Better Read Than Dead

Psychic Eye Mystery #2

by Victoria Laurie

Word of Abby's talents reading tarot cards has reached a mob boss who wants her help in some business matters and he doesn't take no for an answer. When the police seek out her psychic intuition to shed light on a masked man who's been attacking women, Abby finds herself working both sides of the law on her own, leading her to wonder, why didn't I see this coming?

Genres: Mystery, Paranormal, Cozy Mystery, Romance, Fiction, Chick Lit, Paranormal Mystery

296 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 7, 2005

About the author

Victoria Laurie is the New York Times bestselling author of 32 books and counting. Over the past 16 years Victoria has created several series and a few stand-alone novels. Her mystery series include: The Psychic Eye Mysteries, The Life Coach Mysteries, and The Ghost Hunter Mysteries. She's also the author of two YA books, When and Forever Again, as well as a middle-grade series called The Oracles of Delphi Keep.

Currently, Victoria is working on the 17th book in both the Psychic Eye Mysteries and the 3rd book in the Life Coach Mysteries, along with also working to produce a brand NEW series called Spellbound set for release winter/spring 2020.

Victoria loves to connect with her fans, and you can find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/Victo...

Reviews

[Martina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Odlicna!

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

One thing bothered me about this one. In both books, there is an initial suspect who is not "the guy" but is just a rather pathetic and creepy little man with a pronounced overbite. Different characters, different investigation so why the overbite in both cases? Maybe the author knows a creepy little man with a pronounced overbite but she needs to get a new inspiration if this series is going to carry well through all 7 books. If there's one more creepy loser with a major overbite in this series, it will border on discrimination!

I've also noticed from the author's Thank You's that several other characters are real life individuals she knows. She didn't even change their names. It's one thing to get inspiration from real life friends and family, it's another to make them actual characters in every way, shape and form. Although it assures the characters will be realistic, it suggests the author doesn't know how to come up with good fictional characters, which will be debilitating when it comes to other books and series where she can't keep using the exact same real life characters.

It's disappointing because the first book was SO good and I was so excited to read the rest of this series. I'm not saying I'm giving up on it because everything else about this second book was just as good and I really enjoyed it - I'm just worried about seeing too much repetition in supposedly different characters and the author's ability to come up with fictional but realistic characters.

EDIT TO ADD: I have since been brought to the attention of the author's behavior regarding reviews of her books, which was not only appallingly unprofessional but also resulting in her blogging about how she was now going to use the people she engaged in arguments with in her next book, suggesting it would of course be a negative portrayal. (Read: http://dearauthor.com/features/letter... ). This directly confirms my feelings and suspicions that the author has very little to no creativity regarding her characters and steals directly from people in her life, rather than merely being inspired by them. In light of this, I feel very differently about her books and "characters" - I'm very disturbed to think that everyone she portrayed negatively in her books is a petty, mean spirited, spiteful portrayal of someone she actually knows.

I normally wouldn't necessarily change a rating of a book after discovering an author's unprofessional behavior but this is directly related to the content that goes into the books and therefore is relevant to my ratings so I feel completely justified changing them.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book two in the Psychic Eye Mystery Series. This one starts off where book one ends. I don't want to give anything too juicy away so I will try my best to review with as little spoiler as I can.
So much happens in this book. It was hard to believe it was only 296 pages. I flew this book again like I was hooked on book crack. I loved it. I love Abby Cooper and Love Dutch. I really think Victoria Laurie is one of my new favorite authors. I can't get enough of them right now. In this book you deal with a masked serial attacker and the mob. So YOU KNOW its going to be interesting. Definitely easy chick lit books. If you are wanting a book that is a quick read and one that you aren't going to have to think a whole lot about this is a safe bet.

Here is a summary:
Word of Abby's talents reading tarot cards has reached a mob boss who wants her help in some business matters and he doesn't take no for an answer. When the police seek out her psychic intuition to shed light on a masked man who's been attacking women, Abby finds herself working both sides of the law on her own, leading her to wonder, why didn't I see this coming?

[☆☆Hannah☆☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read. Abby is a psychic and goes to a wedding to do some readings. Things don't go as planned though. Needless to say, the father of the bride is not someone to mess with. On top of all this Abby is dealing with the fallout of her and Dutch. Luckily in the end everyone is able to work together to put the bad guys behind bars.

[Laura (Kyahgirl) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I probably should have abandoned this but stuck it out. Abby’s character was TSTL in so many ways. There are no words.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abby Cooper, the quirky psychic, returns in Better Read Than Dead. Abby´s new boyfriend, Roland ¨Dutch¨ Rivers, has left the Royal Oak Police Department to become an FBI agent, so he´s at Quantico, Virginia, and unavailable. Meanwhile, Abby gets involved with both the police´s search for a violent serial rapist and a mob boss who wants Abby to accept his offer for psychic help.

Author Victoria Laurie infuses Better Read Than Dead with so many thrills that at first I could not decide which I like better: this second novel or the debut, Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye But as I stayed up way too late reading this sequel, I realized that this second novel was even better. Five stars.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great characters, great plot, great mystery = amazing book

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I bought this book, I believed that I was buying the second book in Victoria Laurie Ghoul series. I wasn't into very far when I realize something was wrong. I finished and have given it 5 stars because it deserves it. However, I won't be reading more of this series as I felt the violence and tragic scenes more than I like. I also could tell what would happen as the story progressed. There is nothing new about a bully who uses the gun to enforce his wishes. I seldom make a mistake like this and I will read the 2nd Ghoul book.
Psychic eye Abby Cooper has the ability to read tarot cards and be right. A mob leader discovers her talent and demands she works for him. Abby refuses and the pursuit is on. The story takes several twists and turns as Abby tries to outwit him instead of seeking police help.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mmm...dark. A lot darker than I remember the first book being. I also feel like the story ceases to function like a cozy mystery and instead tries for more...action/thriller/horror? The serial rapist/murderer was actually pretty predictable, but to get "hard proof" the plot leaves the reader in the dark.
I didn't care much for the climax. It seemed to seriously stretch the 'should a psychic lie to her client if he's really really bad' thing unnecessarily far. Further, the reason I appreciated the first book in the series was that while Abby used her psychic abilities to a point, it did not interfere overly much with her detecting ability. Here she seems to use her psychic powers to figure everything out.
I still appreciate how curmudgeonly she behaves, and the way the author manages to keep the romantic tension going. At the same time, the story thrives on "no one can freakin' communicate" drama and I dislike that.
Otherwise, though, didn't care for this one as much as the sequel. I jut noticed this series has 15 books which has also dimmed my enthusiasm. But the third book is readily available at my library sooooo....we'll see if I keep going.

[Lisa Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★★✩ (This is a review of the audiobook.) Okay, you definitely have to suspend belief in this series. There must have been a dozen time when Abby should have gone to the police...99% of the population would have! But then, her not doing so make for many more "Eeep!" moments.

[Sandra Nedopričljivica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baš guštam u ovim knjigama, čak i po drugi put

[Zaza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abby Cooper est de retour, et elle est de nouveau dans les embrouilles jusqu'au cou !
Avec cette héroïne, Victoria Laurie offre une lecture qui fait le combo entre cozy mystery paranormal et romantic suspense, dans la mesure où, pour moi, seuls ses pouvoirs font d'Abby autre chose que la traditionnelle girl next door.

Ici, elle se retrouve impliquée malgré elle avec la mafia grecque, tandis qu'en parallèle elle travaille de nouveau avec la police pour résoudre une sombre affaire d'agression.
Abby est ce genre de nana qui a un coeur en or, toujours prête à rendre service et à venir en aide aux autres, même si elle doit pour cela en payer le prix. Elle en prend vraiment plein la poire dans ce tome, on peut dire que le sort s'acharne particulièrement sur elle, pourtant, elle continue à aller de l'avant et à se battre (enfin bon, elle n'a pas vraiment le choix). J'ai adoré son duo avec Milo, ce flic qui m'avait déjà tapé dans l'oeil dans le tome précédent. Ils ont une super dynamique tous les deux, ils feraient un excellent duo dans une version série télé si ces livres étaient adaptés pour le petit écran.

Et la romance dans tout ça ? Hmm hé bien disons qu'elle est reléguée très loin à l'arrière-plan, mais ça ne m'a vraiment pas dérangée car non seulement, ce n'est vraiment pas l'objet de ces romans, mais en plus, Dutch se comporte comme un vrai abruti la plupart des scènes où il apparaît. titter

Une enquête prenante, une héroïne attachante dotée d'un side-kick (désolée Milo) au top, et ces fameuses scènes où Abby montre toute l'étendue de ses pouvoirs (c'est fascinant, flippant et paraît complètement improbable), sans oublier des rebondissements et des scènes d'action qui vous laissent au bord de votre fauteuil, tels sont les points forts de ce deuxième tome que j'aurai lu avec beaucoup de plaisir !

[Alisi ☆ wants to read too many books ☆ · Rating 1 out of 5]

God, save me from these utterly shitty books. I read this book hoping that it would be better then the last but I honestly feel like it's much worse. That's a bad thing, seeing as the first book was fucking terrible. I skimmed and skipped more in this book than the last.

I hate all the characters but especially the main character. It's like she's a 'tween and it so fucking annoying. I love how the author tried to back peddle that whole 'we can't pick winning lotto numbers because it doesn't work that way' shit. The whole money issues in this book are completely unwarranted -- see as she just proved she could make millions off betting on races and such.

The relationship is terrible. I don't know why he puts up with her. She's a screw. He's doing his job, saving lives and all that. It's like she's some jealous man that can't stand to see any other man talk to his girl. That's totally the vibe I got.

Her relationship to her sister is shameful. I get she wants to be independent and all, but grow the fuck up. Stop thinking about yourself so damn much. People like giving things to their loved ones. So what if she's a billionaire or whatever. Deal with it. Martyring yourself is so fucking annoying.

Oh, but the cherry on this steaming pile of shit is how the author victim blamed his work partner when she was killed. Suddenly, she's a terrible FBI agent. Suddenly, she's not taking enough precautions. My mind seriously came to a complete halt and I thought 'did the author just kill off a character because her immature MC didn't like her?'

Why, yes, I do believe that's the came. I'll never read this author again.

[✴ Cindy ✴ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 3rd time I've read this series and I love it so much. Abby is amazing.

My only complaint is that Dutch said he was going to spank her butt for taking a risk that ended up saving the day. I didn't love that Abby let it slide. It seemed a bit sexist to me. Frankly, if a man said that to me, and it wasn't in a playful... romantic way *wink wink*, I'd spank his ass.

Still love the series though and would recommend it to anyone who loves psychics and mysteries with a love developing between the two main characters that will become deep and abiding.

[Valerie Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sloppy writing, lazy editing. The book could have been half as long if they took out all the unnecessary adverbs, overly detailed descriptions of irrelevant things like every article of clothing she wore or how to exit an airplane. The main character was unlikable and inconsistent, like how she ran screaming from a wedding she was working but sassed a mafia don the first time she met him, and it was vaguely sexist at times despite having been written by a woman. I rated it one star because Goodreads won't let you give zero. 50 points from Slytherin.

[Linda Smatzny · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, psychic Abby Cooper gets caught up with the mob and is trying to help the local police catch a serial rapist. Abby also has major problems with her boyfriend, a FBI agent who is under cover. The book was a fast easy read.

[Heather B · Rating 2 out of 5]

5/23/13
So.... Just to be clear, you're being terrorized by the mob, and instead of telling your FBI boyfriend or cop best friend, you figure you'll just keep quiet and deal with it yourself??? And when your burglar alarm goes off, and the cop who shows up to check it out grudgingly looks around your house, then steals your underwear, you figure the best thing to do is nothing????? Really?

Finished 7/2/13

This is the 2nd book in the Psychic Eye Series by Victoria Laurie, and I'm not sure I'll read any more of them. Her main character, Abby, just makes silly decision after silly decision, and it gets really difficult to suspend disbelief enough to go along with most of them. For example, and there are some minor spoilers here, if your boyfriend is an FBI agent, and his best friend is a local cop, wouldn't you tell one or both of them, if you were being threatened by the mob??? And not veiled threats, either. They sent someone to her house to poison her dog and someone to wreck her car and frame her for the accident. But, no. She tells no one about any of this. She originally got into this mess because she agreed to help her friend Kendall do readings at a wedding after the original psychic backed out. During the wedding, they realized it was a mob wedding, so they got their stuff and ran. Really, that's your solution when you realize you're mixed up with the mob? Take their money and run? Brilliant. How shocking that they wanted their money back and got her mixed up into the rest of this mess.

The narration was ok. Some of it was the narrator (I got tired of hearing drop the final "r"s from words - mirror became mirra, terror became terra, etc.), and some of it was the story. The story is in 1st person; we're in Abby's head. We know if she's telling a lie. We don't need that "liar, liar, pants on fire" when she tells a lie. We know. It's constant, especially when the mob is after you and you're determined to keep it from the cops and FBI agents in your life. It set my teeth on edge every time I heard it. I can understand it when someone tells Abby a lie, and her intuition tells her they're lying, but we do NOT need it every time Abby tells one. There are a lot of repetitive phrases, and I think you notice them more when you're listening to the book. "Liar, liar, pants on fire" and "left side, feeling heavy", "right side, light and airy" over and over.

I also can't understand what was happening with Dutch, the FBI agent, and his new partner. Apparently the new (female) partner is extremely hot, so Abby gets drunk at lunch (from one glass of wine) and proceeds to act like a high schooler who just found her boyfriend eating lunch with the head cheerleader. Not only does she come across as immature and ridiculous, she makes Dutch look stupid, too, in front of a new partner who's also his superior. Abby acts like this every time the partner is even mentioned in conversation. Yes, she's able to psychically find out that the partner does want Dutch, but so what? She also knows Dutch doesn't want her, so where's the dilemma? And instead of telling Dutch how all of this makes her feel, she stamps her foot and says "she started it!" and pouts. I didn't love the way Dutch acted sometimes, I thought he was bullying Abby a lot of the time, but I can't really be on her side, either.

There was also a huge plot hole that bugged the crap out of me, and was never resolved. Spoiler - when Abby and Milo are watching the video of the attack on Cat, they see Cat on the phone talking to Abby, then Cat being attacked, then Cat being rescued. Completely ignoring the fact that her attacker spoke to her before he attacked her, without his mask, while she was on the phone with Abby. Abby heard Cat speaking to him "Oh, it's 11:15. Golly, Abby, men in this city sure are gorgeous", but he's not on the video of the attack. Why? Because Abby would have recognized him and ended that whole story line immediately. So instead, that whole part of the event is just ignored. I can't stand stuff like that.

I don't know if I'll keep going with this series or not. I might give it one more, because I like the concept, but if it's the same, I probably wouldn't go beyond that.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* · Rating 4 out of 5]

As good as the first - based on a re-read. The mob boss was deplorable and a bit more could have been done with some of those characters to make it spicier, but having them black and white bad did lend a push to the storyline. The ending was a twist where she gets to bring out some of her dark side with her psychic abilities, and I don't blame her a bit. She also gets to toy with a detective in an interrogation room. These add to the dimensions of her ability and keep them layered and interesting.

Mixed thoughts on the Dutch thing - how clueless was he at lunch? I'm glad to see we have Milo back but already miss Dutch being in his former position. Their relationship is still in the fragile opening stages but I'm not connecting with him fully yet as a love interest. Milo stood out as a great character and I hope we see a lot of him in future books. I'm curious on how police interaction will work in the future with the small town and all the notice she must be gathering. The scene where Milo comforts her when she's wanting to completely throw in the towel after she believes her misinterpretation of a vision cost a human life was potent stuff that keeps this series varied in its emotional depth and well-done.

Abby is a delight, especially with her quick tempter. "F-B-Iam a Whore" saying had me laughing. There were several scenes of strong humor in the book, including her and her friend when they realized what kind of wedding they were reading for and rushing out of there. I was almost picturing a comedy hour between those two, which didn't end when they went to the house and found a partner in a compromising position.

Her jealousy made her even funnier and I like how the author gives her realism with worries, insecurities, and genuine fear that makes her run the other way temporarily if needed like more non-paper-people would actually do.

The mystery is well done with genuine tension, clues leading them all over, several key players, a viciousness of attack - highly recommended.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy this author. I started out with the Ghost Hunter series and did enjoy those books very much. I was disappointed to find I had read all the books currently out. So, I decided to start this series, even though it was not quite in the same vein. It did not disappoint.

I am really enjoying the life of Abby Cooper, the clairvoyant, intuitive psychic. While she has special talents, I find her very human. Of course, she is human – she is not magical, just psychic. However, I find her very down to earth, though she has talents most of us don’t seem to possess. She has her faults, but she strives to be a good person and help if she can.

She also has moxey. I can’t believe how she stands up to a mob boss in this book. I’d be a quivering pile of jelly. I really don’t think I’d be as strong as she is.

At the same time, she is just so easily provoked to jealousy and stupid behavior with her significant other – a former cop and now recent FBI recruit and trainee. He really doesn’t help matters though. He is often insensitive in his dealings with Abby – opening mouth and inserting foot before thinking. But instead of annoying me (well, maybe a little), I find them both endearing.

I really look forward to the next read.

[Trish · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first book was good and made one think the series was promising, but in the second book the protagonist - Abby - is the most annoying and immature person imaginable. The characters are flat, apparently don't have any other purpose for existing than to do something for Abby, which is exactly as Abby treats them. I stopped reading after she had the dream and called Milo at 4 am, (incredibly selfish and inconsiderate) and then later pages hims non-stop every minute @ 7am to 7:20am. How incredibly annoying an impolite! As if a police detective couldn't possibly be busy with other things. When confronted with this, instead of apologizing, she says that Milo asked her to call back at 7. Which he didn't. He said to call in 3 hours, after being inconsiderately awoken in the middle of the night for something which CLEARLY could have waited. I'm going to conclude that Abby is a childish narcissist. Also, the author is immature in her character formation. All "good" characters are good-looking and well groomed, and all "bad" characters are ugly and poorly groomed. Because we all know life is that simple. What an effing waste of my time!

[Liisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second in The Psychic Eye Mystery series by Victoria Laurie, "Better Read than Dead" doesn't disappoint!!

It's another page-turning thriller! Filled with twists and turns, it kept me engrossed and entertained (and a smidge scared!). I LOVED IT!

Abby Cooper is a psychic intuitive working out of a small office in Royal Oak, Detroit. "Better Read than Dead" sees the return of many beloved characters from the first book ("Abby Cooper: Psychic Eye") including her super hot boyfriend "Dutch", his (ex)partner Milo, her sister Cat, her handy-man Dave and her beloved pooch Eggy.

What starts out as repaying a favour sees Abby become embroiled with a mob boss and sees her life unravel as everyone close to her is in danger. Thrown into the mix there is a violent serial rapist on the loose in Royal Oak and Abby's talents are called upon by the police to help find this madman!

I cannot wait to read the next installment in the life of Abby Cooper.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Psychic Eye mystery series and it was just as good as the first was. In this book, Abby is doing a favor for a friend and working as a tarot card reader at a wedding reception. When a client comes in and her psychic guides are telling her that he's a killer she realizes she's attending a mob wedding. As Abby tries to deal with her professional problems she is also trying to deal with her new relationship with Dutch. He's back from Quantico and working for the FBI, but he also has a brand new partner that Abby has to accept.

This was another good mystery novel, with a bit of the paranormal thrown in. I liked the way Abby's abilities come to the forefront in this one, and I find it interesting how there are both skeptics and believers in the police department.

[Barbara ★ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I realized long ago that when reading cozy mysteries I needed to forget about reality and common sense in order to enjoy these cutesy books. In real life, these women would get themselves killed while in books they are klutzy heroines. Case in point, if someone from the mob is harassing you, wouldn't you go to your FBI boyfriend or your cop friend? Why in the world did Abby try to deal with the mob on her own? Well because where would the plot be without the mafia scare.

I like the characters of Abby, Milo and Dutch. I liked the way Abby and Milo interact. It's nice that someone in the police department actually believes Abby is really psychic. However, Dutch was absent pretty much the entire book and Abby and I both missed him.

I will definitely be continuing this series.

[Glenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun mystery series with a psychic as the main character. I liked the second one even better than the first

[Toshokan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Encore une fois Abby aura fort à faire.

On vit à cent à l’heure ce roman. Nous avons deux intrigues en parallèle qui s’imbriquent fortement. J’ai adoré comment l’héroïne va résoudre ces deux enquêtes. Son don est vraiment très précis et l’auteure joue sur les interprétations des sensations.

J’ai aussi trouvé que l’enquête était plus intense que dans le premier tome car à plusieurs reprises Abby se retrouve sur le fil du rasoir mais elle tire à merveille son épingle du jeu, même si cela semble sans solution à certains moments.

Cette lecture m’a captivé du début à la fin. J’aurais aimé plus voir la romance entre Dutch et Abby mais elle avance tout de même.
J’ai aussi apprécié qu’on ne finisse pas sur un cliffhanger, ce qui permettra d’inattendue sereinement la suite des aventures de notre médium hors du commun.

C’est donc un grand oui pour moi et je vous recommande chaudement cette série…

[Luseride · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abby Cooper has to pay back a favor to a psychic friend, doing readings at a wedding. What she does not know at first is this is a mob wedding.  After leaving in a hurry Abby is forced to read for the mob boss, who is dying, in order to protect herself and her family and friends.  Luckily Dutch is there to help her out and he and Milo come up with a plan to help Abby save the day. 
A bit edgier than the first book which means sometimes you have to step away for a moment or two before diving right back in.

[Tiffany Champion · Rating 3 out of 5]

The start of this had me very excited and looking forward to continuing my journey with Abby and Dutch. I started to get a little concerned in the middle with the large amount of thriller/mystery and all the blatant disregard for common sense by the main character. The ending brought me back to neutral ground though.

I am willing to give book 3 a chance-fingers crossed I enjoy this continuation!

[Jessica Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a cool book. Funny. Suspenseful. Clever. Sweet. I don’t read much mystery, so kinda hard for me to fully enjoy the crime and how horrible some of the people and things happening are , but a great book regardless. I will definitely be reading more of this series.

[Teresa Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is about the level of intellectualism I can handle after working from home and helping kids navigate online schooling. Perfect pablum for the brain.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this one. Abby is a professional psychic and is very good at her job, when she ends up accidentally involved with the local Greek mafia, she needs more than her skills to stay one step ahead of them.