Give the Devil His Due: A Tarot Mystery

Good Day!  I am featuring A Tarot Mystery series by Steve Hockensmith today.  It contains The White Magic Five and Dime, Fool Me Once, and Give the Devil His Due.  

Give the Devil His Due by Steve Hockensmith with Lisa Falco is the third book in A Tarot Mystery series.  Alanis McLachlan is a former con artist who now runs The White Magic Five and Dime.  One afternoon a man comes into the shop and Alanis is suspicious that he may be a cop.  She ends up giving him a reading and sending him on his way.  Then an older gentleman enters and asks to use the restroom.  Alanis is then shocked when she sees Biddle walk in.  She had presumed he was dead especially since she has not seen him in thirty years.  Alanis knows that Biddle must have an agenda if he is returning now (after her mother passed away).  After agreeing to meet Biddle for drinks, Alanis goes searching for the older man.  He has disappeared, and he did not leave by the front entrance.  After making sure her half-sister, Clarice is taken of for the evening, Alanis heads out to meet Biddle (she is trying to keep Clarice and Biddle apart).  On her way home, a car tries to run her over not once, but twice.  The next morning, Detective Daniel Burby of the Berdache Police Department arrives.  He wants to question her about the man she gave a reading to the previous afternoon.  He was found dead in a hotel parking lot with her card in his pocket.  Alanis has a feeling that everything that has happened in the last twenty-four hour relates to the reason Biddle has suddenly returned to her life. Alanis needs to find out who is behind these incidents before they come after her sister.

Give the Devil His Due is a jam packed with activity (there was just one thing after another).  There are more players in the book than in a three-ring circus (at least it felt like it).  I was not a fan of the characters.  I could not like them or care what happened to them.  Give the Devil His Due is the third book in the series, and it is best to read the book in order.  If you try to start the series with Give the Devil His Due, you will be confused (especially in the beginning).  I found this book difficult to get through.  The pace was slow and the way it was written was not enjoyable.  There are several tarot card readings in the book and each card is explained (along with their possible meanings).  I rate Give the Devil His Due 2 out of 5 stars.  The author tried to make the mystery complicated, but I thought it was a cinch to solve.  One detail stood out and provided the answer to the whodunit.  I found information to be repeated frequently throughout.  I do want to warn readers that there is an extensive amount of foul language in Give the Devil His Due (which is abnormal for cozy mysteries).  A Tarot Mystery series is just not the right fit for me.

Thank you for visiting and may you have a terrific Thursday.  I will be sharing Lizzie's Daughters by Rosie Clark on Friday.  Take care and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader