Cherie Priest's latest is more lighthearted than her previous stories (the cover gives it away). More of a cozy mystery than her other paranormal genre fiction (I've been a fan since Boneshaker and even Bloodshot).

Leda is an inconsistent psychic, whose talents run more toward Klairvoyant Karaoke than actual psychic readings or even acquiring more clients for her new travel agency. But when she acts on a premonition and saves Detective Grady's life by suddenly rebooking him onto a flight that doesn't explode, he becomes a believer and enlists her to help with a hard to crack cold case. In return, he helps investigate the unsolved murder of her fiancé Tod and the combination proves both effective and entertaining.

The cast of characters is consistently quirky and the pace is quick. The mysteries aren't all that complicated. But they beg to be solved. I look forward to further adventures with Leda and Grady.

Grave Reservations is the first in a new series The Booking Agents. It follows Leda, an okay psychic travel agent, that teams up with Grady, a Seattle detective whose life she saved with her gift.

I love a fun cozyish murder mystery and this one was what I was looking for. I enjoyed watching Leda learn how to hone her gift and use it to help solve the murders, as well as give herself closure over the murder of her fiance. The mystery was entertaining enough but the real interest for me came with Leda's interactions with the characters, from Grady to her best friend Niki, to the cast at the bar.

I can't wait to see Leda learn more about her abilities and solve more murders in this series! Also, I hope that we'll get more Klairvoyant Karaoke.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to @atriabooks and Cherie Priest for my gifted copy of Grave Reservations. This exciting book about a psychic travel agent who gets recruited to help solve a crime is out today! I’ll put the full synopsis in the comments section.

I was expecting something a bit more serious out of Grave Reservations, but I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Leda, the main character, is a hoot! I got quite a few laughs out of her antics, and was very impressed with how her psychic abilities were written about. Grady Merritt, the detective that Leda works with, certainly holds his own as well within the book. My only critique of this book is that the action seemed very rushed at the end.

I was so intrigued by the synopsis of this book - a psychic travel agent helps a cop solve a murder mystery? Sign me up!!

I loved the mix between magical realism with the mystery. This made this storyline so fun & unique.

Leda was such a funny & loveable main character. My heart broke for her with everything she had been through so I found myself rooting for her throughout the whole book. The conversations between her and the cop, Grady, were full of banter and very entertaining.

Ultimately, I did find the mystery itself to be a little lackluster & far-fetched, to the point where I found myself skimming details. I was way more intrigued by the relationships between characters. Also, there were a lot of plot holes and meaningless characters that left me confused!

All in all, this was a super fun October read & id recommend it if you are looking for a fun, quick, one-day read.

Mystery – Comedy - Action
This is a very good book. I would love for it to be the beginning of a new series (hint, hint). This would make the best comedy/action suspense movie.
It is a murder mystery that involves a psychic, her friends, and a police detective in Seattle. The humor is honest with nothing slap-stick about it. The plot was well thought out and just convoluted enough to keep it very interesting. It is also more of a 'cozy' mystery in that it is not graphic, contains minimal violence and no horror. It should not give anyone nightmares. I really enjoyed the book, read it in one day, and did not want it to end. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

This cozy mystery is a really fun read! Leda is a travel agent who saves the life of police officer Grady Merritt using her psychic abilities. Merritt, who is struggling with an old case, asks Leda to use her abilities to help solve the crime. This book is a breath of fresh air. I love the unique spin Leda's abilities put on this story, The cast of characters is amazing, and they are some of the most likeable I've read in a while. The humor is very well done. If you are looking for a fun, cozy read to curl up with this fall, this book should fit the bill. Thank you Netgalley, Cherie Priest, and Atria Books for an advanced egalley of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you to Atria Books, Cherie Priest and Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Grave Reservations is a cozy mystery set in Seattle, WA about a detective solving a couple of cold cases with the help of a reluctant, inconsistent "psychic" and her best friend. I really, really wanted to love this book but unfortunately I finally had to give up and DNF at 52%. The general storyline is unique, entertaining and amusing and is the reason why I'm giving the book two stars.

The main reason I had to stop was that all the main character, Leda, did was whine. The way her ability is described (repeatedly), it seems like anyone could have her abilities. She needs to be talked into helping Grady (the detective) by both her best friend, Niki and Grady himself - and it takes pages and pages to do it. And even then it's not enough. As things are progressing, she still has reservations about assisting him and needs to be coddled along. The dialogue was somewhat clunky and didn't always flow naturally.

This book was pretty interesting! It did take me a while to get through but I honesty think that was just me.

The plot follows a “mediocre” psychic as she helps a detective solve a murder. If you’ve ever watched Psych this is a book you’d probably enjoy! They’re kind of similar with the exception that Leda is *actually* psychic.

The book was pretty funny and the mystery was good. There were some like side charters that I felt like were mentioned but not enough? Or didn’t seem too relevant but overall not bad.

This book was definitely interesting and a light mystery read just in time for Halloween! Out Today (10/26)!!

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to review! All thoughts are my own!

A psychic travel agent, Leta, and a police detective, Grady, team up to solve a cold case.....and end up with more than they bargained for. A cozy and fun mystery, this was an enjoyable to read from start to finish. Leda and Grady had good chemistry and the mystery kept me guessing. Would love to see this turned into a series!

Thank you so much to Atria Books and Netgalley for my advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

If you're looking for a quick, fun read to round out spooky season, look no further than 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦.

Leda is a reluctant psychic/travel agent whose visions save the life of Seattle Police Detective Grady Merritt. When he recruits her to help with a case he can't solve, Leda agrees in the hopes that Grady might be able to find the answer to a mystery that's haunting her as well.

This is a quirky, cozy mystery with fun characters. I wish I had gotten as invested in the cases Leda and Grady follow as I did their friendship but if there's another book (which the ending seems to suggest), it will definitely be added to my wishlist.

3.5 stars

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the copy to review.

Grave Reservations is a quirky mystery that follows Leda who is an (inconsistent) psychic and travel agent as she partners up with Seattle PD Detective Grady Merrit after saving him from a doomed flight. We follow their journey as they work to solve a murder case that is close to going cold that may end up getting Leda some answers of her own.

This book was such a fun read from the Klairvoyant Karaoke, to the hilarious cast of secondary characters, a Victorian Orphan (lol) and a themed bar night or two. While I would like the next story to dig a little deeper and continue to expand Leda's world, this is a quick enjoyable read and I look forward to the sequel!

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!

A psychic travel agent and a detective teaming up to solve a murder is the pairing I didn't know I needed! I guess it might be weird to say a mystery is adorable but this one was. Along with being suspenseful it was also funny and tender in the right moments.

Leda and Grady meet through unusual circumstances. He hires to arrange his flights but when she reschedules his return flight hoe, he's annoyed. Leda, who's "clairsentient" as she terms it herself, can't exactly explain to him why she's insistent on him skipping this particular flight to wait for the next one. from certain death when she reschedules his flight. It's only when he realizes the certain death she saved him from that he wonders how on earth she did it so he decides to pay her a little visit. After she reveals her little secret - that she's sort of psychic - Grady has an idea. He wants to hire her to help him solve a murder that's been a thorn in his side. It's an unorthodox approach and he'd probably be ripped for it back at his station if anyone caught wind about it, but he's desperate. He's baffled by certain details of the case and after hitting so many dead ends, Leda's gift could provide a breakthrough. Leda's a whole lot of hesitant about this as she's still learning about her gift but agrees to assist. A little extra cash wouldn't hurt as she tries to get her travel agency business going. It's in the midst of working together that Leda makes the unexpected discovery that Grady may have a connection to her own mystery - the murder of her fiancé a few years back. How the two cases are connected is elusive to her, and as alarming as it is, and as much as she's not sure how trustworthy Grady is, she's sure of at least one thing: that she must see this through and Grady is essential to that.

Though it's a mystery, there's a level of lightheartedness that I enjoyed. Leda is quirky, to say the least. Her best friend, Niki sometimes has to push her. Mind you, I tend to be quite judgmental about best friend characters in stories because I feel that a lot of the times they're written to be so over the top that they overshadow the main character. In Niki's case, she has that tendency that but I never thought she overwhelmed Leda when they were in scenes together. Leda has a unique way to hone her gift. Her clairvoyant karaoke schtick might seem gimmicky but she's somehow able to tap into people's emotions and convey messages through song. She may not understand why a particular song comes to her but she's willing to be the conduit. Those were sweet moments with the added touch that I also found new meaning in certain songs.

A good mystery can be so satisfying. Grave Reservations is witty and enjoyable and I especially love when unlikely partnerships occur. Leda's innocent nature and big, soft heart strike a nice counterbalance to Grady's many years of detective work that's probably made him a little tired and jaded. I appreciated that he never condescended to her. He might've been a bit exasperated by her and Niki's goofiness and tendency to not listen very well at times, but he always treated her respectfully. Knowing firsthand that Leda's the real deal probably helps, too. I liked this curious, engaging mystery and definitely recommend Grave Reservations. I also wouldn't mind another one featuring Leda and Grady. It'd be fun to see how her gift continues to grow.

~ Bel

This cozy mystery was such a fun read! I fell for the characters and story from the first chapter! It follows Leda, a physic travel agent who is learning to use her powers when she saves a Grady, a detective from a plane crash. That unexpected situation leads them to work together on one investigation that uncovers so much more. I enjoyed their easy camaraderie and all the hijinks they got into. Leda was determined and a real scrapper where Grady is all about solving the case by the book.

Their unlikely partnership created so much room for fun banter, silly shenanigans, and a very fun story. The larger cast of characters only added to the overall story and made it all the more entertaining. I found myself loathe to put the book down. I found myself laughing as I read this and also being caught totally off guard. Even though as a reader I had more information than the characters, I still found the mystery to be so fun!

Highly recommend!!

I read the author's bio and this seems to be a departure from her regular fare. I'm vaguely aware of her work, but I'm pretty sure this is the first book I've actually read. It was a fun mystery, and I could see this as a complete standalone, but it also hints at a series, and I'm here for it! There are interesting side characters in the friends and family that surround Leda that would provide plenty of fodder for future adventures.

For this book, Leda has a floundering travel agency that she supports with Klairvoyant Karaoke on the side. She has flashes of psychic energy that she's trying to refine when she becomes entangled with a detective from the Seattle police department named Grady. He hesitantly buys into her bursts of knowledge and enlists her help in solving some murders.

Great story, fun quirky writing, and nutty characters.

Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC. I have really enjoyed Ms. Priest’s most recent work and this just adds to her legend. This is the kind of fun, cozy mystery that I enjoy. Yes, there are serious topics at play here, but the fact that there is some fantasy elements and a silly, often scene stealing best friend just lightens the mood. The book didn’t take itself too seriously, so I didn’t have to be bugged by any of the things that clearly don’t make sense. It is only when a detective story tries so hard to be “hard” that the things like taking a civilian to an active murder scene doesn’t hold up. This was fun and I am looking forward to the obvious sequel

An unlikely friendship between a psychic and a cop evolve after she saves his life with her powers. He cannot believe what happens and asks her to help him solve a case. But he's not the only one with a case to solve. Turns out Leda has an unsolved case of her own. Can her glitchy psychic powers help solve the cases? And who was behind all these mysterious murders?

This was a great who-done-it! it was super cute and engaging without being too scary or gruesome. I am not a huge gruesome horror-y person and this was just a perfect balance. I loved the friendship that blossomed between Leda and Grady and how they were there for each other even when they pushed past their boundaries. there were so many possibilities and the farther we got in the book the more I couldn't put it down!

I was first introduced to Cherie Priest when I read her Borden Dispatches series, which combines Lizzie Borden, Cthulhu, and a secret cult… trust me, it works. So when I read the synopsis for Grave Reservations I was interested to see how she would tackle a psychic partnering up with a cop, since it’s been done before… and I have to say she did a fantastic job and put her own unique spin on it!

There were lots of fun and quirky characters combined with cheeky banter between Leda and her bestie, Niki, and the detective Grady. At this point there could be a love interest between Leda and Grady, but I really appreciated how Priest kept it really low key, especially since Leda is still mourning her fiance and trying to find his killer. While I feel Priest did a great job developing the characters and with the dialogue, I do think the mystery could have been tightened up a bit.

It was very interesting to see how Priest combined all of Leda’s psychic flashes and turned them into clues, and for me that was the best part of the mystery. But I don’t feel like this is a mystery that can be solved by the readers because of how the clues/visions played out. If you don’t mind reading a mystery that can’t be solved by the reader, then you may enjoy Grave Reservations more than I did in this area.

All in all, a very fun, fast read and I’m excited to see if Grave Reservations turns into a book series or even a Netflix series…. Here’s hoping!

This was a fun debut to a new series by Cherie Priest. We are introduced to Leda Foley, struggling to come to terms with the death of her fiancée three years earlier, running a travel agency, Foley's Flights of Fancy, and a psychic. Her best friend is Nikki Nelson, a tell it like it is person. The two have a great dynamic. We also meet the regulars of the bar where Leda is a Psongstress and uses her psychic abilities to sing songs that come to her while holding a person's personal item.

The novel begins with Leda rebooking a flight for Grady Merritt, a Seattle police detective, because she gets a "bad feeling". He is not happy about the change until he sees the plane blow up. Grady stuck with a cold case asks Leda for help, Leda working on understanding her psychic abilities agrees to help with the investigation.

This is a quick read with an engaging group of characters, and a mystery to solve. I look forward to the next adventure.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC, the review is my own.

Fun, quirky, and topsy-turvy

Leda Foley is a travel agent blessed with a special gift. She can see into the future. Which came in rather handy, having saved the life of a certain Seattle detective, ensuring he misses a doomed flight. She also moonlights doing clairvoyant karaoke (who knew there was such a thing!) at her favorite watering hole. You’ll want to read this book to fully understand! lol! I would definitely go to watch her perform!🙋🏻‍♀️

Grady Merritt (the Seattle Detective with nine lives) wonders if he could use Leda’s unique gift to help solve a murder long hanging over him for years. Only no one else can know she is helping the police…not even his fellow detectives.

This book was most definitely an entertaining read. Up to and including several laugh-out-loud moments. Leda is super cute with all her antics. I’m hopeful for a lot more from her as the series progresses.

I can see this being the beginning of a great new series that I will definitely be following.

A fun and fast buddy read with Susanne.

Thank you to Megan Rudloff at Atria Books and NetGalley for the arc

Before I read this book, I’d never heard of Cherie Priest, so I went into this with no particular expectations. All I knew is the blurb about a quirky psychic travel agent teaming up to solve a mystery with the detective she saved from an ill-fated flight sounded like good, possibly ridiculous, fun, and why the heck not? Besides … that adorably fun cover totally suckered me in. They get me every time.

I can definitively say that the story was as adorably fun as the cover. I’ve always loved my TV mystery shows, just like I loved my Nancy Drew and Encyclopedia Brown books back in the day. Moonlighting was my jam in the 80’s, Murder She Wrote in the 90’s, Monk in the early 2000’s, The Mentalist right after that. (What’s up with all those ‘M’s?? Seriously … I have a type). If someone told me this book was going to be made into a TV series, I would be a happy girl. Is it brilliant or earth-shattering? No. Is it good, solid, silly, happy fun? A resounding YES. It was just what I needed after my last bummer read.

Leda Foley, the struggling owner/travel agent at Foley’s Flights of Fancy, and part-time performer of a one-woman show, Klairvoyant Karaoke, is an often booze-infused psychic trying to get her business off the ground and get over the murder three years prior of her fiance, Tod. Along for the ride, is her even bigger hot mess of a best friend, Niki Nelson, who has absolutely no filter on her words or actions. I loved these two, in the same way I loved Finlay Donovan and Vero, or as mentioned in the book, Lucy and Ethel - they’re just a great pair. Playing the straight man to this comical pair is Grady Merritt, the Seattle detective who Leda saves from a doomed flight when she senses trouble.

When Grady asks Leda to offer her psychic insights into a cold case he hasn’t been able to solve, their worlds collide in ways she wasn’t expecting. The story is engaging as she tries to make sense of her increasing abilities and the ways they manifest in each situation. I haven’t read a proper cozy mystery, but I suspect this would largely qualify. There’s humor and a fun cast of characters, but there’s also a decent mystery and lots of potential suspects to keep you guessing. The mystery itself isn’t the most dynamic one ever, but the characters more than made up for any plot weakness.

The blurb compares this book to Lisa Lutz’s The Spellman Files and Charlaine Harris’s Aurora Teagarden series. I can’t speak to that having never read either of those, but if they’re anything like this one, I’d probably like them. I can only hope this book will be the start of a series too, because I would LOVE more adventures with Leda, Niki and Grady!

I found out, after the fact, that Cherie Priest has mostly written horror, fantasy, sci-fi and steampunk up to this point. I’d have never guessed that from this book, but kudos to her for being able to switch gears so successfully. For the fun story behind this book, here’s a link to her blog describing how the story came to be:

https://www.cheriepriest.com/blog

★★★★ ½ (rounded up to 5 for getting me out of a reading funk)

Thanks to Atria Books, NetGalley and author Cherie Priest for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. It’s due for publication on October 26, 2021.