The Unseen by Heather Graham (Mira)

The pollsters say (but who believes them?) that almost three-quarters of us believe in some form of the paranormal. They also say that almost half of us say we believe in ghosts. Paranormal, then, is normal—or something.
 
I am one who believes. I wear a Santa hat that says "I believe." It's more than belief though. That aside, this book is about ghosts and the author writes with confidence and knowledge, not only about ghosts, but about the San Antonio locale where this novel is set. A Texas Ranger and a US Marshal with paranormal abilities are recruited
to head a team to investigate the remains of eight women. The band of agents with special abilities embark on a macabre journey to catch a serial killer. They must move quickly, as another young woman is missing and may be dead. This current mystery is connected to an occurrence that took place in1835 at the Longhorn Inn in Room #207.

Both US Marshal Kelsey O'Brien and Ranger Raintree have the ability to commune with the dead and both have unusual ability to "see" the dead as they were in life and even to clearly see the last final—and painful—moments. Kelsey is sensitive enough to receive visions of the past when she stands in the locations where powerful psychic events took place. She, herself, is staying at the Longhorn Inn in Room#207, the site of a murder in 1835 when a woman was strangled for refusing to reveal the whereabouts ofa priceless diamond.
 
The connection between that past event and a current situation, namely, another woman who was murdered in that same room less than a year, compels the team of investigators to move as quickly as possible because Raintree and O'Brien also believe that the Longhorn murders are also connected to eight recently uncovered cadavers.
 
Ghosts and the psychic abilities to communicate with the dead provide a rich canvas for this macabre mystery. I find ghostly tales relevant to our human understanding of life and everything. Our spirits go on. Life is eternal. Nothing dies, but only changes form. Ghosts are not, then, irrelevant—or are they ?
 
I found this book to be highly readable and enjoyed the feeling, again, of being freed of constructs that are being questioned more and more. There are tales to be told about the past and not only when murder is involved.
 
—Diane Esterly

FTC Disclaimer—This book was provided by the publisher.