Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Book Review - Death in the 12th House


Death in the 12th House: Where Neptune Rules: A Starlight Detective Agency Mystery

By: Michael Scott Lewis
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Publishing Date: November 2012
ISBN: 978-146420060-1
Reviewed by Mary Lignor
Review Date: November 14, 2012

I remember fondly this author’s first book featuring David Lowell, Astrologer/Detective, who solves crimes using astrological charts and just plain good sense. After having read the first book Murder in the 11th House, I couldn’t wait to start on this one and was not disappointed.

The whole idea of this new book, Death in the 12th House: Where Neptune Rules, is the murder of a Rock Star who was very popular in Rock’s golden years and at the time of his murder, was on the comeback trail. Freddie Finger, the lead singer for a group called Rocket Fire, is found dead in a vacant house. Freddie’s daughter, Vivian Younger, who is a movie star, hires The Starlight Detective Agency, run by David Lowell the Astrologer/Detective and his computer whiz, master computer hacker and psychic Mort, along with the Agency Assistant, Sarah, to find the murderer of her father. The Agency has helped the NYPD solve crimes in the past and has a good relationship with them.

During the investigation, The Starlight Detective Agency comes up with numerous suspects including Freddie’s two ex-wives, who detest each other; band members, his manager and also a musician whose career Freddie destroyed by blackballing him with other bands. The Agency gets busy studying all the astrological charts on these various people. As the plot thickens, the suspects' various foibles are developed and brought into the plotlines in a way that the reader, even if they are not into astrology, can understand. Readers who are into astrology will read and understand more of the charts but anyone else (including me) can still understand and keep up with the story, which is really fascinating.

The author, Mitchell Scott Lewis, is an astrologer and is an expert in the field. He even predicted the Mortgage Collapse and the Stock Market Crash in 2008.

Quill says: I highly recommend this book to all mystery readers who enjoy a good read whether or not they fully understand the world of Astrology.





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