“I am a fraud,” I said. “And my mother was a con artist. But that doesn’t mean I won’t help you.” [p. 41]
I'd enjoyed The White Magic Five and Dime, so when I unexpectedly scored another three months' free Kindle Unlimited I decided to read the rest of the series. Fool Me Once begins with an angry husband dragging his wife, Marsha, out of one of her regular tarot readings. Our narrator Alanis (the person reading the cards, and beginning to wonder if she's actually faking it at all) takes exception to this -- which makes her a person of interest when Marsha's husband is killed. Alanis and Marsha, together with Alanis' half-sister Clarice and Clarice's girlfriend Ceecee, need to identify the real murderer before (a) anyone else is kiled (b) Alanis goes to prison.
It's a fairly standard mystery setup, but much enlivened by the tarot readings (provided by Lisa Falco: the spreads are all illustrated and Alanis' commentary is full of insight) and by Alanis herself, who's a likeable character despite a criminal past. She's trying to make amends for her dead mother's cheating and manipulation, and re-examining her own past, especially her relationship with the father-figure she knew as Biddle. And she's trying to find a professional killer, who turns out (in a delightful critique of ageism) to be a 'little old lady'. With an Uzi in her shopping bag. Kudos!
Warning: this novel ends with a massive cliffhanger: I immediately started reading the next book ...
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