The Seduction of Miriam Cross by W.A. Tyson

And my second tour post of the day is The Seduction of Miriam Cross by W. A. Tyson. This is the first of Tyson's Delilah Percy Powers mysteries.

Famed author Miriam Cross has been murdered but thus far there's been surprisingly little coverage. In fact, PI Delilah Percy Powers didn't even know of Miriam's death until the author's niece - a former Percy Powers client - hires her to look into it. It seems Miriam, who had a knack for rubbing people the wrong way with her books, had been living under an alias in the suburbs when she was brutally killed. The author's niece knows of no one who might have a motive but she's noticed something strange of late: lots of hang up calls and the sense that she and her sons are being followed. Delilah is concerned enough that she agrees to take the case and as they learn more about the mysterious Miriam Cross she and her team realize that the author was into some nasty business indeed.

This latest from Tyson - who also wrote Killer Image - is quite dark. You may recall (or if you just clicked the link, you saw) that I did mention Killer Image was surprisingly darker than I'd expected, but even that didn't prepare me for The Seduction of Miriam Cross. I like dark so Tyson's latest was still on par with my personal taste but I like to give fair warning to readers out there who might have lighter preferences :)

Like Killer Image, The Seduction of Miriam Cross introduces a bevy of characters. Delilah runs a PI firm manned by three additional employees - Margot, a seventy-two-year-old former nun; Barb, a suburban mom who's married to a copy; and Natasha, a former working girl with a young son. All three offer up something different to the team and, as such, something different to the narrative. Delilah is forced to bring on a new hire as well, a former journalist and hacker named Matthew Anderson - or Anders.

The book starts light enough with Delilah turning down a case involving a former classmate and proposed entrapment of her husband. Tyson gives us a chance to settle in and get to know the Percy Powers ladies before getting down the dark and gritty parts of the Miriam Cross case. I rather liked the way it played out, all things considered. It did mean a slower development in the mystery but it also made the revelations about the case that much more unexpected. Tyson again did a great job of keeping me guessing until the very end.

Mystery fans, look out! Wendy Tyson should be on your radar if she isn't already.

To see more stops on the tour, check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Wendy Tyson and her work visit her website here. You can also like her onFacebook and follow her on Twitter.