Helpful Score: 1
Day Shift is the second entry in Charlaine Harris' Midnight, Texas series. The town of Midnight is inhabited by a quirky group of residents who all have secrets: secret pasts and even secret powers. In Day Shift, internet psychic Manfred Bernardo is suspected of robbery and murder when an elderly client kicks the bucket during a reading. He turns reluctantly to Olivia Charity, another Midnight resident who he is not sure he can trust, and his other friends in town to clear his name.
This book is a cozy at heart with a touch of paranormal and a bit more edge. The story has good momentum, though things are wrapped up a bit too quickly and tidily at the end.
Charlaine Harris is hit or miss for me. I really liked the Lily Bard series (with there were more!), I like the Sookie novels, couldn't get past the first Harper Connelly, and never tried Aurora Teagarden as it seemed too "cozy" for my tastes. The Midnight series includes characters from her other series, so long-time fans of the author will likely find this series more rewarding than would a new reader. For Harris dabblers such as myself, I recommend reading Midnight Crossroad first to get to know the characters from series you haven't read.
Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book is a cozy at heart with a touch of paranormal and a bit more edge. The story has good momentum, though things are wrapped up a bit too quickly and tidily at the end.
Charlaine Harris is hit or miss for me. I really liked the Lily Bard series (with there were more!), I like the Sookie novels, couldn't get past the first Harper Connelly, and never tried Aurora Teagarden as it seemed too "cozy" for my tastes. The Midnight series includes characters from her other series, so long-time fans of the author will likely find this series more rewarding than would a new reader. For Harris dabblers such as myself, I recommend reading Midnight Crossroad first to get to know the characters from series you haven't read.
Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This opens up with the renovation of the old hotel. One of Manfred's client dies, in front of him, and he is accused of jewelry theft. Olivia, also in Dallas at the same time, gets enlisted by the Rev to fix it.
Told in alternating points of view, this one mainly has Olivia and Manfred, with a little bit of Joe and Fiji. Some new characters, although I don't know how long they will stay around. What the Rev, Joe and Chuy are, are confirmed. I learned more about Olivia (she still has many secrets), mainly her past. This is a better book than book 1. Less dry, faster paced. I did think the resolution of the stolen jewelry and murder was too quick and just eh. I was disappointed in that. I still wonder about the hotel and the owner of it; does it mean anything? (Mainly because of the elderly residents they picked up that didn't have family/money. Then, later, paying for them to live in an assisted living facility. At least I'm assuming the owner is doing that. There wasn't an explanation.)
From the Sookie books: Quinn and Barry make appearances.
Told in alternating points of view, this one mainly has Olivia and Manfred, with a little bit of Joe and Fiji. Some new characters, although I don't know how long they will stay around. What the Rev, Joe and Chuy are, are confirmed. I learned more about Olivia (she still has many secrets), mainly her past. This is a better book than book 1. Less dry, faster paced. I did think the resolution of the stolen jewelry and murder was too quick and just eh. I was disappointed in that. I still wonder about the hotel and the owner of it; does it mean anything? (Mainly because of the elderly residents they picked up that didn't have family/money. Then, later, paying for them to live in an assisted living facility. At least I'm assuming the owner is doing that. There wasn't an explanation.)
From the Sookie books: Quinn and Barry make appearances.
Kathy N. (addicated-to-reading) reviewed Day Shift (Midnight, Texas, Bk 2) on + 150 more book reviews
Another series from Charlaine Harris and I liked it even better than the Sookie Stackhouse books. As you can expect with Harris books nothing is entirely as it seems. This one has a witch, vampire, psychic, and other characters that are more than meets the eye. It's part mystery, part fantasy and altogether entertaining. Harris does it again and I recommend it for anyone who liked her other series.
