Beyond Belief - Helen Smith

4.5 Stars!

ABOUT THE BOOK -

When famed psychic Perspicacious Peg predicts a murder will occur at England’s Belief and Beyond conference, her science-minded colleagues recruit twenty-six-year-old budding sleuth Emily Castles to attend the event as a “future crimes investigator.” The suspected victim: celebrated magician Edmund Zenon, who plans to perform a daring stunt at the conference—and is offering fifty thousand pounds to any attendee who can prove that the paranormal exists.

In the seaside town of Torquay, Emily meets a colorful cast of characters: dramatic fortune-teller Madame Nova; kindly Bobby Blue Suit and his three psychic dachshunds; Sarah and Tim Taylor, devastated parents mourning their late son; and religious cult members Hilary, Trina, and the Colonel. Tensions rise as believers in science, the supernatural, and the spiritual clash with one another. But once a body count begins, Emily must excuse herself from the séances and positivity circles, and use old-fashioned detective work to find the killer.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR -

Helen Smith is a member of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain, the Mystery Writers of America, the Crime Writers' Association and English PEN. She traveled the world when her daughter was small, doing all sorts of strange jobs to support them both--from cleaning motels to working as a magician's assistant--before returning to live in London where she wrote her first novel. Her work has been praised in The Times, the Guardian, The Independent, Time Out and the Times Literary Supplement. Her books have reached number one in the bestseller lists in the Kindle store on both sides of the Atlantic.
Visit her blog - HERE

MY REVIEW -
Hmmm I think I'm hooked! Very nice  little mystery. Normally I don't go much for mysteries but I think Helen is trying to single-handedly change my mind. So knowing that I am not a mystery person - you know this one must really be good!

In the beginning of the book, the author used a whole chapter to introduce each set of characters. I loved this! I really felt like I knew them. I loved all these zany, quirky, crazy characters! What a group of misfits. Its as though they were part of a circus. Very fun.

It was the teensiest bit slow for a bit but Helen's witty writing style kept me going and in giggles all the way through. Another thing I liked was all the references to Twitter! This made it so modern and fun to read. I love it when stories add cell phones, texting, etc. to their stories - I mean - that is life now-a-days.

There were a lot of great lines in this book! I will try to limit myself -

"I told them I'd had a premonition that someone would die in Torquay this weekend. and the person on the other end of the phone actually said to me, 'Madam, we don't have a future crimes unit." LOL

"You want me to investigate a suspicious death that hasn't happened yet, using a legacy from a long-dead member of the British aristocracy -- and the main reason you've decided to hire me is because I have a dead dog and I'm a vegetarian?" Hahahaha love it!

"We have a hashtag, you see."...#BELIEFANDBEYOND
"Hashtag," Dr. Muriel said appreciatively... "Sounds like something you'd have deep-fried and served with chili sauce on a road trip in America."
..."I'll meet you in the restaurant in ten minutes. If you get there before me, I'll have a double helping of hashtags with chili sauce." - funny stuff!

"Gerald would insist on making the conference bigger this year. Bigger is not always better. But there's no point saying that to a man." HA! I laughed out loud at this one!

Alright I better quit there or I'll end up repeating the whole book to you. And you are gonna want some  left to read your self!

Great story, fun and interesting. I loved all the little paranormal bits. This was a nice clean, fun cozy mystery!
I am not new to Helen's books I have reviewed three others, they were all good, but this one is my favorite!

Thank you so much Helen Smith for sending me your new e-book to read and review!

Get your own copy from Amazon - HERE