MURDER ON THE MIND: There aren't a lot of books set in my home town of Buffalo, NY so I was terribly excited when the ladies The Cozy Chicks for bringing brought it to my attention. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I was hoping it wasn't going to portray Buffalo in a bad light. This is a touchy issue for me, as I'm a proud Buffalonian. We get enough bad press on our own (sports, economy, snow, etc.).

It was actually kind of strange reading about a fictional killer in my own town. There were fictional places juxtaposed on real places, making it kind of jarring for me to read. However, if you aren't overly familiar with the Buffalo area, I'm sure it wouldn't disturb you in the slightest. Both Jeff and Richard have just moved back to the Queen City for different reasons and both of them have bitter memories of their different but equally difficult childhoods in Buffalo. Neither of them is thrilled to be back, but they slowly learn that Buffalo isn't as bad as they remember (I loved Brenda's line, "Richard, you never told me there's a ton of great stuff to do in Buffalo."). While Jeff and Richard are relearning the city, they are also trying to reconnect with each other. But it's hard to get beyond their childhood grudges when Jeff's insistent that his head injuries have caused him to start having psychic visions ...and those visions are pulling all of them into the middle of a murder investigation.

L.L. Bartlett wastes no time jumping into the mystery of it all. It caught me a little off guard. The mystery is interesting. The reader is not tasked by trying to figure out the culprit but by how Jeff will prove his visions, thus proving to his half-brother he's not crazy and catching a murderer. I'm not sure it was entirely plausible that Jeff wasn't arrested on several occasions for obstruction of justice at least, but it was easily forgiven because the story was intriguing. Little by little we learn what drove the brothers apart. Richard takes a leap of faith, Jeff learns to trust and let go. And the reader learns what motivates a murderer.

In a way, this is sort of the male counterpart to Heather Webber's Lucy Valentine series, which I adore. Although the lack of plot exposition at the beginning was surprising, I enjoyed the way Ms. Barrett wove it into the story instead. Some family secrets are revealed, and I'm sure there are more to come. I found all of Ms. Bartlett's characters fascinating and I want to get to know them a little better. I'm particularly curious about Sophie, a minor character that floats in and out of Jeff's new found life as an investigating psychic. I can't wait to see where each of the characters decides to go from here, as they all seem to have a grasp on what they want out of life ...for now.

This will be a fun, light mystery series for me, I think, especially once I get used to reading about my home town. I look forward to starting book two of the Jeff Resnick series, Dead in Red]. In fact I'm moving it closer to the top of my TBR pile right now.

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DEAD IN RED: I really enjoy this series from L.L. Bartlett, and not just because it's set in my home town of Buffalo, NY. Actually, that part is a little distracting for me, especially the juxtaposition of real places with the ones Ms. Bartlett has created for her story and the repurposing of buildings and places as something else entirely. Honestly, if your aren't from the area, or only vaguely familiar with it it wouldn't bother you, but every so often it disrupts the narrative for me. Occasionally, it cracks me up, like the outrageous number of drag clubs she has added to our city, or the fact that she has single handedly increased the crime rate in Amherst, NY which is considered among the 'safest cities in America'.

What I love about the series, is that it's a nice light mystery without being cozy. Not that cozies and heavy crime novels don't have a place, I adore both, but sometimes you just want to fall into something easy. The characters are interesting and in Dead in Red, we get a little more character development. Jeff is finding his way again as he recovers from his life altering injuries and it's nice to see him strike out on his own a little. There wasn't as much drama between he and his half-brother Richard, just a whole lot of guilt which causes some bickering. I love the way Ms. Bartlett keeps the reader guessing, the mysteries are never what you would expect, which is a huge accomplishment.

I have already purchased the next two books in this series, and am happily adding them to my TBR pile. They are great reads to have laying around.

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