“I knew they were real old people, but not helpless old people. I wanted to find out why they were here. I wanted to know if they were magic.” Mr. Snuggly began licking a paw.
“Are they?” Manfred asked, tired of being left out of the conversation, even if it was with a cat.
“No. Not at all...Plenty of ghosts at the hotel, of course. And lots of misdirection.” [loc. 2177]
Further intrigues in the little Texas town of Midnight, with its peculiar inhabitants and their secret pasts. The novel opens with the old hotel being renovated, with the intention of running it as a long-term residential centre for elders who're waiting for a place in an assisted living facility. Manfred the psychic goes to Dallas to meet a client, who dies during their appointment: he's accused of murdering her, and of stealing her jewellery. (Olivia is staying in the same hotel, and may be connected to two other deaths.) And a strange child comes to town, growing with incredible rapidity and greeted as 'little brother' by Fiji's cat, Mr Snuggly.
I still like the characters -- perhaps more so than if they'd been familiar from other Harris novels, as some of them apparently are -- and I enjoy the mysterious atmosphere of Midnight. However, I didn't find the plot of Day Shift particularly satisfactory. The elderly client was indeed murdered (though not by Manfred) but her killer's motive, identity and fate is wrapped up in a couple of paragraphs. The hotel residents, who are not quite what they seem, are never really explained, and Eva Culhane, the spokesperson who explains the hotel's renovation, does not reappear.
That said, there is some intriguing character development: we learn more about Olivia, Manfred, and the Reverend. And Mr Snuggly is adorable. I bought this and the third book in the trilogy to read over a hot weekend, and they kept me entertained, especially when I was concentrating on characters rather than plot. And yes, I went straight on to the third and final volume...
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