Truly, Madly, by Heather Webber

Truly, Madly, by Heather Webber
Adult, 2010

The cover makes this book look like chick-lit with a capital C. However, if you take a chance and read the back, it turns out it's a mystery?! A fan of solving the unsolvable, I checked it out, intrigued.

Lucy Valentine comes from a long line of matchmakers. Professionally they have a 98% success rate, baffling competition, but their secret is the ability to see auras, matching them up without even bothering to look at their questionnaires. Lucy is the only one of her family without the gift - instead she seems to have the rather silly gift of being able to find objects. When her father needs her to take over the business for a few weeks, she balks. But rent is due, and really...it's in her blood, right? As Lucy tries to match up clients, she begins to see things they've lost. Until she shakes one man's hand and sees a dead body.

The premise is intriguing, and really, overall the mystery is a lot of fun. I didn't like her parents - the whole 'pretending' to be married bit really bothered me. But the PI who helps her out, her quirky chauffeur...there are some lovable characters here. The ending was a little too much of a surprise, but along the way it was quite difficult to guess who-dun-it, which was good enough for me. I liked her new-found confidence and how she used her ability to do worthwhile things, although some of the characters believing she had this ability so quickly was a bit hard to swallow.
This is an adult book, so plenty of sexual tension, but no sex scenes and no one does anything of the kind. Light swearing as well.
Graded a B-, and I'll probably pick up the sequels to read as they come out.