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Mary O’Reilly #1
Loose Ends
Dying is what changed Mary O’Reilly’s life. Well, actually, coming back from the dead and having the ability to communicate with ghosts is really what did it.
Now, a private investigator in rural Freeport, Illinois, Mary’s trying to learn how to incorporate her experience as a Chicago cop and new-found talent into a real job. Her challenge is to solve the mysteries, get real evidence (a ghost’s word just doesn’t hold up in court), and be sure the folks in town, especially the handsome new police chief, doesn’t think she’s nuts.
Twenty-four years ago, a young woman drowned in the swimming pool of a newly elected State Senator. It was ruled an accident. But now, as the Senator prepares to move on to higher positions, the ghost of the woman is appearing to the Senator’s wife.
Mary is hired to discover the truth behind the death. She unearths a connection between the murder and the disappearance of five little girls whose cases, twenty-four years later, are still all unsolved. As she digs further, she becomes the next target for the serial killers’ quest to tie up all his loose ends.
Now, a private investigator in rural Freeport, Illinois, Mary’s trying to learn how to incorporate her experience as a Chicago cop and new-found talent into a real job. Her challenge is to solve the mysteries, get real evidence (a ghost’s word just doesn’t hold up in court), and be sure the folks in town, especially the handsome new police chief, doesn’t think she’s nuts.
Twenty-four years ago, a young woman drowned in the swimming pool of a newly elected State Senator. It was ruled an accident. But now, as the Senator prepares to move on to higher positions, the ghost of the woman is appearing to the Senator’s wife.
Mary is hired to discover the truth behind the death. She unearths a connection between the murder and the disappearance of five little girls whose cases, twenty-four years later, are still all unsolved. As she digs further, she becomes the next target for the serial killers’ quest to tie up all his loose ends.
283 pages, ebook
First published August 23, 2010
1317 people are currently reading
5010 people want to read
About the author
Terri Reid
105 books827 followersTerri Reid is the author of the Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mysteries. An indie author, Reid uploaded her first book “Loose Ends” in August 2010. By the end of 2012, “Loose Ends” had sold over 82,000 copies and, as of the writing of this bio, was the number one bestselling book in Amazon’s ranking of Ghost Stories in the Book/Literature & Fiction/Genre Fiction/Horror/Ghosts section and the number two in the same area in the Kindle eBooks section. She has eight other books in the Mary O’Reilly Series and has enjoyed Top Rated and Hot New Release status for many of them in the Women Sleuths category through Amazon US. Her books have been translated into Spanish and Portuguese and are also now available through CreateSpace and Amazon in print versions. She is also working on an audiobook for “Loose Ends.”
Reid has been quoted in several books about the self-publishing industry, including “Let’s Get Digital” by David Gaughran and “Interviews with Indie Authors: Top Tips from Successful Self-Published Authors” by Claire and Tim Ridgway. She was also honored to have some of her works included in A. J. Abbiati’s book “The NORTAV Method for Writers—The Secrets to Constructing Prose Like the Pros.” She has also had the distinct privilege of guest blogging for Joe Konrath.
Reid is from Northwest Illinois, near the town of Freeport, the home of her fictional characters. Her background is in marketing and public relations. She is married, the mother of seven children, and the grandmother of twenty-three.
She has her grandchildren convinced that she talks to fairies and animals - and they talk back.
Reid has been quoted in several books about the self-publishing industry, including “Let’s Get Digital” by David Gaughran and “Interviews with Indie Authors: Top Tips from Successful Self-Published Authors” by Claire and Tim Ridgway. She was also honored to have some of her works included in A. J. Abbiati’s book “The NORTAV Method for Writers—The Secrets to Constructing Prose Like the Pros.” She has also had the distinct privilege of guest blogging for Joe Konrath.
Reid is from Northwest Illinois, near the town of Freeport, the home of her fictional characters. Her background is in marketing and public relations. She is married, the mother of seven children, and the grandmother of twenty-three.
She has her grandchildren convinced that she talks to fairies and animals - and they talk back.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 695 reviews
November 21, 2017
Dying is what changed Mary O’Reilly’s life.
3.5 stars. Loose Ends is a light mystery read. I thought it was both charming and humorous. Mary O'Reilly was a Chicago police officer who was shot in the line of duty. She died but was resuscitated. Since that day she has been able to see the ghosts of people who have not crossed over. She decides to quit the police force and opens up a paranormal detective agency after moving to a small town.
For the most part I liked this. I would give it 4 stars for the charm and humor, and the characters. I really enjoyed her banter with the two other business owners that befriend her. I liked the potential love interest and the way they met. I also really liked that there wasn't just one mystery introduced in this book, but three. One of which I'm going to guess will not be as easily solved as the other two were in this book. It will probably span at least a couple of books before it's resolved.
The things that I found to be shortcomings in this book, and what kept me from giving it 4 stars were first, the main mystery. It was pretty obvious who did it and I was hoping it would end up being a red herring, but at one point in the middle of the book the author for some reason decides to just let us in on it completely. If I hadn't found the rest of the book so likable I would not have been able to overlook this as easily. The second thing that sort of bothered me was that Mary did a couple of things that I thought a former cop wouldn't have done.
I will continue reading this series because I liked it despite those issues. It's a self published series so I wasn't expecting perfection, and the books are short; this one was only around a 6 hour read. Sometimes that's what I need, a quick, light read that doesn't take itself too seriously and this fit the bill.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
3.5 stars. Loose Ends is a light mystery read. I thought it was both charming and humorous. Mary O'Reilly was a Chicago police officer who was shot in the line of duty. She died but was resuscitated. Since that day she has been able to see the ghosts of people who have not crossed over. She decides to quit the police force and opens up a paranormal detective agency after moving to a small town.
For the most part I liked this. I would give it 4 stars for the charm and humor, and the characters. I really enjoyed her banter with the two other business owners that befriend her. I liked the potential love interest and the way they met. I also really liked that there wasn't just one mystery introduced in this book, but three. One of which I'm going to guess will not be as easily solved as the other two were in this book. It will probably span at least a couple of books before it's resolved.
The things that I found to be shortcomings in this book, and what kept me from giving it 4 stars were first, the main mystery. It was pretty obvious who did it and I was hoping it would end up being a red herring, but at one point in the middle of the book the author for some reason decides to just let us in on it completely. If I hadn't found the rest of the book so likable I would not have been able to overlook this as easily. The second thing that sort of bothered me was that Mary did a couple of things that I thought a former cop wouldn't have done.
I will continue reading this series because I liked it despite those issues. It's a self published series so I wasn't expecting perfection, and the books are short; this one was only around a 6 hour read. Sometimes that's what I need, a quick, light read that doesn't take itself too seriously and this fit the bill.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
December 9, 2015
Loose Ends should have been a complete cliché: Ghost-glimpsing paranormal investigator Mary O’Reilly teams up with skeptical handsome new police chief Bradley Alden to solve the disappearance of five little girls near the Apple River Fort Historic Site in Illinois. But somehow author Terri Reid makes it work well enough.
Don’t ask me how she did it, but, for the most part, I really enjoyed this breezy read — the first in a series — about fictional doings in the real-life small town of Freeport, Ill., located just south of the Wisconsin state line. But the story doesn’t begin with the five dead girls, but with a suspicious 1984 drowning death of a pregnant campaign worker. Renee Peterson was a naïve campaign worker with a crush on Illinois State Senate candidate Joseph Ryerson when she drowned at the handsome, philandering Ryerson’s victory party. Decades later, Renee has begun haunting the Ryerson home in Galena, Ill., and desperate wife Susan Ryerson asks Mary to investigate. Mary also gets drawn into investigating the 24–year-old disappearance of 8-year-old Jessica Whitaker, which occurred on the same night as Renee Peterson’s death. That leads Mary to discover that Jessica was just one of five girls kidnapped and murdered by Jessica’s killer — a killer who has every reason to want Mary O’Reilly safely dead.
I loved the novel until Chapter 37; that’s when this thus-far intriguing novel went off the rails. Until then, Loose Ends was building up to be a deliciously guilty pleasure.
Despite its flaw, Loose Ends is perfect for when you want a mindless cozy with a sassy heroine with some interesting pals — both alive and dead. Is it Louise Penny’s Still Life, Laurie R. King’s The Beekeeper's Apprentice, or Robert Galbraith’s The Silkworm? Nah! But I bought the sequel, Good Tidings, before I’d even finished the book, and, even now, despite the unsatisfactory final 50 pages, I’m not sorry. That pretty much tells you what you want to know.
Don’t ask me how she did it, but, for the most part, I really enjoyed this breezy read — the first in a series — about fictional doings in the real-life small town of Freeport, Ill., located just south of the Wisconsin state line. But the story doesn’t begin with the five dead girls, but with a suspicious 1984 drowning death of a pregnant campaign worker. Renee Peterson was a naïve campaign worker with a crush on Illinois State Senate candidate Joseph Ryerson when she drowned at the handsome, philandering Ryerson’s victory party. Decades later, Renee has begun haunting the Ryerson home in Galena, Ill., and desperate wife Susan Ryerson asks Mary to investigate. Mary also gets drawn into investigating the 24–year-old disappearance of 8-year-old Jessica Whitaker, which occurred on the same night as Renee Peterson’s death. That leads Mary to discover that Jessica was just one of five girls kidnapped and murdered by Jessica’s killer — a killer who has every reason to want Mary O’Reilly safely dead.
I loved the novel until Chapter 37; that’s when this thus-far intriguing novel went off the rails. Until then, Loose Ends was building up to be a deliciously guilty pleasure.
Despite its flaw, Loose Ends is perfect for when you want a mindless cozy with a sassy heroine with some interesting pals — both alive and dead. Is it Louise Penny’s Still Life, Laurie R. King’s The Beekeeper's Apprentice, or Robert Galbraith’s The Silkworm? Nah! But I bought the sequel, Good Tidings, before I’d even finished the book, and, even now, despite the unsatisfactory final 50 pages, I’m not sorry. That pretty much tells you what you want to know.
July 7, 2014
I am not usually one who's drawn to paranormal mysteries, however, after reading so many positive reviews about Terri Reid's Mary O'Reilly's series, I decided to give it a try, and boy oh boy, I was literally blown away by this book. 'Loose Ends' is just the first in a long series.
Mary O'Reilly, a Chicago cop, was shot during a stake-out gone bad. Later, surrounded by her family, she died in hospital, but she remained dead only for a few minutes. She was sent back among the living with an added ability - the ability to see and speak to ghosts, especially those who have yet to resolve some issue before being able to move on and rest. She decided to combine her cop qualities with her new ability and set up a private investigation business in the town of Freeport.
Twenty four years ago, a young woman drowned in the swimming pool of the newly elected State Senator. It was ruled an accident and the case closed, but now, after all these years, the woman's ghost is haunting the senator and his wife who immediately call Mary for assistance.
Mary discovers that the woman was actually murdered, but who is the killer? What was the motive behind this young woman's murder? She also finds possible links between this murder and the disappearance of some young girls that also happened at that time.
Mary finds herself being stalked by and running for her life from someone who's determined to stop her. Now that the old cases have been re-opened, the new police chief joins her in her investigation, but will they succeed in finding the murderer? Will the woman's ghost be able to move on? Will the missing girls' families finally find closure? Nothing is as it seems.
Filled with richly described characters, action and haunting scenes, this was a very pleasurable read for me. The book contains some laugh-out-loud scenes, but also some tear-shedding ones. I highly recommend 'Loose Ends' to anyone loving paranormal investigation mysteries. I have already bought the second book in the series, 'Good Tidings'.
Mary O'Reilly, a Chicago cop, was shot during a stake-out gone bad. Later, surrounded by her family, she died in hospital, but she remained dead only for a few minutes. She was sent back among the living with an added ability - the ability to see and speak to ghosts, especially those who have yet to resolve some issue before being able to move on and rest. She decided to combine her cop qualities with her new ability and set up a private investigation business in the town of Freeport.
Twenty four years ago, a young woman drowned in the swimming pool of the newly elected State Senator. It was ruled an accident and the case closed, but now, after all these years, the woman's ghost is haunting the senator and his wife who immediately call Mary for assistance.
Mary discovers that the woman was actually murdered, but who is the killer? What was the motive behind this young woman's murder? She also finds possible links between this murder and the disappearance of some young girls that also happened at that time.
Mary finds herself being stalked by and running for her life from someone who's determined to stop her. Now that the old cases have been re-opened, the new police chief joins her in her investigation, but will they succeed in finding the murderer? Will the woman's ghost be able to move on? Will the missing girls' families finally find closure? Nothing is as it seems.
Filled with richly described characters, action and haunting scenes, this was a very pleasurable read for me. The book contains some laugh-out-loud scenes, but also some tear-shedding ones. I highly recommend 'Loose Ends' to anyone loving paranormal investigation mysteries. I have already bought the second book in the series, 'Good Tidings'.
August 12, 2012
I got this book for the same reason a lot of people did, it seems. It was cheap (or in my case, temporarily free) on Amazon. I usually won't bother with self-published books unless I know the author. However, this book really surprised me.
A basic, non-spoilery run down is that our main heroine was shot in the line of duty as a police officer and died momentarily only to be brought back from the brink. She also happened to bring back the ability to see and communicate with spirits with her.
Now she works as an independent investigator, using her unique skills to solve crimes. This particular book involves the death of a young mistress of a politician in the 1980s and how it links back to child abductions at the time. All the while, Mary has a growing relationship with a local police chief.
Mary as a character is strong-willed and sharp, with a sense of humor about her strange predicaments. The side characters are also fun to read about, and seem very true to life despite this being technically a paranormal book.
What more can I say? I thoroughly enjoyed the read, the mystery really had me hooked the entire time. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.
A basic, non-spoilery run down is that our main heroine was shot in the line of duty as a police officer and died momentarily only to be brought back from the brink. She also happened to bring back the ability to see and communicate with spirits with her.
Now she works as an independent investigator, using her unique skills to solve crimes. This particular book involves the death of a young mistress of a politician in the 1980s and how it links back to child abductions at the time. All the while, Mary has a growing relationship with a local police chief.
Mary as a character is strong-willed and sharp, with a sense of humor about her strange predicaments. The side characters are also fun to read about, and seem very true to life despite this being technically a paranormal book.
What more can I say? I thoroughly enjoyed the read, the mystery really had me hooked the entire time. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.
August 27, 2019
Es una novela corta de ritmo ágil, con toques de humor, que te atrapa desde el inicio. Una mezcla novela de suspense y paranormal, que me ha resultado muy divertida. La única pega que le pongo es supuse quién era el malo muy pronto, pero aún así me ha gustado.
July 7, 2025
Finished Reading October 15, 2015
Loose Ends by Terri Reid
Genres: Crime, Mystery, Paranormal
4.5 Stars
A great read. The story flowed so smooth that it was a fast read. Mary O'Reilly is a private detective. An ex-cop who died & came back with the ability to see & talk to the dead. Bradley, the Chief of police is intelligent. Both characters are strong and human. Then there are Rosie & Stanley who bring humor to the story. I am very impressed with Terri Reid's writing
No Adult sex scenes.
📝🎵Purchased from Amazon June 22, 2015
Loose Ends by Terri Reid
Genres: Crime, Mystery, Paranormal
4.5 Stars
A great read. The story flowed so smooth that it was a fast read. Mary O'Reilly is a private detective. An ex-cop who died & came back with the ability to see & talk to the dead. Bradley, the Chief of police is intelligent. Both characters are strong and human. Then there are Rosie & Stanley who bring humor to the story. I am very impressed with Terri Reid's writing
No Adult sex scenes.
📝🎵Purchased from Amazon June 22, 2015
March 8, 2018
3 stars
Own in: Crimes of Passion: 6 Romantic Suspense Books
This one suffered in comparison to a couple of good books I just read. That said, I don't think I would rate it higher than 3 stars. I am very interested in Bradley's (H) missing wife Jeannine. Somewhat predictable - didn't quite have the edge of my seat suspense to rate higher.
Own in: Crimes of Passion: 6 Romantic Suspense Books
This one suffered in comparison to a couple of good books I just read. That said, I don't think I would rate it higher than 3 stars. I am very interested in Bradley's (H) missing wife Jeannine. Somewhat predictable - didn't quite have the edge of my seat suspense to rate higher.
January 2, 2012
I bought this because it was cheap and had good reviews. An excellent way to go about finding new authors, I think. It was pretty good for the first book in a series. Except for the fact you can tell who the culprit is as soon as they're described. Authors have these little axes to grind and they become a lot more obvious than they think they're being. This is why I don't always go for mysteries. I can usually tell by the way an author describes a person whether or not that person is going to be the bad guy.
But it doesn't really matter because halfway through, Reid must have decided she didn't really want to write a mystery and just went ahead and revealed the baddie to us. And then it turned into a kind of a suspense thing.
Anyway, this series is about a former Chicago cop who was killed in the line of duty and came back to life able to see ghosts. She investigates causes of death to help the spirits move on. Sometimes, if murder is involved, there's more to it than simply guiding someone to the afterlife. A small town setting and a quirky cast of characters made this a basically charming read, if not a very mysterious one.
She's self-published which is an endeavor I wholeheartedly support and she's just as enjoyable as plenty of authors from the big publishing houses. I've already bought the second entry in the series for only $2.99 (e-book) so we'll see if she gives it all away in the description again. If the characters click as nicely in the second installment as they did in the first I might not care.
But it doesn't really matter because halfway through, Reid must have decided she didn't really want to write a mystery and just went ahead and revealed the baddie to us. And then it turned into a kind of a suspense thing.
Anyway, this series is about a former Chicago cop who was killed in the line of duty and came back to life able to see ghosts. She investigates causes of death to help the spirits move on. Sometimes, if murder is involved, there's more to it than simply guiding someone to the afterlife. A small town setting and a quirky cast of characters made this a basically charming read, if not a very mysterious one.
She's self-published which is an endeavor I wholeheartedly support and she's just as enjoyable as plenty of authors from the big publishing houses. I've already bought the second entry in the series for only $2.99 (e-book) so we'll see if she gives it all away in the description again. If the characters click as nicely in the second installment as they did in the first I might not care.
August 13, 2017
Pretty average and I read too many mysteries books 😬
The way the author tried to give you some idea about the villain in the first chapter is not working with me, I can guess the bad guy straight away, gosh! He was so damn obvious!!
Also with the crimes like these and that cover, you wanted more intensity in this book which is not happened here, a bit disappointed really.
But this book on KU and pretty thin compare with other mysteries books, so you can read quick between your other book. Also you can see a glimpse of future romance here, so in that department this series should be good! 😝
If you interested, here much better series about mysteries with ghost in it.
The way the author tried to give you some idea about the villain in the first chapter is not working with me, I can guess the bad guy straight away, gosh! He was so damn obvious!!
Also with the crimes like these and that cover, you wanted more intensity in this book which is not happened here, a bit disappointed really.
But this book on KU and pretty thin compare with other mysteries books, so you can read quick between your other book. Also you can see a glimpse of future romance here, so in that department this series should be good! 😝
If you interested, here much better series about mysteries with ghost in it.
July 16, 2019
Me ha gustado mucho. Una mezcla de detectives con espíritus. La historia es sencilla, me he echado unas risas y la pena es que no haya más libros de la serie traducidos.
Recomendable.
Recomendable.
April 19, 2015
***Review available by request for those on my Friends list***
January 22, 2023
Loose Ends is my first book by Terri Reid, but I will keep her on my radar. I love paranormal mysteries, and Mary O’Reilly is a ghost whisperer. She had been shot, died, and was given a choice. She could stay dead or come back, though things would be different for her. She sees and hears ghosts. They come to her for help and she is happy to oblige.
She is a private investigator, a former Chicago police officer, using her gift to solve mysteries. The hardest part is getting real evidence, evidence that will hold up in a court of law. She has two close friends, Stanley and Rosie. I love when peripheral characters are allowed to shine.
Twenty four years ago a woman drowned in a State Senator’s swimming pool. The ghost is seeking help. When Mary gets involved, the mystery becomes deeper. Is there a connection between the young woman in the pool and five little girls that went missing twenty four years ago, the mystery never solved.
Mary meets the police chief, Bradley Alden, in a funny moment. Bradley had his won reasons for moving to the small town of Freeport, Illinois. I do enjoy humor with my mystery and Terri Reid keeps the smiles on my face, except in those dangerous moments when they are dodging bullets and running from death.
“I’ll be there in five minutes, he said, “Don’t go down there alone.”
I was waiting for her to go down in the basement, by herself, but she didn’t. That really stuck with me, until…She may run through the woods alone, but the basement…no way. LOL We gotta have the hunky guy come to the woman in distress, don’t we?
Cozy mysteries, for the most part get a 3 rating from me (easy reading and light on the mystery), but as the danger and depth of the mystery grows in Loose Ends, so does my interest in learning more. Seeing there are twenty books in the series, it seems like that won’t be a problem.
She is a private investigator, a former Chicago police officer, using her gift to solve mysteries. The hardest part is getting real evidence, evidence that will hold up in a court of law. She has two close friends, Stanley and Rosie. I love when peripheral characters are allowed to shine.
Twenty four years ago a woman drowned in a State Senator’s swimming pool. The ghost is seeking help. When Mary gets involved, the mystery becomes deeper. Is there a connection between the young woman in the pool and five little girls that went missing twenty four years ago, the mystery never solved.
Mary meets the police chief, Bradley Alden, in a funny moment. Bradley had his won reasons for moving to the small town of Freeport, Illinois. I do enjoy humor with my mystery and Terri Reid keeps the smiles on my face, except in those dangerous moments when they are dodging bullets and running from death.
“I’ll be there in five minutes, he said, “Don’t go down there alone.”
I was waiting for her to go down in the basement, by herself, but she didn’t. That really stuck with me, until…She may run through the woods alone, but the basement…no way. LOL We gotta have the hunky guy come to the woman in distress, don’t we?
Cozy mysteries, for the most part get a 3 rating from me (easy reading and light on the mystery), but as the danger and depth of the mystery grows in Loose Ends, so does my interest in learning more. Seeing there are twenty books in the series, it seems like that won’t be a problem.
March 28, 2017
Cute cozy mystery from a new to me author.
In general I don't read cozy mysteries and to be honest, I purchased this book thinking it would be a more "meaty" mystery with the paranormal mixed in. I also expected it to be well...a little scary. I was way off the mark but I was pleasantly surprised by this well written start of a series. Mary O'Reilly is a fun character and I really enjoyed how she was developed. Mary is strong, independent, and yes she does see ghosts. I liked how her character played off of the police chief, Bradley Alden, who at first seems like Mary's polar opposite. I can say with certainty that I will be continuing with this series, which is not a sentence I usually put in a review about a cozy mystery series. Highly recommend for a fun light read or to any cozy mystery fan! 4 stars.
In general I don't read cozy mysteries and to be honest, I purchased this book thinking it would be a more "meaty" mystery with the paranormal mixed in. I also expected it to be well...a little scary. I was way off the mark but I was pleasantly surprised by this well written start of a series. Mary O'Reilly is a fun character and I really enjoyed how she was developed. Mary is strong, independent, and yes she does see ghosts. I liked how her character played off of the police chief, Bradley Alden, who at first seems like Mary's polar opposite. I can say with certainty that I will be continuing with this series, which is not a sentence I usually put in a review about a cozy mystery series. Highly recommend for a fun light read or to any cozy mystery fan! 4 stars.
September 7, 2019
Un libro de temática paranormal pero con estilo detectivesco y algún toque romántico sin exagerar. De lectura ligera y amena, es una buena lectura de entretenimiento.
Una joven detective privado, un jefe de policía nuevo, un caso sin resolver ….. parece la típica historia. Pero si la detective es contratada porque ve fantasmas, ahí ya se sale de lo corriente.
Como decía, es una lectura amena, me ha gustado más de lo que esperaba y seguiré con la serie.
Sólo hay un detalle que me chirría y es la traducción, que en algunas frases y expresiones estaba mal expresada en castellano. Por suerte no son fallos muy continuos, por lo que pude concentrarme en la lectura.
Una joven detective privado, un jefe de policía nuevo, un caso sin resolver ….. parece la típica historia. Pero si la detective es contratada porque ve fantasmas, ahí ya se sale de lo corriente.
Como decía, es una lectura amena, me ha gustado más de lo que esperaba y seguiré con la serie.
Sólo hay un detalle que me chirría y es la traducción, que en algunas frases y expresiones estaba mal expresada en castellano. Por suerte no son fallos muy continuos, por lo que pude concentrarme en la lectura.
September 3, 2019
Entretenida sin mas, no está mal para el comienzo de una serie aunque un pelín predecible.
January 18, 2012
This is the first in a series of paranormal mysteries. The characters are fun and sometimes quirky. Mary O'Reilley is a former cop turned private investigator who was shot dead but revived with the ability to see and communicate with ghosts. Some of them have problems for her to resolve, sometimes they help her solve real life mysteries. None of the characters takes themselves too seriously and the mystery story-telling is pretty good. Halfway through the first one I downloaded three more (there are six in total) and I'm already halfway through the second. There are light and don't take long to finish. I don't know exactly but they are probably around 225 pages more or less. I am enjoying these so much that after I finish this I'm going to email the author! For those who like the genre with a little bit of the paranormal thrown it. Congratulations Terri Reid!
One more thing: these ebooks are really affordable! A very important plus in my world!
One more thing: these ebooks are really affordable! A very important plus in my world!
July 12, 2019
Mary O'Reilly es una detective privada particular, puede ver y hablar con fantasmas y se dedica a ayudarlos a "pasar al otro lado". Es así que la esposa del Senador Ryerson la contrata para investigar el caso de una joven que falleció ahogada hace 24 años durante la campaña política del Senador, que además trabajaba con él y que ahora se aparece como fantasma a Susan Ryerson. De esta forma Mary investiga el caso y van surgiendo nuevas conexiones con las desapariciones de unas niñas de 8 años que nunca fueron resueltos.
Me ha gustado pero me hubiese gustado que se resuelva lo que pasó con la esposa jefe Aldean (tal vez en los demás libros de la saga se explique), se explique por qué el asesino elegía a sus víctimas y que cambió con Jessica, entre otras cosas.
Es un libro soft, rápido de leer, entretenido que no da nada de miedo es una historia divertida que no profundiza mucho ni en la historia ni en los personajes pero es muy amena.
Me ha gustado pero me hubiese gustado que se resuelva lo que pasó con la esposa jefe Aldean (tal vez en los demás libros de la saga se explique), se explique por qué el asesino elegía a sus víctimas y que cambió con Jessica, entre otras cosas.
Es un libro soft, rápido de leer, entretenido que no da nada de miedo es una historia divertida que no profundiza mucho ni en la historia ni en los personajes pero es muy amena.
March 7, 2012
A pleasant cozy/paranormal mystery. I read all six books in the series one after another. They need some serious proof-reading and the help of an editor, but if you can get over the typos and the fact that there really isn't much of a mystery to them, they are quite pleasant, remarkably quick little reads. Be warned that the need for proof-reading really worsens throughout the series and eventually becomes downright annoying in th 6th book. But having said that (and gritting my teeth over things like you're vs. your, illusions vs. delusions, an unfortunate use of a double negative, and laughable use of "secreted" instead of "secret" and the like), I still read every book. There are no shades of grey in these little books, villains are overblown caricatures and amusingly so, but the heroes are still sweet and engaging. Not bad for 99¢.
October 18, 2011
One of my main complaints about too many female detective stories these days is that the women are supposed to be brilliant in every way but do totally stupid things so the guy can rescue her. Mary O'Reilly not only doesn't do that, she makes a point of not doing that. I liked this book very much and I loved Mary -- she's smart,savvy, plucky and has a wicked sense of humor which I guess is a good thing when one of your clients shows up in your bedroom every night without his head on.
The story is good, the characters are delightful (I loved her neighbor Rosie, a woman after my own heart), and the hero, Bradley, is pretty dishy. All around a bright, witty, engaging read. Well done.
The story is good, the characters are delightful (I loved her neighbor Rosie, a woman after my own heart), and the hero, Bradley, is pretty dishy. All around a bright, witty, engaging read. Well done.
March 14, 2021
1.5 stars. Good premise, poor delivery. I think I would have enjoyed this book and given it about 3 stars if the writing had been cleaned up. The writing was just a little too choppy, hard sometimes to follow where the author was leading you because of the wording she chose, or the abrupt change in subject without leading up to what she was trying to communicate.
Also... can someone PLEASE come up with another "plot twist" other than the female main character hating the male main character and then falling desperately head over heals in love with him?? It's sooooo overplayed! Ugh!
Also... can someone PLEASE come up with another "plot twist" other than the female main character hating the male main character and then falling desperately head over heals in love with him?? It's sooooo overplayed! Ugh!
July 21, 2015
An enjoyable read!! First time reader of Terri Reid. The author took a common idea and turned it into a well developed and interesting story. This was a page turner for me. I would recommend the book to anyone who enjoys the lighter side of paranormal/ghost stories. This was right up my alley and i have all intentions to read more of this series.
August 21, 2021
WOW... ghosts that appear on schedule! Who would have thought it could be so easy to talk to the dead.
I gave this up at the end of Chapter 8 / page 49.
I gave this up at the end of Chapter 8 / page 49.
June 1, 2013
I have had this book in my TBR pile for awhile. I bought it for the ghost theme. I don't know why I let it set for so long. I guess I was worried it would be another poorly edited book or the ghosts wouldn't be real or have very little ghost interaction. This book was wonderful. I don't give five stars to many books. This one earned it IMHO.
It was funny, had a wonderful secondary cast that didn't distract from the main characters, it just added to the them. The amount ghostly interactions was perfect. It was suspenseful even if I had an idea "whodunnit" pretty early, it didn't take away from the story. You wanted to keep reading.
The writing was really good. It's not so full of "babble" that you can't understand what is going on with the ghost aspect of the book or the private investigation/police side.
The heroine was genuine and had a grasp on her abilities. The hero is a wounded hero and a perfect match for the heroine. Yet he's not so "unbelieving" towards her abilities that it hurts their relationship or makes you roll your eyes at his attitude. I look forward to reading the series to see if they end up together.
I love Heather Graham books. I have been trying to find more authors like her. So if you love Heather Graham too, you definitely need to give Terri Reid a try.
I just purchased the next two books in the Mary O'Reilly series. There seems to be 10 books total and a short story. I hope they are as great as the first!
It was funny, had a wonderful secondary cast that didn't distract from the main characters, it just added to the them. The amount ghostly interactions was perfect. It was suspenseful even if I had an idea "whodunnit" pretty early, it didn't take away from the story. You wanted to keep reading.
The writing was really good. It's not so full of "babble" that you can't understand what is going on with the ghost aspect of the book or the private investigation/police side.
The heroine was genuine and had a grasp on her abilities. The hero is a wounded hero and a perfect match for the heroine. Yet he's not so "unbelieving" towards her abilities that it hurts their relationship or makes you roll your eyes at his attitude. I look forward to reading the series to see if they end up together.
I love Heather Graham books. I have been trying to find more authors like her. So if you love Heather Graham too, you definitely need to give Terri Reid a try.
I just purchased the next two books in the Mary O'Reilly series. There seems to be 10 books total and a short story. I hope they are as great as the first!
July 8, 2015
Obviously Terri Reid has a winner in her Mary O'Reilly paranormal series as she's written 15 of them successfully. I can see why. I greatly enjoyed Mary with her ghostly characters popping in and out on her, although Bradley channeling through her might have stretched the imagination a bit much. Still, it's a ghost story--who's to know? Only thing I didn't enjoy was the formatting. Enjoyed her best buds, Stanley and Rosie; enjoyed getting to know Bradley. A former crack Chicago cop up for detective, Mary is killed in the line of duty and brought back with the ability to see ghosts who are drawn to her looking to help them move into the next dimension. Most are stuck between worlds because of an unnatural death. Mary moves out of Chicago to small town Freeport to begin anew, where Bradley comes in as Chief of Police who is also creating a new rural life and has a secret of his own. Mary is called on to solve the mystery of the death of a senator's lover whose ghost is now invading their reconciled lives and discovers it is chronologically related to the disappearance of five little girls. Enjoyed the dialogue, interaction between characters in a plot that moved along nicely and kept you reading. Now that I've read book #1 in the series, I'm hooked. and looking forward to #2!
May 19, 2011
Wow this book was very well done. About third of the way through I kinda had an idea who the bad guy was.
Mary is a fantastic character. She's smart, sassy, sarcastic and has a sense of humor. A woman gets killed at the start of the book and then years later Mary is hired to figure out why the ghost is haunting this house. She is also investigating a group of missing 8 year old girls that may or may not be tied to the first ghost. Then someone starts trying to kill her and Police Chief Bradley steps in to help her. There's some tension between them that I hope grows in the next book, although Bradley has a troubled past so it will make things interesting.
Overall I loved this book. Can't wait to start the next one. Favorite part in the book.
We need to have an escape plan.” “I’ll shoot him,” Bradley offered helpfully. “He has your gun,” Mary replied. “Oh, then that won’t work.” Mary sighed. Somehow she didn’t think that Bradley’s warrior-police guy was coming back anytime soon. “So, how do your legs feel?” she asked. She felt a large hand squeeze her thigh. “Bradley, that was my leg.” “Oh, sorry, but what a relief, I thought I had lost feeling in my legs.”
Mary is a fantastic character. She's smart, sassy, sarcastic and has a sense of humor. A woman gets killed at the start of the book and then years later Mary is hired to figure out why the ghost is haunting this house. She is also investigating a group of missing 8 year old girls that may or may not be tied to the first ghost. Then someone starts trying to kill her and Police Chief Bradley steps in to help her. There's some tension between them that I hope grows in the next book, although Bradley has a troubled past so it will make things interesting.
Overall I loved this book. Can't wait to start the next one. Favorite part in the book.
We need to have an escape plan.” “I’ll shoot him,” Bradley offered helpfully. “He has your gun,” Mary replied. “Oh, then that won’t work.” Mary sighed. Somehow she didn’t think that Bradley’s warrior-police guy was coming back anytime soon. “So, how do your legs feel?” she asked. She felt a large hand squeeze her thigh. “Bradley, that was my leg.” “Oh, sorry, but what a relief, I thought I had lost feeling in my legs.”
April 2, 2017
I'm giving this four stars even tho it had issues. I liked the story and the main characters. Since I like paranormal themes this really worked. It flowed well and was an easy read. The negatives were the punctuation and other editing problems. Not to mention a faux pas near the end where the villain apparently gave himself away with a statement and the Chief didn't catch it. I did figure out earlier that he was the one. I have the next book and still do look forward to reading it.
August 28, 2015
A great book loved the banter between the characters a very well deserved 5 stars would give it more. The characters well thought out and had the gift of the gab a wonderful story I would love to read more of Mary O'Reilly and the ghosts she helps. My thanksto the author Teri Reid for the privilege & pleasure of reading her wonderful book so to all happy reading from wee me. ♥☺
January 16, 2012
Very enjoyable, fast-paced read. Cover to cover in one day with lots of other things going on in-between...really held my interest. Likable characters, interesting premise, hopeful romance...will read the next in the series!
September 30, 2019
It's a decent mystery, but that's all the good I really have to say. I didn't like the police chief even once, the writing wasn't great, and the characters weren't well-written enough. It felt just slightly too silly, especially given the subject matter.
July 13, 2011
Bad formatting but fabulous book!
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