Justice for the dead and solace for the living is Baxley Powell’s creed, but she faces uncharted territory in this sixth book of the Dreamwalker Mystery Series. The Suitcase Killer has struck again, only this big city menace is now a problem for Baxley’s hometown. As that investigation heats up, a local woman is reported missing. The sheriff orders Baxley to work the missing person’s case.
Listening to the dead is familiar ground for Baxley but finding a missing young lady isn’t in her skill set. Besides, her dreams rarely follow a timeline. With the clock ticking, can this crime consultant discover a way to reach the living?
Her main source of help in the afterlife, a mentor named Rose, is unavailable. Instead, Baxley must rely on her wits and her Native American boyfriend, Deputy Sam Mayes, to find leads. Each shared dreamwalk and energy transfer binds them closer together, creating another issue. Mayes wants to marry Baxley but it isn’t that easy. They’re hampered by their community roles in opposite ends of the state.
Baxley juggles the pressure of two high-profile cases, a determined suitor, and expanding her limits. One thing is certain. Without her extrasensory sleuthing, the missing woman will die.
Character Guest Post
Dreams, Dreams, Dreams
A character guest post by Baxley Powell of DREAMED IT by Maggie Toussaint
Looking back over my journey as the Dreamwalker, my life has changed so much. Somehow, through it all I’ve clung to family and my belief in helping others.
It started when my father couldn’t go on as Dreamwalker. His talent had been a makeshift fit for the job he’d inherited from my grandmother. At that point, it was either I take the hereditary title or my ten-year-old daughter would get stuck with it. No way was I letting my kid skip her childhood, but boy-o-boy was I afraid of this job.
When I was about my daughter’s age, I got trapped in the rift, the invisible seam between the living and the dead. I didn’t mean to dreamwalk at all, but the chair I sat in at a funeral triggered an event. To my embarrassment and humiliation, my parents had to rescue me. For nearly 18 years after that, I denied anything having to do with my psychic abilities, blocking and shielding myself from anything that would trigger another trip to that horrible void.
With no real choice in the matter, I agreed to take on the Dreamwalker post. Gradually, through help from my father and his team of helpers, I learned most of the ropes, though there’s always so much more to learn.
At first, dreams of the dead came to me as I slept at night. Then I learned that I had a strong talent for psychometry. Translation, I can touch an item and see a scene from someone’s past who had handled the item (which also explains why I got trapped in the rift from Uncle Emerald’s chair). During touch-inspired dreams, I go into a meditative state, neither awake nor asleep, but highly vulnerable. Therefore, I don’t like to do any readings in an unsecure place.
The sleeping visions and the touch dreams are rarely interactive. There are rules you see. The dead are allowed to show me scenes from their lives, one scene per item per time period. Occasionally, a spirit has broken the rules to answer a question, but there were always dire consequences.
Gradually, I became more adept at touch dreams, and I learned how to transfer my energy to another living person. On the flip side, I could also receive energy from others. My boyfriend, Sam Mayes, is a generator, and he “fixes” me after a dream, so that recovery from a dreamwalk shortened from most of a day to less than an hour.
I thought I knew all there was to know about dreamwalks, but then, a few months ago, during an arson investigation, I was transported in a waking dream via a hologram-like display from the victim’s life. I was fully conscious, seeing the real world through the thin image of the dream. That discovery thrilled and frightened me. It was a less draining experience, but I could be plunged into this state without warning.
Fast forward a few months, and we have a bigtime homicide in our little town of Marion, Ga. A serial killer left a victim here, and while we are working that case, a local gal goes missing. Kidnapped. The sheriff challenges me to use dreamwalking to connect with Kitty, the missing young woman. It was a challenge I’d never before undertaken. All my previous visioning had been with spirits of the dead. Since I’d learned that boundaries were fluid, I agreed to try connecting with a living person. What happened next blew my mind.
I can’t tell more because I don’t want to spoil your enjoyment of DREAMED IT., but trust me, it was a nail biter for me as it unfolded!
Read all about my latest adventure in DREAMED IT by Maggie Toussaint.
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
August 14 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – CHARACTER GUEST POST
August 14 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
August 15 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
August 15 – Mysteries with Character – GUEST POST
August 16 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW
August 17 – Babs Book Bistro – GUEST POST
August 17 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
August 18 – Cozy Up With Kathy – CHARACTER GUEST POST
August 18 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT
August 19 – eBook Addicts – SPOTLIGHT
August 19 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT
August 20 – Christa Reads and Writes – REVIEW
August 20 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
August 21 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
August 21 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
August 22 – I Read What You Write – SPOTLIGHT
August 22 –Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
Speaking on behalf of Baxley Powell, sleuth and interviewee, and author Maggie Toussaint, thanks for inviting us to visit Wytch's Book Review Blog! It's good to be here.
Posted by: Maggie Toussaint | 08/14/2019 at 03:44 PM