Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on November 15, 2022 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.
Flight Risk is the second book in Cherie Priest's "Booking Agents" series of light fun mysteries that star widower detective Grady and amateur and weak psychic Leda (book 1 was Grave Reservations). Book 1 was a fun buddy cop-ish kind of mystery, except unlike the classic version of that genre there wasn't really any conflict between the leads as they wound up working together in book 1 to solve both a serial killing with ties to Leda's past. There also wasn't any real hint of romance between the leads, despite the obvious potential for that (one's a widower, the other's love was murdered). But the mystery was enjoyable and the book's humor and fun was really great at times, so it was an excellent light read and I was hoping the sequel would carry that over.
The good news is that Flight Risk remains the same sort of light mystery fun as its predecessor: the main characters remain excellent and the book is still very enjoyable, even if there really aren't any standout jokes this time. At the same time, there still remains a weird disconnect in chemistry between the two leads, and while the book is short enough to never drag, it never really manages to be more than lightly enjoyable entertainment (especialy as its mystery kind of peters out). I needed a fun light read when I read this and Flight Risk delivered, but at the same time it feels like there are a lot of books just like this out there, so it doesn't really stand out too much from the pack.
Plot Summary:
Grady Merritt is off duty and out of his jurisdiction with his daughter looking for his lost dog out on Mount Rainier when his dog comes back with a severed human leg. Soon it becomes clear that he has a murder mystery to solve, even if the man died out of his jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, Leda Foley's psychic travel agency and occasional psychic detective agency gets a surprise new client: a man searching for his disappeared sister, who absconded from a job site with $30K in cash and whose philandering professor husband couldn't care less that she's gone. And so Leda sets off on the hopeful task of finding the missing woman using her psychic and observational skills on the woman's personal effects.
Yet when Grady turns to Leda once again for help, it becomes clear that their two new cases are intertwined. It'll take both their talents to figure out what's really going on with the mystery, to find their missing person, and to track down a murderer.....
Flight Risk is a solid light mystery book, even if it's not one of those whodunits that's going to really leave you trying to figure out who's the guilty party (there are 5 suspects essentially all of whom have potential motives) and what really happened. A large part of that has to do with Priest's excellent prose, which is light and fun despite featuring a murder (discovered by a good boy doggy) and a cast in Grady, his fellow detectives* who are on the case, Leda and her best friend and a psychic ally, that are all highly enjoyable to read as they try to figure it all out. And the book is short enough that it never outstays its welcome, even if the mystery is resolved in a way that feels like it shouldn't have really needed the skills of either protagonist.
*Yeah all the cops in this one are good guys, so if you want to cry copaganda here I won't stop you. But that's how a light detective mystery in the modern day US goes more or less.
At the same time, like in the first book, there's sort of weird utter lack of chemistry between Grady and Leda, even if you accept that this book isn't taking the natural opportunity to swerve into romance between the older widower and the younger woman whose boyfriend was murdered (and whose murder they helped solve together last book). Grady at times feels like he wants to have Leda along to help him, but you never get the feeling it's because of any friendship or that Leda bugs him or amuses him or does much other than make him feel old. And Leda wants to help Grady but really that just feels more like it's cuz she's hooked on solving the mystery. There's a running subplot where Leda tries to find out Grady's birthday and it eventually culminates in a moment of friendship...but it just feels out of nowhere half the time rather than a natural thing that comes up. Buddy Cop setups usually thrive on conflict or friendship between the two protagonists of different backgrounds and styles, and it barely feels like these two characters really care at all about each other.
This isn't to be too negative about Flight Risk as both Grady and Leda are enjoyable characters on their own and Priest makes the story light and enjoyable, which is what I was looking for when I started it. But there's lots of books sort of like this, and I kinda feel like this one doesn't have that extra bit of chemistry or character connections to stand out like those I really love.
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