Pisces Rising

Book excerpt: “Just when you think you’ve seen everything, something new comes . . . and astounds you.”—The Dallas Morning News I moved through the casino in a daze, my senses overloaded by lights, noise, and the discordant vibes of the gamblers. Their emotions—numbness, excitement, anxiety, ecstasy, love, loathing—clashed all around me.... I stopped at a game, and that's when it all started. I began to know things. It's an unpredictable gift, an ability I can't force to come about. Nor can I stop it once it's begun. I knew that the short-haired brunette at the end of the table would lose. In spite of her pretty white smile and positive attitude, I could see her defeat.... As for me, it was as if I'd already played my hands and seen their outcome. Tonight I was destined to win.... After seeing her fiancé gunned down at the end of her last investigation, psychic detective Elizabeth Chase is reluctant to go back to detective work. But when an old friend calls in a favor, Elizabeth finds her unique talents pitted against her most brutal and baffling case yet—the pursuit of a vicious murderer wanted in connection with the scalping of a Native American casino owner. Elizabeth soon learns that the tranquil setting of the Temecu reservation belies a dangerous undercurrent of political scheming, racism, and pure human greed. As she struggles to figure out who can be trusted, Elizabeth must call upon all of her resources not only to solve the crime, but to restore her own spirit. The first three Elizabeth Chase mysteries have been widely acclaimed by readers, critics, and other writers alike: "With a refreshingly eccentric style, Martha C. Lawrence makes psychic investigator Elizabeth Chase immensely appealing and totally believable," says Diane Mott Davidson. Or, as Harlan Coben puts it, "You don't have to read the stars to see that Martha Lawrence is up there with the likes of Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky, and Marcia Muller."