Product Description
Clipped by a speeding car while crossing the street in Boston+s South End, Reggie Cutter gratefully accepts the help of her attractive upstairs tenant, financial analyst Steven Damelin. Over ice packs, Reggie is surprised to hear that Steven and her late aunt Jo were involved in a -deal+ just before she died, and now Steven wants to get Reggie involved. But before she can hear more, Steven is murdered, and her own apartment door is smeared in blood. Reggie+s used her psychic powers before to help the Boston P. D., but this time she+s a suspect relegated to the sidelines. Will her abilities be strong enough to prove her innocence-and stop a killer who+s marked her as his next victim? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Annoying main character and inacurate description of Boston
Another book chosen at random from the library to read on the T to and from work. The mystery itself was interestingly plotted, but everything surrounding it is the reason for my low rating.

Ms. Tishy has clearly researched, but never been a resident of, Boston. The city is written to be a major character in the book, with many references to local streets and neighborhoods. However, anything that can't be found on a tourist web site or census map is wrong. [After writing this, I read a different author bio than is included on the book jacket; it appears she lived in Boston for twenty years. This just makes the characterizations of the city and its residents all the more egregious and hateful.]

The problems with setting characterization are too many to list and start on page 2; after the main character is hit by a car, her upstairs tenant tries to convince her it was her fault because she didn't cross at the walk. Anyone who has spent a half a day in the city will tell you that locals - drivers and pedestrians alike - have only a vague idea what the white stripes in the road mean. Any street that is not a highway can and will be crossed at any point. Crosswalks just mean that pedestrians are more likely to swear at the cars that won't stop for them.

Reggie Cutter, our "heroine," is an idiot and a racist. She doesn't solve the case through intelligence or even good use of her psychic powers, but dumb luck. People tell her things because she is very annoying and they want her to leave. To a certain amount the racism in the book could be overlooked as a character flaw of the Reggie's, but then is becomes clear the problem is with the author herself.

The scene where the author's prejudices and shoddy research first bleed into the story happens fairly early. After someone is killed in Reggie's building, the killer paints something in an Asian language on her door in blood. She takes some photos and brings them to Chinatown to see if anyone can translate. Although she tries several stores she can't find a single person working there who can speak English well enough for her to explain what she is asking for. That is simply impossible. Sure, many stores may have one or two employees who's grasp on English is minimal, but the vast majority of stores are run by families that have lived in America for many generations and are fully bi-lingual. The whole exchange was insulting to read.

Another instance occurs when Reggie goes to Mozart St. in Jamaica Plain to talk with a teenager that the deceased had been mentoring. Because his last name is Spanish and he lives on a predominantly Hispanic block, she buys a Spanish phase book and never even attempts to speak English to his neighbors. In so doing, she stumbles upon a very good way of ensuring that no one in a Hispanic neighborhood will speak with you: be a busy-body white woman in your 50's shouting "Hola! Hola!" up at people windows. They speak English just fine, but are now pissed off because you obviously think they are too stupid to learn. Again, like the Chinatown scene, just because someone has retained the language and traditions of their ancestors doesn't mean that they are a recent immigrant and/or ignorant of the predominant language of the country they live in.

In closing the whole book was insulting on several levels and I only finished it because the book I was waiting on wasn't yet available.

I look forward to another in the series but
I hope the author does a better job managing the characters. The ending felt tacked-on; yes, we learned the killer's identity, but in a rather abrupt manner. Felt as though a timer had gone off, sort of the end of an exam: "Fingers off the keyboard, pass your work forward to your publisher."

Psychic absurdity
Life can be rough for a psychic when her powers fail, as they do big-time one day for Reggie Cutter.She has no forewarning of the speeding car which leaves her sprawling, bruised on the road.And though the tenant in her apartment house comes rushing out, he isn't much help.He insists she was jaywalking, which somehow convinces her that the hit and run really wasn't really a hit and run.But that's just the beginning of a bad day.That evening, blood drips down by the radiator in her apartment from the tenant's rooms above and--you've guessed it!--he's been murdered . . . killed with an electric drill and pinned to the floor with a nail gun.In addition, a strange calligraphic figure has been written in blood on Reggie's door. All of this leaves her determined to find out who the killer/artist is but her psychic powers do little to help either her or the police.ALL IN ONE PIECE is about Reggie's dogged and frequently bruised pursuit of the perpetrator among a host of suspects.Tishy manages to keep up a suspenseful atmosphere while providing an intriguing protagonist--one who manages to bumble along to a final and somewhat unbelievable solution to both the crime and the art work.

A good read!
Reggie Cutter's new upstairs tenant, Steven Danelin, comes to her rescue when she is hit by a car in front of her house. He wants to tell her about a financial deal he was working on with Reggie's late Aunt Jo, but never gets the chance as he is found murdered in his apartment the next morning.

Reggie has worked with the police before, but her psychic abilities are not requested for this case because the lead detective considers her a suspect. Reggie starts investigating on her own to find out if she is in danger from the killer--and to clear her name.

The first person, present tense narrative makes it difficult for us to get to know the secondary characters as real people since we only learn about them through their conversations with Reggie--though this has improved since the first book in this series.

Reggie is a compassionate person, despite being unable to let go of the pampered life she led before her divorce. Even though she is relatively new in cultivating her psychic abilities, she intends to use them to help people.

Armchair Interviews says: We like Reggie for that and want her to succeed and look forward to more in this series.

charming amateur sleuth mystery
After divorcing her wealthy husband and losing much of her income, psychic Reggie Cutter moves into the townhouse she inherited from her aunt Jo in Boston's South End.Jo was a psychic who helped the police on many cases and Reggie is following in her footsteps.Her life takes a dangerous twist when she gets hit by a car.Her upstairs tenant Steven Damelin sees the incident and believes it was t an accident not someone deliberately trying to kill her.After getting her fixed up Stephen talks about a deal that Jo was going to invest in and ask Reggie if she is interested.She puts him off.

That night she hears strange noises and the next morning she sees blood dripping from Steve's apartment into hers; she opens his door and sees him lying on his floor, the victim of a gruesome murder.Since she is involved the police don't want her working the case.She intends to listen to them but she has a vision of Steve in water and a piece of wood hitting him.She decides to do her own investigation by interviewing plenty of suspects who had reason to kill him, and almost winds up getting killed by a murderer without mercy.

ALL IN ONE PIECE is a charming amateur sleuth mystery with the eccentric cast of characters adding humor to this who-done-it.The protagonist is a down to earth person who thinks of her psychic powers as a tool to be used as one more investigative method while readers will look at her as the kind neighbor next door that everyone likes.Cecelia Tishy has a knack for creating a plausible mystery with a paranormal twist.

Harriet Klausner
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Yankee comes south
I think this was a very good mystery because I just didn't want to put it down. I read it on a trip to Nashville and loved that it was set in music city. The Kate Banning character was newly arrived from Boston and was not supposed to be an expert on country music. She gave a good look at a newcomers point of view. If the previous reviewer was annoyed at something - I would like to know what specifically? Maybe he didn't think that the dialog flowed because you heard so many different voices. It was peppered with real country colloquialisms that contrasted with the precise Bostonian's talk. I would recommend this book to any mystery lover and especially those who are going to Nashville. I plan on reading all of Cecelia Tishy's other books.

Not up to par...
I love country music and when I heard about this new series I couldn't wait to read it.However, I was quickly dissapointed.The main character, Kate, didn't really like or know anything about country music, and the way they talked about it got to be a little anoying.The characters were a bit 2-dimensonal and blah, and the dialog didn't always flow together.Hopefully the rest of the series will be better, but I won't be giving them another try. ... Read more

Product Description
Honky-tonk sleuth Kate Banning returns--when an up-and-coming songwriter goes down-and-out...of sight.

"This second Kate Banning novel is a real treat...a lively view of country music and nashville life" --Booklist

Praise for the Kate Banning mysteries:

"Captures the mean streets of Music Row...A delightful new voice in Southern mystery." --Steven Womack, Edgar Award-winning author

"Carefully crafted and thoroughly detailed. The Nashville setting and country music subject will appeal to many." --Library Journal

"A enticing tour of Nashville, with goosebumps enough for the ride."--Linda Barnes

* The second acclaimed mystery featuring sleuth and single mother, Kate Banning ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A mystery for country music fans and mystery buffs
Cryin' Time is the second title in the Kate Banning Mystery series, the first being Jealous Heart.

Kate Banning has moved to Nashville Tennessee. She has a secure job with a publication and thought her amateur sleuthingdays were behind her, not so, when she finds herself having lunch at theMad Platter with a convincing executive from UpShot Records named Phil.Phil needs an amateur detective to do a background check on a futuresinger, and their mutual friend Henry recommended Kate.The only reasonKate accepts the case is because it seems easy and she needs the money tosend her fourteen-year-old daughter Kelly to summer camp. But as the casemoves on Kate finds it is anything but easy. While checking on thebackground of the singer Troy, his girlfriend Shay disappears. Again Katefinds herself in the line of fire and takes up the hunt for Shay even whenthe record label backs out and tells her to quit. If there's one thingMusic City has in common with Hollywood it's that not everyone is who he orshe claims to be and that is some thing Kate is about to find out.

Ifound Cryin' Time to be a cozy, interesting read. Country music is only oneof the many types of music played in our home, so in reading Cryin' Time Irecognized the famous names and songs mentioned. Ms. Tishy gives the readera good mystery; her detailed description of Nashville's famous and not sofamous sites help to bring the mystery to life. The only problem I had waswhen the author penned her protagonists' road directions one too manytimes, I don't feel they had anything to do with the plot and they seemed abit distracting. Maybe the author should consider including a simple map inthe next mystery. Also in Cryin' Time, Ms. Tishy gives us a look at thedifferent sides of business in country music. Do you really know what aflyswatter is? Can you guess what a rack-jobber has to do with Wal-mart? Doyou know why a country band is caged? I do, now.

Second in the series is first rate!
Make room for Cecelia Tishy on the growing list of writers of intelligent mystery novels.In fact, make room at the top of the list -- she may be the best one yet.Her Kate Banning series displays a masterful use of apopular literary form to entertain and to inform.Based in the Nashvillecountry music scene which Ms Tishy understands perfectly CRYIN' TIME, thesecond in the series, gives a first-hand look at a world we all know of,but know very little about.As we follow Kate's investigation from sweaty,back-office consultations to glitzy benefit events, we witness therealities of a tremendously popular performance genre.But, best of all,it's a great story.Cecelia Tishy feeds out her plot line with the evenconsistency of a skilled fisherman ["fisherperson?"Naw.] Shenever scares off the reader with frenetic pacing of the plot.On the otherhand, the description of the human details in Kate's life and witty prosestyle ["She pumped cordiality like soda fountain syrup,""the deep-down, deep-dish curiosity"]keep us avidly turning thepages.The characterization is flawless;it draws us right into the bookfrom the first pages.Kate avoids all the pitfalls of other women sleuths. She is independent, but not hard like Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak,likeable, but never becomes a cuddly caricature like Jessica Fletcher. Kate does her own thing with class and intelligence.The character of theAmerican Indian singer, Troy Blackfeather, was of primary interest to me. Drawing from two familiar "Indian guy" archetypes, Cecelia Tishycrafts a believable young Native male.In his two lamentably shortappearances in the novel Troy is first the committed, adoring lover andthen the broken, vulnerable warrior evoking the same urge to console asdoes the well-known icon, "End of the Trail."A good read by anexcellent writer!Be on the lookout for number three in the series! ... Read more

Product Description
In this sizzling new mystery from the author of Cryin' Time, amateur sleuth Kate Banning is caught up in Music City stardom when she has to stop the murder of a famous country singer.

Praise for the Kate Banning mysteries:

"Great reading."-Lisa Scottoline, author of Legal Tender

"An entertaining series with a twang."-New York Daily News

"A delightful new voice in Southern mystery."-Steven Womack

"Cecilia Tishy is brilliant." -Nashville Banner

"A real treat...A lively view of country music and Nashville life."-Booklist

"Carefully crafted and thoroughly detailed." -Library Journal ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Suspenseful and satisfying, with a Music City setting
This series gets better and better. Now that people like Shania Twain andFaith Hill are making country music more popular than ever, these books arefun reading because they give a real sense of what the country music sceneis like. And it's fun to try to guess whether Cecelia Tishy's musiciancharacters are patterned after any particular music stars. This book had anexciting and surprising conclusion that will satisfy any mystery fan,whether or not you care about music.

A good storyline with an appealing main character
A really good read. Kate Banning is an appealing character, trying to hold together a job and single motherhood while adjusting to being a Yankee transplanted to Nashville. It's fun to watch her cope with her teenagedaughter's first "Y'all" and the world of country music ingeneral. And the mystery is absorbing and its solution surprising. ... Read more

Product Description
The first book in an exciting series featuring psychic Regina Cutter, Now You See Her brings a thrilling new dimension to Mysterious Press. From The X-Files to The Sixth Sense to Martha Lawrence's popular Astrology mystery series of novels, paranormal topics in television, movies, and books are perennial audience favorites.Women readers will be drawn to this story of a divorcee finding the strength to embark on a new life in a new city.Boston's Back Bay, a wealthy and fashionable district, is a distinct character in the book and its stateliness functions as a strong counterpoint to the psychic and criminal elements in the story.Cecelia Tishy is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of English at Vanderbilt University, where she has won the university's prize for excellence in teaching. She is the author of several nonfiction books and articles, as well as the Kate Banning mystery series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Disappointing
Very little psychic ability--a lot of regular amateur gumshoe. The writing is good and with a little more of what the jacket promised, it would have been a more exciting read.Reggie is funny and smart as are most of her friends, especially Stark.Her friend Devaney, the cop, is very well drawn, but is pretty much useless in the book.After asking for her psychic help, he waves off any and all clues she gets and refuses to help her do what he asked her to do in the first place. The plot and mystery are convoluted and almost totally devoid of any psychic solving.Reggie bounces from clue to clue given to her by a multitude of characters who are placed like pin-ball cushions throughout the book.

Pretty lame.
Rarely has a mystery grabbed me so completely from the first few paragraphs. I was so excited to discover this series about Regina Cutter, a newly divorced forty-something mom of two who tries to use her psychic ability to help the Boston Metropolitan Police.

However, the story quickly degenerated from that early high. My complaints, in no particular order:
-The title has absolutely nothing to do with the book. Hate that.
-Too many coincidences -- the plot was wrapped up a bit too neatly with all the strange occurrences tying together.
-At the same time, a lot of loose ends were left... what about Doc? What did he want to do with Regina?
-Random quoting of Bible verses and Dante's Inferno that were distracting and laughable, rather than adding to the story.
-Stark's deus ex machina appearances to save Regina just in the nick of time
-What's this with the psychic who is basically useless? She never seems to pick up anything worth mentioning, yet so much is made of her psychic ability.

What a disappointment. Tishy is a great writer and surely could have fixed many of the issues that made this book so lame. I may try another Regina Cutter mystery in the future, but only if I get a psychic message to do so.

Mixed review
I enjoyed the main character and her psychic ability.However, the book's pace was a little slow for me.A little too much of her going to talk to someone and chit-chatting about irrelevant stuff and then finding one tiny piece of information.It was as if all you had to do was read the last page of every chapter.But it was well-written.

A series to watch (psychically or otherwise)
It's always fun to discover a new seriesand this one's clearly on my watch list!
Engaging characters, plot that's not too obvious, and a strong sense of place.

Fire and Ice
Robert Frost's poem "Fire and Ice" aptly describes Regina Cutter's psychic feelings when she consults on a case for the Boston police.A thirteen year old case is brought to Reggie's attention, and she feels compelled to see if the man imprisoned for murder is actually guilty.Whenever she's close to the murder site, and also to the site of a fire, Reggie's feels fire in her thumb and body.When she uses her ability to check out a "haunted" house, she feels cold and sees snow.Despite her status as divorcee living and working alone, she pushes herself into places she doesn't belong and bothers people with clout.Now You See Her is a fascinating look behind Boston society life with a great new character. ... Read more