RAINBOW IN THE MIST

by Phyllis A. Whitney ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 21, 1988

Whitney, the Queen of Nameless Dread, places her latest tale of suspense in rural Virginia, and the focus is psychic powers--of which the heroine and her famous mother have a passel, and through which two murders and a disappearance are solved and an Evil Presence booted out. Poor young Christy has been most depressed, because the psychic ""gift"" with which she's been burdened has doomed her to grim business--such as finding bodies for the police. She'd much rather be cozily reading to children in her position as a librarian on Long Island. In despair, Christy betakes herself to the home of her beloved aunt Nona, a painter who lives in the Virginia hills. (Christy avoids her mother, the celebrity seeress Lili, because Lili pushes Christy to go with her psychic flow.) In any event, as soon as Christy arrives at Nona's. . .Dread is hovering. Seems that juvenile author Rose has had a fatal ""accident,"" and now Deirdre--a wisp of a nature-child, wife of nice Hayden Mitchell (who has an ""unruly curl"" in his hair--a sure clue to romantic interest), and mother of young Donny--has vanished. We also meet a lady who raises llamas (their care another exotic bit of Whitney's gratuitous but always welcome incidental info), a former girlfriend of Rose's husband Oliver, and an American Indian with a rumored violent past. Meanwhile, artifacts abound, all vibrating eerie news: clothing, crystals, sites, etc. Included are seance sessions with lovely Lili, who receives messages from her ""alter ego"" (who, maddeningly, tends to be ""philosophical and non-specific""); dreams; visions; clues; an attempted murder--the works. And the ""murderer"" italically speaks before each chapter. Busy nonsense, handled with the greatest of ease by that most popular of mystery-romance authors.

Pub Date: March 21, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1988

Categories: FICTION