Saturday, June 15, 2013

Book Review: psych - Mind-Altering Murder by William Rabkin (psych novels #5)

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Perfect characters and great plots
Cons: Shawn seems a bit slow at times
The Bottom Line
An inventive plot
And characters true to form
Make this a winner




The End of psych?

I’ll admit the last couple of tie in novels to the TV show psych have been a little disappointing. They tried to take on too much and it wasn’t fleshed out. Fortunately, the newest is a return to form. In fact, I found Mind-Altering Murder to be lots of fun.

While not based on any episodes from the USA Network’s hit show, it does follow the characters. It revolves around Shawn Spencer, a man trained to be hyper observant and notice every clue. But, since he can’t take anything seriously, he pretends to be a psychic and turns those observations into his visions. Working alongside him is his best friend since childhood, Gus. Also in this book from the show are Santa Barbara homicide detectives Juliette O’Hara and Carleton Lassiter. The other members of the cast, Shawn’s dad Henry and the chief of police, are mentioned but don’t actually appear in this novel.

Detective O’Hara knows that Mandy Jansen didn’t commit suicide. Oh sure, the former cheerleader was found hanging from the pipes in her basement apartment. But O’Hara knows the evidence is wrong. She just can’t find anything to prove her theory right.

Normally, she might turn to Shawn, but Shawn is occupied with a case of his own. Macklin Tanner, CEO of a virtual gaming company, has vanished and Shawn is convinced that the key to his disappearance is in the new virtual reality game that his company was about to release.

And Gus? Well, Gus has decided it is time to grow up and get a grown up job at a pharmaceutical company in San Francisco. Will his attempts to leave Psych behind work? Or will one of these cases wind up involving his new company?

Since the show runs so much on the chemistry between Shawn and Gus, author William Rabkin took a big risk dividing them up for much of this book. I think it paid off well because it allowed us a chance to see the characters develop a bit by themselves. Both of them are still true to their personalities from the show – at least most of the time. Shawn can be a bit dense at times when talking to Gus, but their exchanges were still pretty funny.

Another highlight of the show is Shawn’s battle of words with Detective Lassiter. This book nails that; these were my favorite scenes in the book. Did I miss the main characters who weren’t in this book? Yes, although they will sometimes be absent for an episode or two of the TV show as well. And I felt it allowed more time for the story to develop.

Speaking of which, there are definitely two mysteries between the covers of this book, but the way they weave in and out of each other and the characters work on both of them, it works for the book. Both are strong plots in their own right. I figured one of the solutions out about the time Shawn did, but the other stumped me until the end.

The book is written third person and spends quite a bit of time in the heads of Gus, Shawn, and Juliette. This split is part of what keeps all the elements of the book working so well.

Honestly, I think Mind-Altering Murder just might be the strongest tie in novel for psych. Fans of the TV show will not be disappointed.

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