Confound It

Confound It by Maggie Toussaint is the fifth A Dreamwalker Mystery. Baxley Powell and her best friend, Charlotte welcome Toby Duncan and Sam Mayes for a weekend visit. The next morning Baxley gets an early morning call from Sheriff Wayne Thompson asking for her assistance with a case. The day before someone had set fire to a doublewide trailer where Mandy Patterson lived with her son, Doodle. It turns out that Mandy had been cooking meth, but her death was not an accident. While inside the home, Baxley is able to see how Mandy died. The authorities are more concerned with drugs than with the victim. Baxley wants justice for Mandy and closure for her son, Doodle. With help from Deputy Sam Hayes, Baxley dives into the case to track down a killer. There are a host of suspect including the nutty aunt, the controlling drug dealer, the crazy neighbor, and the son. But this is no ordinary case and it will challenge Baxley's abilities. In addition, Baxley is fighting her attraction to Sam. While her husband has been declared dead, Baxley cannot move forward with Sam until she is sure of his fate.

Confound It is not a standalone novel. You do need to read the previous novels in A Dreamwalker Mystery series to understand Baxley, her family and friends as well as her abilities. I thought the Baxley is a well-developed with unique abilities. Baxley discovers something new about her talents in Confound It. I like that the author keeps changing things up, so it does not become stale or predictable. I did find Confound It to be a bit wordy. The author does include background details and information from the previous books which slows down the pace. There are quite a few secondary quirky characters which adds to the Southern charm. The mystery is multi-layers and readers will be surprised at the end. The paranormal elements enrich this mystery novel along with the Native American characters. I could have done without the jealousy Sam Mayes felt towards Sheriff Wayne Thompson (Baxley reassures him several times without success). I do want readers to be aware that there is foul language and an intimate scene in Confound It. The end of Confound It will have readers teary.