Book Review: Fortune Cookie

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Fortune Cookie     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Joanne Meyer
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Amateur Sleuth   Romantic Suspense   Supernatural
Kensington, March 2004, $12.95, 320 pp.

After living in France for two years with Jean Paul, Rosie realized that he was cheating on her and only needed her for financial support. She returns to New York, goes back to school, and for the last four years, she has worked as a legal assistant for well renowned lawyer Grace Osborne. Rosie is a clairvoyant who wakes up with the feeling that there is trouble on the horizon. When Rosie gets to work Grace, who is always at the office first, fails even to show up. This never has happened before and Rosie has visions of Grace tied up in the basement of a house.

She calls the firm’s private investigator Mike Bartel for help and he accepts her worries and psychic powers, taking them very seriously. The ex-NYPD detective files a formal missing person’s notice and has Rosie find out who might have had a grudge against Grace. There are plenty of suspects from a client’s ex-husband to a former lawyer friend but even when they save her, the case is not over because the culprit remains free and gunning for her two rescuers.

Combine a paranormal amateur sleuth mystery with a humorous chick lit romance and one will understand what the FORTUNE COOKIE is all about. The thirtyish protagonist learns how to trust again thanks to the sexy private detective and declares her independence from her mother who wants to see her married. The mystery itself is well structured and complex enough to keep readers guessing whom the villain of the piece really is. Joanne Meyer has written a refreshingly original who-done-it with no lemons. It has cross-genre appeal and readers will walk away from this book very happy.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner