Tag: mystery

Renee began the #ThrowbackThursday meme on her blog, “It’s Book Talk“ to share some of her old favorites as well as to share books published over a year ago. Hopefully, you’ll find either a story or author that interests you and you’ll check them out. And, if you’d like to join the fun, you’re welcome to use Renee’s pic from her website. (Just provide the link back to her please).

This week I am highlighting Terri Reid, another terrific, prolific author who wrote Loose Ends, Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery series book 1, which I reviewed on Goodreads. She has actually written twenty in this series, but has published additional series. This novel was self-published on August 1, 2010. She consistently runs approximately 4.0+ stars for any of her books sold on Amazon and her story is as fascinating as her books. She released book 20 of this series, Clear Expectations, on November 27, 2017.

Originally posted July 8, 2015

Book Blurb:

Dying is what changed Mary O’Reilly’s life. Well, actually, coming back from the dead and having the ability to communicate with ghosts is really what did it. 

Now, a private investigator in rural Freeport, Illinois, Mary’s trying to learn how to incorporate her experience as a Chicago cop and new-found talent into a real job. Her challenge is to solve the mysteries, get real evidence (a ghost’s word just doesn’t hold up in court), and be sure the folks in town, especially the handsome new police chief, doesn’t think she’s nuts.

Twenty-four years ago, a young woman drowned in the swimming pool of a newly elected State Senator. It was ruled an accident. But now, as the Senator prepares to move on to higher positions, the ghost of the woman is appearing to the Senator’s wife.
Mary is hired to discover the truth behind the death. She unearths a connection between the murder and the disappearance of five little girls whose cases, twenty-four years later, are still all unsolved. As she digs further she becomes the next target for serial killers’ quest to tie up all his loose ends.

My Review:

Obviously, Terri Reid has a winner in her Mary O’Reilly paranormal series as she’s written 15 of them successfully. I can see why. I greatly enjoyed Mary with her ghostly characters popping in and out on her, although Bradley channeling through her might have stretched the imagination a bit much. Still, it’s a ghost story–who’s to know? (Only thing I didn’t enjoy was the formatting.)

A former crack Chicago cop up for detective, Mary is killed in the line of duty and resuscitated back to life with the ability to see ghosts who are drawn to her looking to help them move into the next dimension. Most are stuck between worlds because of an unnatural death.

Mary moves out of Chicago to small town Freeport to begin anew, where Bradley comes in as Chief of Police who is also creating a new rural life and has a secret of his own. Her best buds, Stanley and Rosie, provide great sub-characters that add dimension to the story as well as police chief Bradley, who is so contrary, he’ll end up a love interest.  Mary is called on to help solve the mystery of the death of a senator’s lover whose ghost is now invading their reconciled lives and discovers it is chronologically related to the disappearance of five little girls.

The dialogue is snappy and sometimes humorous and there is plenty of interaction between characters in a plot that moves along nicely and keeps you reading. I was hooked with book 1 that kept to the paranormal mystery genre, but not so favorably with book 10 where it turned romancy, planning her wedding.

I received the book through a BookBub offer. Love those free BookBub offers, they very seldom disappoint!

(Amazon Author Page) Terri Reid has been telling ghosts stories since she was a toddler. Her mother tells of a time when two-year-old Terri would sit in her highchair, look past her mother into the dark back porch and say, “Look. Man.” When her mother would turn in horror, Terri would laugh delightedly.

Terri lives in the same area of the United States as her Mary O’Reilly character, Northwest Illinois. She lives on five acres of rolling land in a 100-year-old farmhouse, with her husband, children, dogs, cats and several dozen chickens (well, the chickens live in the barn.)

Her background is in marketing and public relations, but she has always enjoyed telling stories. For a while, she worked as a freelance journalist for the local paper and wrote the Halloween feature for many years, collecting as many local ghost stories as she could. She gave her collection of local ghost stories to the local historical society to use as a fundraiser, they are now in their third printing.

(Goodreads Author page) Terri Reid is the author of the Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mysteries. An Indie author, Reid uploaded her first book “Loose Ends” in August 2010. By the end of 2012, “Loose Ends” had sold over 82,000 copies and, as of the writing of this bio, was the number one bestselling book in Amazon’s ranking of Ghost Stories in the Book/Literature & Fiction/Genre Fiction/Horror/Ghosts section and the number two in the same area in the Kindle eBooks section. She has eight other books in the Mary O’Reilly Series and has enjoyed Top Rated and Hot New Release status for many of them in the Women Sleuths category through Amazon US. Her books have been translated into Spanish and Portuguese and are also now also available through CreateSpace and Amazon in print versions. She is also working on an audiobook for “Loose Ends.”

Reid has been quoted in a number of books about the self-publishing industry including “Let’s Get Digital” by David Gaughran and “Interviews with Indie Authors: Top Tips from Successful Self-Published Authors” by Claire and Tim Ridgway. She was also honored to have some of her works included in A. J. Abbiati’s book “The NORTAV Method for Writers – The Secrets to Constructing Prose Like the Pros.” She has also had the distinct privilege of guest blogging for Joe Konrath.

Reid is from Northwest Illinois, near the town of Freeport, the home of her fictional characters. Her background is in marketing and public relations. She is married, is the mother of seven children and the grandmother of eleven. Her constant writing companions are Riley, a Bernese Mountain Dog-Golden Retriever mix; Hans, a German Shepard mix; and McDuff, a Siamese cat.

Check out the other members of Throwback Thursday to see what classics they are highlighting this week. 

More Throwback Thursday Blogs

Renee at Its Book Talk

Jill at Jill’s Book Cafe

Rebecca at The Book Whisperer

Lynne at Fictionophile

Sam at Clues and Reviews

Holly B at Dressedtoread

Deanna at DeesRadReads and Reviews

Amanda at Literary Weaponry

Annie at The Misstery

Mischenko at Read Rant Rock and Roll

Laurie at Cozy Nook Books

Ann Marie at LItWitWineDine

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