The Mystic and the Missing Girl: A Tarot-Infused Cozy Mystery Review

Read time: 4 minutes

📱📖 Read on Kindle 📃 336 pages ⏱ Duration: 5 hours
Genre: Cozy Mystery 🏷️ Publisher: Minotaur Books
🙏 ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Book Blurb:

Reluctant psychic Drew Benson can read tarot cards and pick up impressions from objects, though she’s spent twenty years ignoring that gift. Her late aunt Hannah, once a beloved local TV psychic, became the scapegoat in an unsolved teen disappearance, and Drew has focused instead on keeping Hannah’s metaphysical shop afloat in their picturesque lakeside town. But when her high school rival, now a big-city reporter, decides to dig into the cold case, Drew’s abilities might be the key to finally cracking it. Between mounting bills, a disapproving mother, and a local vandal targeting her shop, Drew has plenty to lose, and everything to gain, if she can clear her aunt’s name.

Let’s talk … murder!

The thing that drew (LOL, that’s the name of the MC — DREW) me to this book is the title ‘mystic’ and the blurb describing tarot reading. I recently got myself hooked up to a tarot card set, and since then, have found tarot to be fascinating, and oddly specific in my cases. So this was captivating to me, thinking I might learn a bit more about tarot while also enjoying a murder mystery.

I rightly assumed about the tarot learning. Every start of a chapter gives a small description of one random tarot card. These cards aren’t necessarily related to the chapter (or I didn’t feel so), which avoids giving any spoilers to the chapter story coming up. That worked in two ways: one is that the spoiler is avoided and you’re excited to see where the story is going, and second is that you learn a bit about tarot cards and what to look for when you get certain ones. I really enjoyed that ploy, and want to give big kudos to Vikki VanSickle. This technique works!!

I enjoyed the character relationships. Drew and her aunt Hannah have a relationship that survived being out of touch for a very long time. I adored that. Not putting Nick in as a romantic interest was so off the mark from a traditional cozy story that I totally enjoyed it. Their friendship is beautifully drawn out. The story itself felt a bit slow to proceed but was still fun to keep at it.

One issue I have is the fair play mystery concept. The killer took some time coming on stage, as a person. There was a small hint around the start, but it was such a blink-and-miss hint that I wouldn’t consider it much. Yes, once the killer comes on stage, things start moving fast, but until then, I didn’t find any inclination towards considering them for the crime, which leaves me a bit surly.

But I won’t hold it against Vikki. This story has potential, and I can’t wait to see where she goes on to write in the future.

Would I recommend it?

Yes, I’d recommend The Mystic and the Missing Girl, especially if you’re at all curious about tarot or looking for a cozy mystery that skips the obvious romantic subplot. Drew and Hannah’s relationship carries real weight, and the tarot chapter openers are a genuinely clever touch. The mystery itself moves slower than I’d like. The fair play element could use tightening. But Vikki VanSickle has a strong foundation here. Mark your calendar for September 8, because this one’s worth adding to your TBR.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

5 Book Recommendations

• Pall in the Family by Dawn Eastman If Drew and Hannah’s psychic-family dynamic was your favorite part, meet the Fortunes: a whole household of psychics in small-town Michigan, led by a tarot-reading mom and a cop daughter who’d rather not embrace her own gift.

Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy

• Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend Another reluctant-fortune-teller-in-a-small-town story, this one follows Sunny Meadows as she sets up shop in a quirky upstate New York town and immediately gets pulled into a murder her tea leaves warned her about.

Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy

• The White Magic Five and Dime by Steve Hockensmith and Lisa Falco This one actually uses the same trick VanSickle does, tarot card descriptions opening each chapter, following a skeptic who inherits her con-artist mother’s tarot shop and has to fake her way through readings while solving her mother’s murder.

Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy

• Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye by Victoria Laurie For more of that reluctant-but-genuinely-gifted psychic energy, this series opener follows a professional intuitive who gets pulled into a murder investigation involving one of her own clients.

Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy

• Murder by the Book by Lauren Elliott If it’s the “inheriting a legacy and rebuilding a life in a small town” thread you loved, Addie Greyborne’s move to her ancestral New England town after an unexpected inheritance (and the mystery that follows) hits a lot of the same notes.

Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy

What’s Your Card?

Have you ever had a tarot reading that felt a little too accurate for comfort? Or a favorite cozy mystery that skipped the romance and just let the friendship shine? Drop it in the comments — I want to hear about your own “oddly specific” tarot moments.

Book Links:

Want to purchase this or any of your favorite books while supporting a local bookstore? Consider purchasing using the sites below. These sites work with independent local bookstore owners to fulfill your book orders. #SupportLocal

Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | Litsy
Follow Vikki VanSickle for the latest news and new releases
Check out more books from Minotaur Books