Friday, January 7, 2011

A Touch of Gold-Joyce and Jim Levane

A Touch of Gold
Joyce and Jim Levane
Berkley, Mar 1 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425240243

On the Outer Banks of North Carolina in the island town of Duck lives Mayor Dae O’Donnell. Besides being the village’s mayor she is also has the gift of finding things for people. Her psychic power works by her picturing in the client’s what is lost leading to her tracking the location.

The island is filled with legends about Theo Burr who was sailing to her father Aaron. The ship either sank during a storm or Theo was killed by a pirate. The Duck Historical Museum curator Max Caudle believes Theo lived her life on the island and has a wooden chest full of gold that he believes proves his theory. Someone shoots a cannon ball at the museum destroying the structure, killing Max and injuring Dae and others who were near the edifice during the assault. Following the homicide, the culprit tries to burn down the late Max’s home. Dae applies her psychic gift to see the history of certain objects so she can follow the leads to the killer, but struggles to control the intensity of the visions. Even with former FBI agent and tentative boyfriend Kevin Brickman at her side, a killer waits for the right moment to cause a special election for the mayor of Duck.

Due to the interwoven details of life on a small Carolina barrier island, A Touch of Gold feels realistic as residents know one another and at rimes squabble with each other. Paranormal amateur sleuth fans will enjoy observing Dae use cognitive and ESP mental processes to uncover a murderer who will kill again to insure achieving the goal. Readers will enjoy Team Levane’s second Dae in a life of a Duck tale (see A Timely Vision).

Harriet Klausner

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