Psychic Witch Hot Mess

I’ve stayed away from Guntersville, Alabama, since leaving for college. Not because I stopped loving my family or my small-town friends. I never did. I left because something about this place sharpens the voices in my head and the shadows that slip into my peripheral vision. Here, the boundary between the living and the dead feels thin. Fragile. Too easy to cross. Coming home means facing a nightmare I never expected: the murder of my high school best friend. Her death forces me to confront the cost of my ambition.

Being psychic isn't cool. It's not my fault Susan's fiancé is a loathsome money-grubbing sociopath. She picked him. A devoted friend would end his devious plan by stopping the doomed wedding and saving her friend from becoming a possible murder victim. I want to be the daring friend who rescues Susan from her lunatic lover. It's just I have no evidence, only an illusive dream. Plus, I'm not keen on becoming a social outcast.

Martin, my best friend, is frantic when his girlfriend Penny doesn't answer his texts. She isn't ghosting him...Someone murdered her. Martin is shattered. Before I can help him deal with his agonizing loss, the police handcuff and whisk him off to jail. It's up to me to exonerate Martin.

The pretentious call from my future employer puts a crimp in my plans. I can be frugal, but waiting seven weeks for my first payday is a lot to ask of a girl. I can't help wondering about Granny's preposterous manifestation beliefs. I know they're hogwash. Too bad. I could use a magical cash bonus to pay my rent.

Being psychic makes my love life complicated. It would be easier to give in to my sexual urges if my life weren't such a hot mess. My cousin Trisha surprises me with a much-needed vacation in Pensacola. Amazing timing. I make one little mistake, and the po-po have the audacity to make me a person of interest. The crime? The murder of a popular businessman's son.

After the paranormal excitement the last few weeks, I'm looking forward to more "beach hair; I don't care" time. I hope the relaxation will put my "gifts" back into hibernation before starting my career at the law firm in Atlanta. Freebie tickets to a minor league baseball game destroy expectations of a break from the paranormal weirdness.

Concealing my psychic "gifts"' is exhausting. I'll be happy when my brother Dusty grows up and finds a girlfriend. I'd be grateful for Dusty's offer to help me move if we weren't trading favors.

I should have seen it coming...My psychic abilities failed me this time. Or maybe I ignored them for my shinier illusions of grandeur. What should have been the most epic day of my life becomes my worst nightmare.