. Since I avoid the star system, I won't be hypocritical and start now, but I do recommend it!

[Earsom Deryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written mystery incorporating history, magic and diverse protagonists.