Synopsis

As San Francisco’s Chinatown prepares for the Lunar New Year festivities in the fogbound month of February, astrologer Julia Bonatti finds herself with three new clients, all in desperate straits who don’t seem to heed her advice. Tracy is the victim of a brutal husband with nowhere to run and Jeanette is worried sick about her son, whom she suspects has fallen in with a bad lot.

But most frightening of all to Julia is Frankie Chang’s dilemma. Frankie’s only eleven years old and he’s terrified. His mother is missing and no one will help him. Julia’s heart goes out to him but her hands are tied. Frankie won’t let her talk to the police and neither will his family.

Julia eventually discovers that the three worlds of her clients intertwine. Those lives inevitably collide exposing a dangerous smuggling cabal. Julia knows too much and becomes a victim of both a ruthless environmental group and criminals who will stop at nothing, including murder.

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This book releases on 4/26/22 and will be available to read for Free via Kindle Unlimited

Review

This series has always fascinated me surrounding Julia’s profession, astrology. I don’t know how it all works but I love reading the descriptions of the different houses and how charts intersect and more.

There are three separate storylines that are intriguing on their own but every more engaging once we discover how they intersect with one another. Frankie and his missing mother are probably the primary focus of this cozy. Frankie knows something has happened to his mom, but at 11, I think his father and grandfather think that they can placate him with false truths about where she has gone. Frankie is a spitfire and he is as bad as Julia for putting himself into the middle of dangerous situations. There is one part of the story where I expected something to happen regarding Frankie and I was right. I don’t want to spoil anything so you’ll have to read the book to see if you can figure it out for yourself.

The other two clients were dealing with some tough topics – spousal abuse and smuggling. You can never underestimate the love of a mother for her son and I liked Julia’s advice to her to stay strong and force the conversations. They almost came too late so there was a bit of action that will speed up the heart rate! It also brought the crux of the mystery to a close. I’m always amazed at what the protagonist will uncover on her own because I never seem to be that capable of putting the pieces of the puzzle together. I will say that Julia put herself in harm’s way too many times to count but she was lucky that nothing too bad happened to her.

Another storyline that was incorporated into this book is the death of Julia’s boyfriend, Michael. He was killed years ago but she just decided to read a journal he had sent to her based on a comment from a mutual college friend. The mystery isn’t solved yet, but it opens some doors and left me wondering what could possibly happen next in this journey. I think it was good for Julia to read the journal because it might be the path to closing that chapter in her life.

While you could read this book as a standalone, I think it is best to start at the beginning with Enter A Wizard, Stage Left (prequel), and then The Madness of Mercury.

On a side note, I see that all of the covers have been redone. They are gorgeous and give off the right vibe for this series.

We give this book 5 paws up.

About the Author

With the Zodiac Mysteries, featuring Julia Bonatti, a crime-solving San Francisco astrologer, Connie di Marco has combined her fascination with astrology and her love of writing mysteries.  Writing as Connie Archer, she’s the national bestselling author of the Soup Lover’s Mysteries from Berkley Prime Crime.  You can find her excerpts and recipes in The Cozy Cookbook and The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook.  She is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime.  She lives in Los Angeles but dreams constantly of the San Francisco fog.

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