Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher (Wavesback) and author (RJ Dark) for allowing me to read this book for an honest report.

This is the first book in the Mal and Jackie series. Mal has a shop in a small cluster group with the sign above his door that say Malachite Jones - Psychic Medium (As seen on TV). He doesn't tell his clients, but says he cannot talk to the dead, so basically he is a con artist.

Jackie is a "protector". He charges people money to protect their business. He is basically a crook.

The book starts off with Mal having a new client (Janine Stanbeck) who Jackie referred to him. Janine wants a missing lottery ticket her recently deceased husband had. The rest of the book is about Mal and Jackie trying to find the missing ticket worth $8 million pounds. Mal is basically a Private Investigator and not a Psychic Medium in this book, but that does nothing to interfere with the reading of the book.

They are unlikely pair to team up, but it does work.

I enjoyed the book. However, there are a few typing errors or incorrect words used. For example (my words) the thing that pulls out of a cupboard is a "drawer" and not a "draw" as used in the book. There are several incorrect words used like that throughout the book. At times it does not flow concisely but that is easily overlooked. Hopefully these errors can be corrected prior to publication.

I have given the book a rating of 4 because it is an enjoyable book to read and plenty of "action" that I enjoy and the final outcome is not obvious until the very end of the book.

If you get a chance to read this book, I would recommend you do so.

I would gladly read the next book in the series.

One of the best books I've read this year.

I know that this is RJs first venture into mystery/crime novels and it's a terrific debut.

Great off the wall characters, dark humour, and a plot that kept me guessing to the end.
And set in Yorkshire!

Mal and Jackie are two very unlikely friends, indeed when they were at school together they were more like enemies. Mal Jones is now a reformed drug addict and alcoholic, who runs a business as a psychic medium. Jackie Singh Khattar is a ex special forces soldier who runs some very dodgy, perhaps criminal, businesses.

It's the variety of interactions, at different levels, between Mal and Jackie that make their relationship so interesting and enjoyable.


Can't wait for the next book.