Divining Murder by GM Cameron

A woman is found murdered in a ritualistic way, and the police have very information to go on.  The victim, a middle aged woman who left her husband to start a mysterious new life is found in an alley in Glasgow with multiple stab wounds.   Shortly after the murder, Andromeda (Annie to her friends)  spies a man at a Glasgow train station whose aura is clearly evil.  After leaving an anonymous tip for the police, they trace the tip back to her, and with no other information to go on, begin to investigate what she saw.   It soon becomes apparent that Annie is the key to unraveling the mystery and stopping a man bent on evil.

I’m a sucker for paranormal mysteries, and I’m a sucker for Scottish mysteries, so I had pretty high expectations just from reading the blurb.  And it was (for the most part) an excellent mystery, with a taut plot, great characters and lots of magic.

The plot was really well done; a great premise that grew and spiraled as the book went on, wth an action packed ending.  I liked that there were actually 3 teams working on the mystery separately, it was  a great way to integrate new information.  So there was Annie and her friends,  the victim’s ex-husband, friend and her sister (who is a nun) plus the police.  And – you won’t believe this –  every time the amateurs found out new information they – get ready for this – called the police and told them of their findings!  Amazing, right?

I really enjoyed all the characters, from bohemian Annie to angsty punker Doll to soft-hearted thug Mick, they were a likable crew.  I have to say, out of all the characters, the cops were the most confusing to me.  I lost track of who was who, outside of Angela and Donnelly.

What kept me from rating this 5 stars (because it really was a great book) was a couple of things.  For one, it was predictable.  I knew what was going to happen at the end before I was a third of the way through the book.  I kept reading, hoping I was wrong but no, it’s like I’m psychic or something.  Also, this book went on way too long, a little editing would’ve tightened up the story and made it a lean, mean, mystery machine.

Overall, a great mystery and perfect for anyone who loves Tartan Noir or witches or magic.

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