Serpent's Doom

Serpent’s Doom is the 4th book in the Zodiac Mystery series and it's great to catch up with Julia Bonatti and her family and friends, to be back in San Francisco experiencing all the sights, sounds, smells and uniqueness and to learn just a little bit more about astrology. Author Connie di Marco puts you right in the middle of it all, including the latest dangerous mystery Julia finds herself embroiled in. When we last saw Julia she was in danger then, too, and since then has moved and gotten a bit out of touch with some of her old friends. But as Serpent’s Doom begins things seem pretty normal and Julia is just living her life: still writing her ‘Ask Zodia’ column for the newspaper, doing readings at The Mystic Eye, and spending time with her friends. Although her three new clients seem to be desperate for answers to their questions, Julia doesn’t expect to get involved. Well ha ha to that. Of course Julia will get involved. She cares. Tracy is the victim of a brutal husband with nowhere to run, Jeanette is worried sick about her son, whom she suspects has fallen in with a bad lot, and Frankie, only eleven years old, is terrified because his mother is missing and no one will help him find her. Julia’s readings foretell difficulty and danger for them all, and author di Marco does an amazing job of connecting these separate characters and their individual situations into a compelling mystery that you can’t put down. Everything is more than it seems and there are some very lethal people calling the shots. As always, Julia’s heart and desire to see justice done have her putting herself in situations she shouldn’t. Scary for her; great read for us. If you’ve followed Julia from book one, you know that her fiancé Michael died three years ago in a hit and run accident just two days after his return from an expedition. He sent her his journal prior to his return for safekeeping, but Julia has been too grief-stricken to read it. Now, while finally getting back in touch with some old friends of hers and Michael’s she gets disturbing hints about problems with his work team, people he may not have trusted and things they may have wanted to keep hidden. Julia reads the journal and her grief flares back strong, she feels regret and guilt that she didn’t read the journal sooner, because “what if?” – and something tells her there was something not quite right about that trip. Will she ever find out just what was going on and if Michael’s accident was in fact an accident? We can hope. As always talented author di Marco does an exceptional job of giving us a mystery that is enthralling, engaging, and satisfying. Julia is likeable, clever, dedicated, loyal, tenacious, surrounded by friends and family she can depend on. Di Marco weaves the astrology into the story so that it is an integral, intelligent piece of the tale that adds dimension and suspense, making us as anxious for the results of the readings as Julia’s clients are. It’s never presented as a fad or silly superstition. Serpent’s Doom is perfect as a standalone but you should really read the series from the beginning to learn the rich, fascinating details of Julia’s story. I read the book and also listened to the audio edition; both were excellent. I voluntarily leave this review and highly recommend anything this author writes. All opinions are my own.