Why horror author Cherie Priest started writing paranormal mysteries

“The time had come for me to try something lighter and more obviously, aggressively fun.”

A psychic travel agent and a Seattle PD detective solve murders in Booking Agents, a quirky paranormal mystery series in the vein of Lisa Lutz’s The Spellman Files and Charlaine Harris’s Aurora Teagarden series.

Award-winning steampunk horror author Cherie Priest was ready for something lighter. See, she had published a couple dozen books and novellas, including the Southern gothic horror novel The Toll and the dark historical fantasy Maplecroft. She also wrote the award-winning steampunk zombie series Clockwork Century, beginning with the Locus Award-winning Boneshaker—which was also nominated for the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award.

But, after a series of very dark, very stressful projects, Priest decided she needed to lighten up. Which led to her “paranormal cozy” meets “off-the-books police procedural” book Grave Reservations, the first title in the Booking Agents cozy paranormal mystery series.

“I needed a brain break,” Priest told Mystery & Suspense. “And also? I thought maybe the world was bleak enough without me contributing more angst to the market. Don’t get me wrong, I love angst—especially spooky angst. But the time had come for me to try something lighter and more obviously, aggressively fun.”

On her blog, the author details how one idea in her head ran into another idea—and, after the two ideas stuck together, attracted more ideas. “Eventually you wind up with this big, sticky, tumbling ball of ideas that’s big enough to make a book,” she wrote. “And if you’re very lucky, you come up with a kickass pun for a title. (Cough cough.) This particular project began with a very weird thing that actually happened to me, and I don’t mind telling you about it. So I’m gonna…” Read the story here.

Scroll down to find out about the books in the Booking Agents series below…

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Booking Agents Series

Grave Reservations (Booking Agents Series #1)

A psychic travel agent and a Seattle PD detective try to solve a murder in this “ebullient tap dance of a mystery” (Christopher Moore, New York Times bestselling author)—perfect for fans of Lisa Lutz’s The Spellman Files and Elle Cosimano’s Finlay Donovan series.

Meet Leda Foley: devoted friend, struggling travel agent, and inconsistent psychic. When Leda, sole proprietor of Foley’s Flights of Fancy, impulsively re-books Seattle PD detective Grady Merritt’s flight, her life changes in ways she couldn’t have predicted.

After watching his original plane blow up from the safety of the airport, Grady realizes that Leda’s special abilities could help him with a cold case he just can’t crack.

Despite her scattershot premonitions, she agrees for a secret reason: her fiancé’s murder remains unsolved. Leda’s psychic abilities couldn’t help the case several years before, but she’s been honing her skills and drawing a crowd at her favorite bar’s open-mic nights, where she performs Klairvoyant Karaoke—singing whatever song comes to mind when she holds people’s personal effects. Now joined by a rag-tag group of bar patrons and pals alike, Leda and Grady set out to catch a killer—and learn how the two cases that haunt them have more in common than they ever suspected.

“Delightful.” —The New York Times Book Review

Grave Reservations (Booking Agents Series #1)
By Cherie Priest
Atria Books
Categories: Magical Realism, Women Sleuths, Police Procedural

Buy Grave Reservations from Amazon

Flight Risk (Booking Agents Series #2)

Inconsistent psychic Leda Foley and Seattle detective Grady Merritt return to solve the case of a missing couple in this sequel to the “delightful” (The New York Times Book Review) mystery Grave Reservations.

When psychic travel agent Leda Foley is approached by a man searching for his sister, she quickly agrees to help. The missing woman disappeared with a vintage orange car, a fat sack of her employer’s cash, and a grudge against her philandering husband—a man who never even reported her missing.

Meanwhile, Seattle PD detective Grady Merritt has temporarily misplaced his dog. While he’s passing out bright pink “Lost” flyers at the Mount Rainier visitor’s center, the wayward pooch appears—with a human leg in his mouth.

Thanks to DNA matching, Grady soon learns that Mr. Leg has something to do with Leda’s new client, and soon the two cases are tangled.

Theories abound, but law enforcement is low on leads. Lucky for Grady, Leda has a few ideas that might just be crazy enough to work. They’ll need one yellow dog, a fair share of teamwork, and perhaps a bit of Klairvoyant Karaoke to piece the clues together.

Flight Risk (Booking Agents Series #2)
By Cherie Priest
Atria Books
Categories: Psychic Mysteries, Police Procedurals

Buy Flight Risk from Amazon

About the Author

Cherie Priest is the author of two dozen books and novellas, including the horror novel The Toll (“A masterpiece of disquieted tension.”—New York Journal of Books), the acclaimed gothic Maplecroft (“Cherie Priest is supremely gifted and Maplecroft is a remarkable novel, simultaneously beautiful and grotesque.”—author Christopher Golden), and the award-winning steampunk zombie Clockwork Century series, beginning with Boneshaker (“A hoot from start to finish, pure mad adventure.”—author Cory Doctorow). She has been nominated for the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, and she won the Locus Award for best horror novel. Her books have been translated into nine languages in eleven countries. She lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband and a menagerie of exceedingly photogenic pets. Visit her online at CheriePriest.com.

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