Touch

Darleen R. Golke is a high-school teacher-librarian in Abbotsford, B.C.

On her Seattle boss’s behalf, Anna Gareau smuggles a World War II
Luger into Victoria. At the hotel where she’s staying, she stumbles
across a murder scene. The victim is Jocelyn Lowery, an employee at a
“superficial but largely painless” newsmagazine called The Rail.

Claiming to be a police consultant, Anna bluffs her way past security
and experiences one of her visions, psychometry (token-object reading).
“It’s not really the object so much as … the moment. Somebody
feels something so strongly that it pours out and gets all over whatever
they’re touching. That moment and the way they felt stays there.”

Echlin, “a skinny ghost of a man” senses Anna’s interest and
offers her a job investigating the murder and the weird happenings at
The Rail. Working with Colette, Echlin’s assistant/publicist, Anna
embarks on an investigation that entangles her in more visions and the
pursuit of a “paranoid schizophrenic evil magician murderer.”

Froese’s first novel sizzles with the paranormal. The two Prairie
girls interact well as their relationship develops and the author deftly
handles their witty dialogue. Suspense builds as it becomes clear that
deceit abounds and the characters are not as they at first appear.