Too Far Under: a mystery novel

Lynn Osterkamp
PMI Books (2011)
ISBN 9781933826691
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (3/11)


When Grief Therapist Cleo Sims is contacted by a young lady who believes her mother was murdered, she finds herself being pulled into a complex mystery that also could put her career and her life in jeopardy.  In spite of this and ignoring warnings from others she finds herself unable to say, “No.”   The suspected murder victim, Mirabel Townes, was a wealthy woman who had a cheating husband, a prairie dog hating land developer angry at her, and an involvement with a cult-like religion.  Mirabel had a lot of people around her with a great deal of interest in her money.  Many people were also very interested in whether or not there was another will written shortly before her death that might either include them in it, or cut them out of it.
           
When she is found dead in her hot tub, the only people who seem to show any concern about what might have happened are her overly emotional daughter Lacey and her Indigo child daughter Angelica.  They contact Cleo because they know that she runs a program called Contact Project which can help people contact those that are deceased.  Cleo has ethical issues with this because although she is wise beyond her years, Angelica is only ten-years-old and her father, who is heavily involved with his greedy mistress, refuses to grant permission for Cleo to work with Angelica. 

Figuring out ways to circumvent the system, Lacey gets very creative.  However, her creativity lands them all in great danger.  As Cleo gets pulled further into this mystery, there is another suspicious death in the Townes’ family.  Her involvement with this case also causes her best friend and her boyfriend to be frustrated with her. Apparently they are still recovering from when Cleo put her life in danger in her first mystery, “Too Near the Edge.” In addition to her involvement with this case, Cleo is also dealing with commitment issues from her boyfriend, and stress from an upcoming closure of her grandmother’s nursing home. In spite of this, the lure of this mystery compounded with the opportunity to involve the Contact Project and interest in Angelica’s gifts makes it impossible for Cleo to stay uninvolved.

I totally enjoyed reading “Too Far Under.” The author Lynn Osterkamp obviously uses a great deal of her personal experience in working as a social worker and living in Boulder, Colorado, where the story takes place, to make the story seem more real.  The additional paranormal touches with the Contact Project and the gifts of an Indigo child add just enough of a paranormal touch to make the story extraordinary.   I highly recommend this novel, and look forward to finding out what Osterkamp has in store for Cleo in her next novel.

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