A geologist with an unwanted psychic gift, a man on the run, a dead body and a friend accused of…murder?
Geologist Petra Cloch can touch an object and sense the emotions of the people who’ve held it before. She always saw her paranormal powers as a burden, but they’ve helped her solve several crimes and make friends in her new southwestern small town. Then her landlord, Shelley, introduces a visiting “old friend.” Wayne wants to keep his visit a secret and has recently adopted an energetic dog “for protection.” What is he hiding?
When Petra stumbles over Wayne’s dead body, suspicions quickly turn to murder, with Shelley the prime suspect. Petra and her friends investigate and quickly uncover a slew of suspects, scams and motives. Petra’s psychic abilities alone aren’t enough to reveal the true killer. To clear Shelley, Petra will need all of her cleverness, the help of her found family, some luck, and the dog that seems to have adopted her.
Fans of cozy mysteries with supernatural twists will fall in love with this humorous and heartwarming psychic sleuth.
Opening Scene Excerpt:
“Bye, babies, see you this evening!” I slipped past the cats and out of my house, pausing on the stoop to check that the door had latched properly, since it had been windy enough to pop open doors that appeared closed.
A crashing sound came from behind me. I whipped around to see movement—someone lurking in the bushes by the fence?
Moments later, the lurking turned to prancing as the intruder pushed free of the bushes. A white and brown pit bull or pit bull mix bounded toward me with a silly grin, toes tip-tapping in the dry grass.
A three-foot-high chain-link fence separated my yard from my landlord, Shelley’s. Part of it was now listing into my yard, suspiciously like a fifty-pound bundle of energy had rocketed over it and dragged the section out of alignment.
Shelley had an elderly Saint Bernard, Toby, not a dog anyone would worry about jumping a three-foot fence. This wiggle monster, on the other hand, could easily clear it. Well, maybe not easily, since the dog hadn’t managed it without a certain amount of property damage, but that might have been clumsiness rather than jump height.
I crouched and the pittie climbed into my lap. A quick glance showed that it was in fact a male, not that he would know how I labeled him. As long as I used the right tone of voice, I could address him as Princess or Lady or Miss Sugar Cookie Fancy Pants, and he’d be delighted.
“But how did you get into Shelley’s yard? Are you visiting? Are you lost?”
He whined as if trying to answer my question. He had a collar, but no tags, and looked reasonably healthy. His ribs were visible under the skin, but lined with muscle, like a lean young dog rather than a gaunt starving dog.
After indulging us both with some vigorous cuddling, I rested my hand on the collar. I was getting more comfortable with my psychometry, the ability to touch an object and read emotions left behind by the person who’d used it or held it.
I tried to appreciate it as a useful talent, since it wasn’t a choice. Did having the ability mean an obligation to use it sometimes, to help people? I hadn’t decided, but I’d been practicing for the last few months, in order to learn the parameters of what I could do and to get comfortable with the results. I still didn’t exactly like the experience, but I could generally tolerate it.
And in this case, maybe the collar would tell me something about where the dog belonged.
With the dog collar, I got a tangled sense of sadness, hope, excitement, hunger, curiosity, and the urge to mark things by peeing. Not terribly helpful.
One reason I loved animals was because I generally didn’t get psychometry readings from them. They didn’t wear clothes or jewelry, and the most I’d get from, say, my ferrets’ favorite blanket was a vague sense of lazy contentment. But I was pretty sure the images from the dog’s collar were from the dog, not its owner. I got the sense he’d been in a shelter for a while.
“Poor boy.” Any happiness about being with a new owner was buried under other feelings, which didn’t help me figure out where he belonged. Fortunately, I had a backup plan. I pushed him back and stood up. “Come on, let’s ask Shelley.”
Praise for the Reluctantly Psychic Mystery series:
In the Reluctantly Psychic Mystery series, a quirky loner who can read the history of any object with her touch gets drawn into mysteries at the museum of oddities where she works.Readers praise the Reluctantly Psychic Murder Mysteries:
“This is a brilliant start to a new series from Kris. I found A Stone Cold Murder to be well written. The characters came to life throughout the book. The storyline was easy to follow, believable, and intrigue-and-suspense-filled... I was engaged from the start, and didn't want to put the book down.” – Elaine C. on BookBub
“A Stone Cold Murder by Kris Bock isn’t just a murder mystery—it’s a haunting, immersive experience that blends the supernatural with raw human emotion. As someone who adores crime fiction with a twist, this book grabbed me from the first page and refused to let go.” – Kora B. on GoodReads
“... another very entertaining read from Kris Bock. Death at Rock Bottom takes us to the New Mexico desert, with an interesting protagonist that I really like, and a very intriguing mystery.” ~Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book
“I am really enjoying this series, with its quirky characters, wonderful community, setting, and intriguing plotlines. I am looking forward to seeing what Petra and her friends get up to in the next Reluctantly Psychic story.” ~Carla Loves to Read
“5 stars! The museum crew is back in action, investigating the death of an old friend. I recommend Death at Rock Bottom to cozy mystery readers.” ~Boys' Mom Reads!
In the Accidental Detective humorous mystery series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty.
The Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series stars the employees and customers at a cat café. Watch as they fall in love with each other and shelter cats.
Kris also writes a series with her brother, scriptwriter Douglas J Eboch, who wrote the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama. The Felony Melanie series follows the crazy antics of Melanie, Jake, and their friends a decade before the events of the movie.
Sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter and get short stories from the Reluctantly Psychic and Accidental Detective series plus other freebies. Then every two weeks, you’ll get fun content about pets, announcements of new books, sales, and more.
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