Review: Now You See Her

Regina Cutter, now divorced from her husband, is living in the Barlow Square area of Boston, in a house she has inherited from her aunt. However, she has also managed to inherit a paranormal ability, which is soon in demand, when a realtor friend asks her to hunt down ghosts in the Back Bay and Detective Frank Devaney wants her help with an old murder. However, as any mystery fan will know, old murder is always linked to new problems.

‘Now You See Her’ is a distinctly odd novel. There are various references to past events and characters, leading me to assume that this was the second or third novel in a series. However, it is the first episode, suggesting that there is plenty of back-story for Tishy to return to and flesh out. However, this does make some of the references confusing, as the reader would like to know more about what has gone on in Cutter’s past.

The novel is written in the first person and the present tense, the latter of which is one of my pet hates. This is not to say that the book is badly written, in fact Tishy does a good job of allowing Regina Cutter’s thoughts to pervade the text. As a character, she feels human. Her real triumph is her descriptions of the Boston area. They felt realistic and interesting, and one could easily visualize the Back Bay.

In terms of plotting, however, the novel felt weak. One of the characters continuously quotes from Dante’s ‘Inferno’, which soon becomes grating and unnecessary. Some of the plot developments are interesting, but ultimately, they failed to grab my attention and keep me interested. The plot relies heavily on coincidence, which is disappointing in that the premise of the book is a woman with a paranormal gift, playing at being a detective. Cutter’s paranormal abilities ought to have much more prominence in the text, but instead they appear on limited occasions. The denouement also left me cold, as it seemed unlikely and unconvincing.

Cecelia Tishy is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of American Literature at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. I am, therefore, surprised that the quality of ‘Now You See Her’ is not higher. It will be interesting to see what fans of her Kate Banning series think of this title.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Luke Croll - RAM

Book Review: Now You See Her