I grew up in a house where most of the books read were mysteries. That said, I’ve grown to love a good mystery novel. One that has suspense and twists and turns and of course a good romantic subplot. When Jamie started publicizing her book, I was like where can I buy it and can I buy it now. Needless to say I own the Kindle version and have ordered it in trade paperback.

Here’s the description for the first, of  hopefully many, of the Gotcha Detective Series:

Mimi Capurro, owner of Gotcha Detective Agency, has been hired to protect New York Times bestselling author, Lauren Silke, who was recently assaulted in the bathroom at a paranormal conference. Though Mimi is hired to act as bodyguard for Lauren’s upcoming book tour, plans change when Lauren’s assistant is murdered and the slaying is a replica of a scene from Lauren’s newest novel. A novel that hit bookstores the same day as the killing. Now instead of playing bodyguard, Mimi is cracking computer code, and chasing down vampires. These vampires come alive on the streets of Santa Cruz, as part of a live-role-playing game. Mimi must find the connection between the vampires and the author to track down the killer. This would be much easier if Detective Nick Christianson wanted her investigating the case. Nick, Mimi’s old college fling, is the lead homicide investigator. Though he wants her off the case, he also wants to pump her for information. Nick may have used her in the past, but this time she’ll use him to try to catch the murderer first.

Mimi is a great character. She has depth, an interesting history that gets weaved into the plot line and a great set of supporting characters. Her fellow colleagues at the Gotcha Detective Agency add humor. My personal favorite is Charles. He’s the computer nerd with a great sense of humor. He brings common sense into the novel, but pries a lot into Mimi’s personal life when Nick shows up into the picture.

Now Nick, my imagination had a lot of fun with him. I never like to see a screen adaptation of a book I’ve read because I think my imagination is better than the casting. Jamie does a great job of describing Nick and I guarantee you can picture his looks, his movements and his arrogance in your head as the words from the page processes through your brain.

The plot of the story moved quickly and was peppered with a few good chuckles along the way, complements of Mimi and Nick. I loved that I did not know who the killer was. I was sad when the book ended. I wanted more and was absolutely pleased to find out that another book is in the works. I cannot wait to see what happens on Mimi’s next adventure. Let Us Prey is up on my list of favorite novels ever. It’s something I know I can pick up and read over and over without getting bored.