Going into this book, I very much thought it was going to be a lot like Finlay Donovan and while it was similar, it just didn’t resonate with me as well.

That being said, I enjoyed this book immensely. The characters were quirky and I am a sucker for any mystery.

It’s kind of like iZombie without the zombies but all the laughs and fun. I always enjoy a good psychic ability to add creativity to the read.

Would recommend for a vacation or airplane read!

This book is absolutely great - I can't in good faith give it less than 5 stars. What isn't to love? A flawed but SUPER LOVABLE main character? Check. A wacky side-kick best friend? Check. A Psychic Psongstress karaoke night at the local dive bar? CHECK!! (By the way, I totally preferred Klairvoyant Karaoke, I'm with Leda there)

But seriously, this is a fun cozy mystery that ranks right up there with Finley Donovan is Killing It for best mystery of 2021. Cherie Priest is an excellent writer, this was an engrossing read from page 1, and about 75% in, you can feel the suspense building, but Priest manages to make the climax much less predictable than most mysteries.

This is my second Cherie Priest book, and I'll be picking up more as I wait for the next installment in The Booking Agents series, because Leda and Nicki are great characters, but also becasue Priest gives a little tease about what might be in their future at the end of this one, and my interest is PIQUED.

With Priest being known for writing steampunk and sci-fi novels, I had no idea what to expect when it came to reading a cozy mystery involving a psychic.

Turns out what we get is an immensely entertaining and cleverly written story filled with enjoyable characters and witty banter.

If you’re looking for your next cozy mystery read, don’t hesitate to pick this one up.

Audiobook is also recommended.

I loved this mystery -- it is definitely a cozy, but on a more sophisticated level. Our amateur sleuth is a failing travel agent who has sort of a weak psychic power. She can tell things about someone if she holds an object related to them in her hands. But it doesn't always work, or at least, it doesn't always work the way she intends it to. After she saves a police officer's life by rebooking his flight from a plane that crashes, he taps into her skills to solve a murder that's been bothering him for months. Come to find out, she has a murder in her past as well. It seems that the two cases might even be related. I hope this is the first in a series, because I loved Leda, the main character and everything else about this charming, well-paced mystery.

Grave Reservations was the perfect plane right for my trip to, ironically, Seattle. It was a cozy mystery, and I really loved the psychic elements. I thought it was also great that Leda and Grady did not have a romantic relationship, only a platonic professional one. It was refreshing to see a woman acting in just a heroine capacity and not also have to be the damsel. I can't wait to read more in this series!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I liked how Leda was working on improving her psychic abilities by "reading" people's volunteered objects and then picking a karaoke song to sing about that object's "feel" at the dive bar her friend works at. I liked that we didn't have to read about her discovering her abilities but that Leda still have work to do with mastering them. That's a slant I haven't seen that much!

Grady, a police officer whose life Leda saves because she's got a "strong feeling" about his flight, also doesn't spend much time agog with disbelief. He immediately decides that Leda could be an asset in a case that's got him stymied.

You just have to go with it. It's ridiculous that Grady would allow Leda and her best friend Niki to ride along with him to interviews and that he'd give them information about the investigation, but it would be a slow and frustrating book if Leda and Grady couldn't get right to work. There's a lot of sassy dialogue that probably isn't entirely appropriate when the subject is murder, but this is a romp so just go with the mood.

I'm not quite sure if the timelines in the case made sense and Leda's abilities naturally let the characters jump ahead in the investigation when normally they'd have been stuck. But I still liked Leda, and I was in the mood for something light. I'm just realizing how funny it is to have murder mysteries be considered light and humorous, because I've read a couple of them back to back, but you know, it's a thing. I'd read more of this series.

Grave Reservations - 3⭐

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the digital ARC. All opinions are my own.

Super quick synopsis: Leda, a psychic travel agent, teams up with a detective in order to solve a murder.

I so wanted to love this book. I loved the premise, but the story missed the mark for me, almost in a way that's hard to pinpoint. Leda was a main character that I didn't feel emotional invested in. The idea behind her being a psychic helping a detective had the potential to be funnier than it ended up being, and I was hoping for a more fun, cozy mystery. I did really enjoy "klairvoyant karaoke" at Castaways - such a creative idea! Other than that though, this book was a bit of a slow burn. We're told the plot point of Leda's boyfriend getting killed prior to the start of the book, and that had me turning back pages to make sure I hadn't missed this introduction. Grady, the detective, as well as the suspects Grady and Leda interview were a bit dull, not allowing me to get fully into their story and the characters' outcome. Overall, this book was middle of the road for me. If you like cozy mysteries or don't mind a slower burn, I'd say give this a read.

This had such a wonderful premise but fell a little short. I loved the idea of a psychic working with a detective whose life she saved but the story got a little boring in the middle. The ending was very satisfying, once Leda hit her groove and the murders were solved but so much of this could have been cut to make it more action-packed and have it drag less in the middle. I enjoyed this enough to read the next in the series.

There are a lot of cool psychic mysteries out there, and considering a lot of them deal with murder and ghosts, they can get pretty dark. If you want something a little lighter, I’d recommend picking up Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest.

There is an underlying current of grief to this story. Leda has lost her fiancé, and even though it’s been three years, some of those wounds are still healing, especially because his murder hasn’t been solved. But while there is certainly an emotional resonance to this tale, Leda is so much more than what she’s lost.

The real charm of this book, however, are the silly moments. It lightens the mood and makes this book a delight to read. Klairvoyant Karaoke is hilarious and ridiculous and the perfect way to let Leda organically learn more about her powers. The end is both satisfying and opens the door for a sequel. Leda has already learned so much, but she’s got a long way to go. As her business and her abilities grow, I hope she embraces both of them and has some adventures along the way.

This was an enjoyable book. It's about a psychic travel agent and a Seattle PD who both try to help each other solve their cases. I really enjoyed this fun, mystery novel. I didn't expect it to be a cozy or funny read except something dark like other mystery novels. I guess by the cover I should have known what I was getting into. The author has an amazing writing style where the plot was amazing and the pacing was fast which is perfect for this mystery novel. Not only is this a great mystery book but there is also some great modern fantasy involved with psychic.

This book has two main characters, Leda and Grady. Leda is a travel agent which psychic powers and Grade is a Seattle PD. Both have lost someone in their lives and decide to work together on finding out who killed Leda's fiancé. I do have to say that both of these don't really have a great character development as it's mostly focused on the mystery. Sadly there also weren't that many side characters but the ones in the story were wonderfully written. There is also no romance but the friendship is great with amazing humor.

The ending was well done and I'm so glad to have read this book. This book was amazingly written and I have laughed so much throughout this book. There were some parts of the book I didn't enjoy but it wasn't anything major. I still enjoyed reading this book and I totally recommend it. I will for sure be reading more from this author!

I really wanted to enjoy this one more than I did. The characters were very entertaining, but I couldn't get into the storyline.

2.5 - 3 stars

** thank you NetGalley and Atria books for giving me an early e-copy in exchange for my honest review **

Leda is a travel agent with an inconsistent gift, she is psychic. When she saves a detective from dying on a plane that crashed, he takes notice of this and looks for her to ask for her assistance on a case that he has been working on. Leda not sure of herself accepts with an alternative motive, she wants help on her fiancés murder. They figure that these murders are somewhat connected and this sets Leda on the path to solving this with more determination.

I think the set up was fun, it's not a very dark and deep mystery, it's more like watching Bones or Monk. I don't know if this will be a series but if it is it's a good introduction to Leda and her ability. I liked the team dynamic, Detective Grady acts like a protective dad around Leda, she is insecure of her skill but she has her sassy and trusty best friend Niki. I loved Niki. She was so supportive yet hilarious, I loved her sarcasm and how she didn't let Leda overthink everything and go to a dark place. I think this would actually be a good show. I also liked the bar nights, where she would "perform" It kind of made Leda confident and helped her see that although her visions were not always clear they could help others in different ways. There wasn't a lot of depth to the characters but we did have a little background on them that made them likeable and made you care for them. The mystery was solved but I wasn't shocked, however the chapter with a bit of chase towards the end did excite me for a moment. The ending was a bit open, so I think it will be a series, not sure. I recommend it if you want a fun, easy, mystery to enjoy.

Posting Review on Instagram @Jessential.reads by 11/17

I thought this book was going to be too far fetched for my liking but it was just the level of quirkiness that I needed. I loved the characters and the plot and highly recommend

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for a copy of Grave Reservations in exchange for my honest review.

Leda Foley has a gift. She is clairvoyant. It doesn't always work when she wants it to and she doesn't always know what it means, but sometimes it comes in handy. One example is the time she saved Grady Merritt, a copy for the Seattle PD, from getting on a plane. Leda works as a travel agent and saw something going wrong with his plane, so while Grady was trying to get to the airport on time, Leda was already changing his flights. When the flight he was meant to be on erupted in flames on the runway, Grady realizes Leda knew something he didn't. After they talk and he discovers Leda's gift, he hopes it can help him in coming up with leads in an unsolved double homicide.

Grave Reservations is a slightly heavier cozy mystery. It doesn't have a lot of violence but a tad more than a normal cozy mystery but it would fit alongside cozy mysteries very well. I wanted a little more substance to this novel, but it still kept my attention. It was predictable at times and sometimes the humor felt forced, but I enjoyed it none the less. Cherie Priest also set up Leda's future if this series continues. The way it ends, Grave Reservations is the first in an intended series.

If you're a fan of Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, I suggest taking look at Grave Reservations.

Grave Reservations is an absolutely delightful paranormal murder mystery. When Seattle police detective Grady narrowly misses a plane crash due to a last minute flight change by his travel agent Leda, he knows he has found the one person who can help him solve a cold case. With her ability to see flashes of memories while holding objects, Leda makes a perfect partner. But Leda hasn’t really spent a lot of time honing her ability and uses it mainly as way to draw customers to a friend’s bar where she performs karaoke inspired by objects people bring her. Can her unpredictable gift help solve Grady’s cold case and possibly, the case of her murdered fiancé?

I loved this book so much! It was full of hijinks and amazing friendships where everyone has great quippy banter. Leda was a really fun character. She has this amazing gift of seeing flashes of memory when she handles objects and has a devoted following at her friend’s bar where she gets to drink for free while she wows crowds with her Klairvoyant Karaoke. Her day job is the owner-operator of Foley’s Far-Fetched Flights of Fancy and I think that is one of the best fake business names I’ve ever heard. That business name? Tells you about everything you need to know about the tone of the book. Even though our characters are searching for a killer, it’s done in a very light-hearted and sarcastic way. Leda and her best friend Niki take over the bar’s whiteboard to create a “murder board” and manage to wrangle all the bar’s employees to help in solving the murder of Leda’s fiancé and another victim. Detective Grady Merritt takes his job very seriously and truly wants to solve the case, but also feels deep down that trusting Leda is key to finding his murderer. There are some great scenes where Grady and Leda are trying to question witnesses but it devolves so quickly into chaos.

The story moves along very quickly and I was completely enthralled from start to finish. It’s so well plotted with so many twists and funny moments that I never wanted to put it down.
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing the arc of Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest in exchange for my honest review.

What happens when a psychic travel agent who sings Klairvoyant Karaoke saves the life of a Seattle PD detective? That’s right murder, and mystery, and silliness of course.
We follow the MC Leda Foley who is psychic but she’s not sure how to use her ability and Seattle PD detective Grady Merritt as they work together, become friends, and maybe solve a mystery or two.
This was my first Cherie Priest novel, I went in with no expectations just a lot of hope for a good story and maybe some fun hijinx. Leda is a struggling travel agent and sometimes psychic who lost her fiancé less than a year ago and is still trying to figure out what happened. Maybe draw comparisons to Lucy and as we all know, Lucy needs an Ethel and that happens to be Niki, Leda’s BFF.
The book is a fairly fast read and I’d say overall, I enjoyed most of it. I smiled a lot, maybe even some LOL moments. Leda and Grady’s relationship, will it stay platonic, was enjoyable to witness. Neither was 100% sure of each other but they kept trying to let go and trust that the other would have their back. It was a nice change from going all in and getting burned or always questioning someone's motives which I feel a lot of books do.
Some lows, there were some awkward conversations and moments that weren’t so believable. I found the mystery itself to be kind of blah. It was hard to feel invested in it.
The highs, the characters are by far the best part of this book. Getting to know everyone was fun and I honestly can’t wait to see what they get up to next. Overall I found the book to be a lighter read with some funny parts that would for sure bring me back for more. To anyone looking for more of a comedy-mystery with some heavy parts, I would highly recommend it.

Brief Synopsis: Leda Foley is an unreliable and inconsistent psychic who is working on honing in her abilities. Detective Grady Merritt has a cold case he can’t stop trying to solve. Turns out, Leda has an unresolved murder of her own. Can the two work together “off the record” to solve these murders?

Thoughts: I would categorize this as a cozy mystery and even though it will be part of a series, it can be read as a standalone novel. Some elements of the storyline are believable while others are not. That said, the characters were both realistic and likable. Even though murders are investigated, they are not detailed in a gritty, violent way. At times it felt cheesy and ridiculous (i.e. her business name, the dialogue surrounding the diet drink in the storage unit, and the umbrella that had been sitting on a desk for two weeks but somehow was so dusty it dripped mud when wet). Overall it was still a light, fun read.

Thank you to Cherie Priest, Atria Books, and NetGalley for a copy of this book. If you enjoy quirky, murder mysteries - this one may be for you.

Foley’s Flights of Fancy is Leda Foley’s new travel business and one of her first clients is Grady Merritt, a Seattle Police Detective. When she alters his return flight without warning, he watches as the plane he was originally scheduled to take blows up on the tarmac. Now Grady, who realizes that Leda has some “special” abilities, wants her to help him with a cold case. Leda reluctantly accepts his invitation, although she isn’t sure her ability to make premonitions is sound enough to be helpful. But, she is interested in becoming more proficient with her skills because she wants to find the person who murdered her fiancé.

There’s a lot going on in this book. Psychic predictions, murders, quirky and (mostly) lovable characters, humor, and even Leda’s psychic karaoke act at a local bar. Before long I found myself more immersed in the characters and their relationships than in the mystery itself. But that’s ok, since the characters were interesting and varied, and so much fun. I enjoyed Ms Priest’s book and I hope there are more adventures with Leda.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

BOOK REVIEW: Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest

Series: The Booking Agents | Book 1

Imagine a detective story that starts out like the Final Destination movies and written with the tone of Janet Evanovich books... Quirky, spooky, funny & a bit thrilling too!... ✨😎✨

Pages: 304
Genre: Detective Mystery
Sub-Genre: Psychic Mystery
Time Period: Contemporary
Location: Seattle

IF YOU LIKE THIS BOOK THEN TRY…
Book: Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano (not psychic... but definitely fun!)
TV Series: Medium

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All my reviews can be seen at This Is My Everybody | Books, Lifestyle & Home Ideas for Simple Living | Denise Wilbanks at www.thisismyeverybody.com

♡ Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

This one was kind of disappointing for me. I just didn't connect with any of the characters or the story at all. I think a lot of people actually loved this one but it just wasn't for me. If this ended up becoming a TV drama it would be on CBS or maybe even Lifetime, if both of those networks are your jam then you should snag a copy of this one. Grave Reservations is the first in a series so there's plenty more to come from this cozy mystery/psychic police procedural.

Leda Foley is a struggling travel agent and kind of psychic. When she rebooks a Seattle detective on a different flight last minute and that flight ends up in some trouble, the detective comes knocking to see what else Leda can help with. Despite her inconsistent premonitions, she agrees to help out. Can she help Detective Grady catch a killer?