Sky High (A Nicki Valentine Mystery Book 2) - Susan O'Brien

Single mom and rookie P.I. Nicki Valentine rarely gets time off, so attending a wedding with her superhot colleague Dean sounds dreamy. But things turn nightmarish when the groom—a soon-to-be transplant donor—disappears, and Nicki and Dean commit to a partnership they never planned..

Together, they examine the groom’s unfulfilled promises, including one to his mom, a psychic medium with an unusual health need. As family secrets emerge, Nicki must face questions about her late husband, whose long-ago betrayal still threatens to cloud her judgment..

With support from her pole-dancing best friend, her always-on-call family, and the loves of her life (her two kids—and possibly Dean), Nicki must uncover the groom’s demons while conquering her own.

 

While this book sounded promising, the characters didn't intrigue me enough or pull me into the mystery that was being solved.

 

I also felt like the conclusion was rather random. While the solution to the mystery made a lot of sense, it simply didn't feel like all of the work they had done led to this point. I normally don't mind when I can't solve mysteries with the clues given by the book as I enjoy hearing the detective's progress, but I felt like this was random--I could barely even remember the role the culprit had played.

 

The novel relied at points on a psychic medium to communicate sentiments from the deceased. This detracted from the work that Nicki and Dean were doing in solving the mystery; although the medium was unrelated, it added a supernatural element that wasn't necessary.

 

Nicki's kids seemed at points an afterthought or a trope, and though Nicki seemed like she should be very devoted to them, this didn't quite feel real to me. I wanted to enjoy their presence, but instead they kept feeling like a nuisance and an excuse to talk about how Nicki's friends could babysit.

 

I was a bit confused about Nicki's relationship with Dean. They were supposedly in a relationship but unlike consenting adults they acted like schoolkids who were trying not to show that they had crushes on each other.

 

Some moments were enjoyable. The pole dancing trope especially caused for some amusing moments.

 

Overall, there was just nothing about this book that captivated me or drew me in, and I didn't feel compelled to care about the characters at all.

 

I received a free advance reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.