Gone and Done It by Maggie Toussaint
Series: A Dreamwalker Mystery, #1
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Publication Date: April 18, 2014
Publisher: Five Star/Cengage
Hardcover: 275 pages
ISBN-10: 1432828134
ISBN-13: 978-1432828134
eBook File Size: 369 KB
ASIN: B00JJ2XVZ6
The Blurb
Baxley solves crimes in her dreams
While planting a cherry tree, landscaper Baxley Powell's shovel strikes something solid. Intrigued, she clears the sand away and reveals a human skull. After calling the sheriff, Baxley uses her dreamwalking abilities to get a jump-start on identifying the victim. Then deputies arrive, and, believing she’s tampering with evidence, taser her. Emotions flare, but the sheriff agrees to hire her as a consultant. With a daughter to support and bills she can’t pay, Baxley is motivated to succeed.
Things get dicey when she unearths a murder victim on the same job site, planting Baxley in the suspect pool. For calling unwanted attention to her private retreat, Baxley’s landscaping client fires her, stiffing her for the plants and labor.
Meanwhile, her father retires as county dreamwalker, passing the community service responsibility along to her.
Baxley’s dreamwalking sideline competes for her time with her day jobs of landscaping and pet-sitting. Folks show up on her doorstep at all hours to pass messages to the departed. Though her money problems persist, food randomly appears at her door, and her hair develops a telltale white streak in the forelock overnight.
Just what every young woman wants, a permanent bad hair day.
Threats to her safety mount as Baxley delves into the victim’s life — in both worlds. With a killer dogging her heels and spirits nipping at her mind, Baxley follows her dreams to find the truth.
The Review
I just read a really good book, y'all — Gone and Done It, Book 1 in the Dreamwalker series. Let me tell you why I like it.
I was immediately engrossed in the action of Gone and Done It, told by Baxley Powell. In the first chapter, I enjoyed Baxley's interaction with two good old boys (she also thinks of them as "bozos"), as she speaks with them "using small words" to make sure they understand her. She's quite relieved when they leave, so that she can finish planting the cherry tree in peace — until she finds the skull, at the bottom
of the hole — which is how the chapter ends. ["And then what happened?", you may be asking yourself. READ THE BOOK!]
Because Baxley reveals details gradually, I felt compelled to keep reading so I could find out what different references meant. For example, here is the third paragraph of the book:
God, I was so tired of pretending everything was fine. Between bureaucratic red tape, enhanced sensory perceptions, and the odd jobs I worked, I felt decades older than my twenty-eight years.
What bureaucratic red tape is she entangled in? How are her sensory perceptions enhanced, and how does she experience them? How odd are her jobs? (And just what is a Dreamwalker, anyway?)
To find out the answers to these questions, and others that arise because of the enjoyable plot twists and turns along the way, READ THE BOOK.
Gone and Done It by Maggie Toussaint has
- Original premise
- Kick-ass heroine — relatable, genuine, with a little snark thrown in
- Fast-paced and fun style
- Good worldbuilding — a small town where everyone knows everyone else's business
- Great climax
- Great ending, that hints of a mystery to be resolved in future book(s)
I really enjoyed Gone and Done It, and am looking forward to reading the sequel, Bubba Done It.
Four kitties out of five.
Stay tuned for my Blog Tour Review of Bubba Done It on May 27, 2015 —
same cat time, same cat channel.
The Author
About Maggie Toussaint
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