A BRITISH COZY TO DIE FOR
With just a hint of the paranormal… her no other genre investigator does—the mysterious ability to see a death-predicting aura over the people around her. And she just can’t help but help them avoid the unthinkable—at all costs.
Now available as one complete box set, this irresistible murder mystery series is sure to be a treat for international suspense armchair travelers that like their cozy female sleuths smart, savvy, and a tad psychic. Think traditional British mystery with a metaphysical twist.
THE AURA
Life spins out of control for Kate Benedict when she sees a dancing aura above certain people’s heads that seems to signal death. Suddenly she’s psychic. But that can’t be! Psychic’s not acceptable in her circle, where the supernatural is strictly for the superstitious. And yet…people are dying. People close to her.
Kate’s tentative attempts to talk about her new-found metaphysical gift are met with eye rolls, so much so that she can’t even tell the nice Scotland Yard detective who’s investigating the death of a close friend, Rebecca Williams. And now Rebecca’s neighbor has an aura.
DOUBLE BLIND
Two politicians and her best friend have the death-predicting auras London architect Kate Benedict can see despite her most fervent wishes. She’s had the dubious gift for a year now, and suddenly there’s no longer any ignoring it.
But the only way to get to the two pols is via her old friend, DCI Clarke; yet her warnings go unheeded. Her frustration builds when her best friend, Anita, refuses to believe in the auras’ existence as well —even when one appears over Anita’s boss in the hospital where she works. And then Anita develops her own aura.
THE FLORENTINE CYPHER
What began as a quiet Friday night dinner date with an old childhood friend turns into a manhunt when Kate arrives at the rendezvous just in time to find her friend Ethan leaving in a taxi. Kate is alarmed to see the distinctive swirling pattern above his head. When Ethan’s disappearance is followed by a series of cryptic text messages, Kate goes looking for him at his sister’s house in Florence, but it’s immediately clear that whatever danger threatened Ethan in London has followed Kate to Italy—his sister Claire has a matching aura! Soon Kate and Claire are on the run, constantly watched and followed,repeatedly threatened and attacked … never knowing who they can trust.
THE SCOTTISH CONNECTION
Kate is off to a glamorous weekend party in Scotland at the formerly grand castle belonging to the uncle of her boyfriend Josh. But the festive occasion turns solemn when Kate notices an aura above the head of Josh’s beloved Uncle Fergus. Blessed – or cursed – with the ability to see auras that indicate that death is imminent, Kate can sometimes avert disaster –if she can discover the source of the danger. Otherwise, Josh’s favorite uncle will die in a matter of days.
Thus is the scene set for a deliciously traditional British cozy with a touch of the paranormal thriller – complete with ghostly characters from the past; the requisite medieval weapons collection; and a creepy, ruined, closed-off wing of the castle. There’s also a vaguely menacing assortment of servants and locals and a castleful of dodgy house guests, all wrapped up in mysterious gloom as thick as the Scottish fog… but warmed by a cozy library fire and a nearly priceless collection of single malt scotches.
more
Kate Benedict is in Tuscany visiting her father when she sees the ghost of her recently deceased mother. Shortly after that Kate begins to see rippling air, a sort of aura, above the heads of some people. And then Kate realizes that the aura signifies that someone is going to die; the faster the aura spins, the sooner the person will die. The first book, The Aura, is mainly about how Kate comes to accept her gift/curse, and then how she tries to eliminate the danger to save the person’s life. Although the aura is a paranormal manifestation, these Kate Benedict novels are good, solid mystery stories containing good, solid detective work. The second book, Double Blind, has a medical focus. Kate sees an aura over her best friend, medical resident Anita’s head as well as the head of Anita’s supervisor Dr. Reid. Double blind refers to a research procedure used to determine the efficacy and safety of new drugs. The third book, The Florentine Cypher, begins with the disappearance of Ethan, Leo’s best friend. (Leo is Kate’s brother.) Kate joins Ethan’s sister Claire in trying to find Ethan free him from his kidnappers, and solve a coded message that will lead to very valuable stolen art. The final book, The Scottish Connection, focuses on Josh’s Uncle Fergus and the aura Kate finds swirling around Fergus’ head when Kate and Josh arrive for a birthday party in Scotland. These four books, though vastly different from one another, are well written, cleverly plotted, and interesting to read. I’m off now to find more books in the series!
Congratulations on the very low amount of errors.
I especially enjoyed The Scottish Connection set in a castle. By the end, there was a surfeit of suspects. But intrepid Kate finally exposed both culprits.
Kate Benedict is a worthy heroine. She is strong and clever. A very entertaining series.
These were best for the way she painted her locations. The lead character was believable and likeable. I read them all.
I normally won’t read a series, I will read the first book and move on. But the characters were well developed and the mystery had just enough of a twist that I couldn’t figure out the ending ahead of time! I looked forward to starting each new book!
Books I could not put down. Well written. Enjoyed the characters and the situations they got into. Had not read any other with characters who saw auras. Can’t wait to find more books by this author.
Great page turning stories.
Excellent book!
It both entertained me and scared me. I read at night before going to sleep which meant it scared me even more. You just never know what’s going to happen next! Whether you believe or not, you are fully entertained!
Fun series! I hope there are more!
I really enjoyed it
Excellent books still on book 2
Carrie Bradford is a superlative writer who has a new twist on the standard murder mystery: can Kate Benedict, a mild-mannered London architect, find out why a person is marked for death in time to stop the tragedy from occurring? Detailed descriptions bring everyday and foreign settings to life as believable characters navigate their daily routines through uncharted paranormal waters.
Best mysteries I’ve read in a long time!!
Luckily I purchased all four of the series. Could not stop reading. NEED MORE Kate and characters/stories from the author!
I had the pleasure of reading “The Kate Benedict Mystery Series: Books 1-4” by Carrie Bedford and could not put the books down until I finished all of them. I am sure other readers will enjoy them just as much as I have. In Book 1, “The Aura”, Kate Benedict, a talented young architect in a prestigious architect consulting firm in England, has an accident after her mother dies and suddenly realizes that she can see the air over a person’s head dancing up and down in waves. She figures out that if the air dances above the person’s head, that the person will die soon. The speed at which the air moves tells her how quickly the death will occur. Kate also sometimes sees a ghost. One such ghost, a nun, helps her understand her “gift”. Her vision of another ghost, that of an ancient young girl who is being stabbed to death by someone dressed as a monk, helps her solve a mystery when she is in Scotland. Kate calls what she sees an “aura” and finds out that she now sees different people’s auras wherever she goes. She learns the necessity of ignoring most of them. Kate also learns that sometimes she can even prevent the death of someone who has an aura by figuring out what is happening in that person’s life and manipulating the possible cause of death. Kate works with Josh, another architect, and they eventually become lovers. Her boss Alan gets very upset whenever she has to take time off from work, even if it is to attend her own mother’s funeral in Italy, and constantly threatens to fire her but never does. Kate finds out that she must be careful whom she tells about the auras because people listen and then initially think something is mentally wrong with her. Josh has a hard time believing her until he realizes the auras are real. Her brother Leo also has a hard time believing her until he realizes that the aura above his young son’s head had to be real. Even Inspector Clark, the inspector she meets when her friend Rachel is murdered, finally realizes that she sees something after she is involves herself in the attempted murder of the British Prime Minister. In “Double Blind”(Book 2), “The Florence Cypher”(Book 3), and “The Scottish Connection”(Book 4), the author Carrie Bedford takes us out of England to other countries where we join Kate as she tries to help the people above whom there are auras. She investigates murders and/or kidnappings, with each intrigue as exciting or maybe even more exciting than the one before it. She gets so involved in helping the people with auras that we worry if she will survive. Readers will spend as much of their time following Kate Benedict as I have and will join me in looking forward to another Kate Benedict Mystery Book.
These books are not your normal paranormal, nor are they normal cozy mysteries. Some cozy mysteries have very thin rationale for having the protagonists interfere with police investigations, which makes it hard for me to commit to the stories. I love that Kate has a built-in reason to insert herself–she’s trying to save people’s lives, often of people she knows, because she sees that their deaths are imminent. It’s a great twist on the paranormal genre that works particularly well for mysteries.
This series was fun to read. Part police procedural, part romance, part mystery and good character development made this series a good one. I recommend it to friends and fellow mystery readers.