The Book Diva's Reads

Danielle "Danni" Cafferty leads a very "normal" life as an artist in New Orleans. She's still grieving the death of her father, Angus Cafferty, and is focused on running the family business, an antique and curio shop. Her life is forever changed when Mrs. Gladys Simon enters her shop and wants to give her an antique marble bust. Mrs. Simon states that the bust is evil, responsible for her husband's suicide and she wants it removed from her home. If that wasn't strange enough, Danni must contend with the appearance of Michael Quinn, a private investigator, who informs her that he used to work with her father and he's willing to help her get the bust as it is imbued with evil. Sadly, when Danni and Quinn arrive at Mrs. Simon's home she is found dead of an apparent suicide and the bust is missing. Danni begins to feel as if she's walked into an episode of the Twilight Zone as things go from strange to downright bizarre in their search to find the mysterious bust before more evil is released and more people die.

Let the Dead Sleep is the first in a new series by Ms. Graham. This is a paranormal-mystery-suspense-romance that is shades of the Twilight Zone meets the SyFy channel's Warehouse 13. Danni has inherited more than just her father's store, she has also inherited his sometime partner, Michael Quinn and a mysterious family heirloom called The Book of Truth. Although Danni has some difficulty believing in the so-called "evil" nature of an inanimate object, she quickly becomes a believer after discussions with some of her father's friends. Let the Dead Sleep introduces some interesting characters as Danni and Quinn's support system, such as Father John Ryan, Natasha (a local Voodoo priestess and business owner), Billie McDougall - longtime business associate and friend of Angus Cafferty, Detective Larue of the New Orleans Police Department, and Wolfe - a retired canine police officer. Ms. Graham has crafted another great read with Let the Dead Sleep. The characters are strange, quirky and yet wholly believable. I found Let the Dead Sleep to be a rather fast read and even though I had pretty much guessed the accomplices to the bad guy (no I will not reveal that information, read it for yourself), I still enjoyed this story. If you enjoy mystery-suspense with hints of romance and loads of the paranormal, then you'll definitely want to add Let the Dead Sleep to your reading list.