In the Air Tonight is the first book in the Sisters of the Craft series, a trilogy about triplets descended from witches. The orphaned triplets, each with a special power, were all adopted by different families and, as of the first book, they don't know about each other.
This book focuses on one of the triplets, Raye Larsen, who is telekinetic and has the power to communicate with ghosts. She’s managed to build a relatively normal life as a kindergarten teacher in a small Midwestern town. But the serenity of the town is shattered when the body of a murdered woman is discovered, and her ghost wants Raye’s help.
Detective Bobby Doucet is in charge of the investigation—and it looks like the killer is after Raye next. As Bobby tries to protect Raye, she begins to unravel the mystery of why she's a target. Bobby and Raye fall in love, but will Bobby continue to love Raye when he realizes who she is and what she can do?
This book is a light, fun read with engaging characters and an ending that neatly wraps up the book while leading to its sequel. It is refreshing to read a book in which the author displays a sound understanding of the Wiccan religion, and the paranormal elements work well to add mystery and menace. It's also refreshing to read a multicultural romance in which a hero of color is appreciated without being fetishized. Bobby, who is Creole and Haitian, and the adopted Raye, who has black hair in a town full of local-born blondes, connect partly because they both stand out in the Wisconsin town.
The town feels authentic without being twee, and the local police work with Bobby without hostility over turf. Despite a plot that involves danger and violence, the book feels comfortable without being dull—it's about nice people who act like grown-ups (with real problems) in a nice place (with an unusual number of corpses). Raye and Bobby have great chemistry and a believable barrier in establishing trust.
This book was a satisfying stand-alone in the sense that the romance element is resolved, as is any immediate threat to Raye. Of course, it also leaves the reader wanting more in that it suggests that Raye will get to meet her sisters and that each sister will have her own compelling mystery and romance to resolve.
