The Tarot Mysteries by Bevan Atkinson

As a debut to the series, this story is sweet, spice and everything nice. We are introduced to the ‘heroine’ of the story: Xana aka Alexandra Rosalind Bard. She’s chilling out on her couch, hoping a car wouldn’t crash into her house when… a car crashes into her house!! Oh my! A man stumbles out of the crashed Porsche (ouch!) and asks for Xana’s help. Tending to the wounds and a tarot reading later, Xana is ready to help Thorne in catching his boss’s killer.

A Young man approaches Xana and asks for a tarot reading. The outcome of the reading shocks Xana and Thorne ends up working as a private bodyguard for the young fella. Meanwhile, Xana’s neighbour Agatha returns home from shopping to find her husband in bed with his secretary. She kills them both in a fit of rage. Wait, it’s not over yet. Xana breaks her ankle and it is up to Thorne to help her with the ‘household’ chores.

Xana is enjoying a piece of Lemmy ChocketyBah and Thorne is lazing around in the East-West cafe when DeLeon Davies 9a friend of Xana’s) bursts in. His daughter is kidnapped by a cult. A CULT!! The cult is run by a self-proclaimed reincarnate of the Egyptian Goddess Renenet. A rescue mission to save Netta (DeLeon’s daughter) is planned and everything goes well… as if! Xana wants to catch the cult leader red-handed. Now, that’s how you do it, gurl!!

Mona Raglan oozed of oomph when young. The same cannot be said about her current situation! Mona is a compulsively adoptive mother. She has adopted fourteen kids so far. And… someone wants Mona dead! Why? Jilted lover? Or, jealous wife? Thorne is working as Mona’s private security and he suggests Mona get herself a tarot reading. Xana is called in and Mona’s attention is drawn towards The Empress Card. Mona doesn’t like Xana’s revelation and walks away from the reading, only to trip on marbles and crash down the stairs.

Xana comes home from shopping and finds a corpse in her backyard. The dead man is none other than… her dead father. Wait, what? That means the man who died nine years ago was someone else? Hmm! A Gold fever, WW2 and a trip to Nevada with Thorne and DeLeon, we see Xana in a new avatar in this story. Meet Xana Lara Croft! Can someone please play Indiana Jones theme song?

Xana receives a call from Thalia Thalassos. Thalia’s husband is lying in the hospital and she’s the main suspect. Meanwhile, in the same hospital as Thalia’s husband is a nurse who calls himself the angel of death. Xana has two mysteries to solve. Wait, two is not as good a number as three. Enter Mater aka Xana’s mother. She had to make her appearance and throw tension and suspense in the air, didn’t she?