Charming Clarity

Clarity by Kim Harrington

*I received this book via Different Area Codes tours

This book gets a clear 4 gnomes out of 5 gnomes for having an intriguing main character and a complex mystery to solve.

Clare or Clarity Fern has a very unusual family.  They all have some kind of psychic powers.  Her brother is a medium, her mom is a telepath (which makes it really hard to keep secrets from her) and Clarity has the power of psychometry.  I was familiar with psychometry already because of the Simon Canderous books by Anton Strout and so was curious to see how a teenage girl with this power would be portrayed.  Clare's way of looking at the world and humor really make the story great.  You'll find yourself rooting for her against the bullies and anticipating what she's going to do next.

This story was a lot of fun to read and it's engaging from the very first chapter.  Clare and her family may be thought of as freaks by most of the town but being an outcast has made her a stronger person.  She's not close to a lot of people and has no girls as friends.  Perry her brother is the person she's closest to and her only other friend is her brother's best friend.

Even though Clare has this abnormal ability, her character is easy to relate to.  She's a teenager who's stuck in the family business of giving psychic readings to tourists and trying to figure out the world.  Being seen as a freak is never easy but then something happens that might just change the way that people approach her.

There are a couple of love interests, Justin the ex-boyfriend and Gabriel the new love interest.  These two are quite the pair.  The reader can see easily why Clare could fall for either one of these guys.  For most of the book though it's more about Clare then them and you're not sure which way she'll go.

Among all the teenage angst, a tourist ends up murdered.  A murder in a tourist town is not exactly good for business so it's important to solve the case as soon as possible.  After the murder the tension really ratchets up.  It seems that everyone could have been the murderer.  

The mystery is well done and will leave you questioning everyone right up until the end.  This story is full of paranormal goodness but it's also a great look at what lengths characters will go through to protect themselves and their family.