Audiobook Review: Donn's Shadow by Caryn Larrinaga
November 5, 2021 November 4, 2021 sleepygirl2
Author: Caryn Larrinaga
Narrator: Jessica McEvoy
Series: The Soul Searchers Mysteries, Book 2
Publisher: Twisted Tree Press
Genre: Supernatural Cozy Mystery
Mackenzie Clair finally has this whole ghost-hunting psychic thing figured out. The Soul Searchers are a hit, she's got pet-parenting down, and she even has a plan to banish the poltergeist running amok at a lakeside cabin. Best of all, Donn's Hill feels like home. But not everyone loves the town as much as Mac.
A world-famous paranormal debunker thinks the psychics in Donn's Hill are lying about their abilities. His determination to destroy the Soul Searchers threatens Mac's livelihood, and when a killer strikes, the sheriff's suspicions threaten her freedom.
Mac needs all the help she can get to find the real murderer and clear her name…even if that help comes from beyond the grave.
Buy on Audible⎮iTunes
I chose to listen to this book after receiving a free audio copy from Audiobookworm Promotions. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. I listened to the first book, Donn's Hill, recently and liked it so I was looking forward to listening to Donn's Shadow.
Mac finds another body in Donn's Hill and is briefly a suspect because she'd had an argument with the victim the night before. Fortunately, one of the officers knows that she's a psychic and believes in her powers and her innocence. Mac is determined to figure out who the murderer is. It's not as easy as it could be though because every time she tries to contact the murder victim, Horace, another spirit, appears and invades her mind.
The Soul Searchers, a group who help people find closure with ghosts, had hired her a while back but are they going to break up? If they do, Mac will have to find another job. That's not all that she's dealing with. Horace will tell her who the murderer is if she brings him a jewelry box. The Soul Searchers help her with the jewelry box, but it's cursed. How many of the negative changes in her life are because of the box? All of them? None of them?
Mac is fairly likeable but she still has some growing up to do especially when it comes to relationships. The other characters are not as well-developed as Mac, but they add a lot to her story. My favorite character is Mac's cat, Striker, who is as gifted as Mac in her own way.
Jessica McEvoy does a great job with the different voices in the story. She's the perfect narrator for Donn's Shadow. Once again, it is more a performance than a narration, and she brings the story alive.
I'm looking forward to listening the next book in the series!
Caryn Larrinaga is a Basque-American mystery and horror writer. She has been a Dragon Award finalist and won multiple awards for her work, including the League of Utah Writers Silver Quill (Donn's Hill, 2017) and the Cat Writers Association Certificate of Excellence (Donn's Legacy, 2020). In 2021, she was named Writer of the Year by the League of Utah Writers.
Watching scary movies through split fingers terrified Caryn as a child, and those nightmares inspire her to write now. Her 90-year-old house has a colorful history, and the creaking walls and narrow hallways send her running (never walking) up the stairs. Exploring her fears through writing makes Caryn feel a little less foolish for wanting a buddy to accompany her into the tool shed.
Caryn lives near Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and their clowder of cats.
Caryn is an active member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the Cat Writers Association, the League of Utah Writers, and the Utah Chapter of the Horror Writers Association.
About the Narrator
Jessica McEvoy is a desert-dwelling Arizonian transplanted to the snowy hills of South Dakota. Though she is best known for her work on The NoSleep Podcast, Jessica can also be heard on The Wicked Library, Creepy, Sirenicide, Victoria's Lift, and others, as well as a variety of audiobooks. Her days are spent being inordinately proud of her three cats for merely existing and praying for winter to end. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram @jnmcevoy for pictures of aforementioned cats, books, and copious amounts of food, or on Twitch at twitch.tv/jessicamcevoy where she fails to solve basic puzzles in children's games.
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Reviewscozy mystery, supernatural cozy mystery
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