Early Review – The Given (Celestial Blues, Book 3) by Vicki Pettersson (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Length: 368 pages
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Release Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN-13: 978-0062066206
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Celestial Blues series
Source: eGalley from Edelweiss.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

I got a copy of this book to review through NetGalley. This is the final book in the Celestial Blues trilogy by Pettersson. I have actually been enjoying this series quite a bit more than Pettersson’s Signs of the Zodiac series.

There are spoilers ahead from the first two books in this series.

Griffin Shaw has finally learned that his wife, Evie, is still alive and he hopes to track her down and finally solve the mystery of who killed him all those years ago. Unfortunately his obsession with the past is costing him his newfound love with Kit Craig the Rockabilly reporter. Grif is determined to solve his murder no matter what the cost. Then he finds out that the past is tangled indeed and he has to ask Kit for her professional help in solving this mystery.

This was a well done conclusion to this series. There is a lot of investigating, mystery, some paranormal elements, and some organized crime. Grif of course is an angel of sorts, he was sent back to dwell among humanity to be given the chance to solve his murder. But there is a time limit on how long he gets. There are some interesting revelations in this book about Grif’s fellow angels.

However the main portion of the story involves Grif hunting down Evie and solving his murder. Poor Kit loves Grif and wants him to be happy, so she decides to help him track down his wife no matter the emotional cost to her.

I love Kit she is such a sunny character, but this is a rough book for her. She goes through a lot of depression and self-doubt and is left picking up the pieces. Of course, Kit is strong in her own way and she continues to pave her own way throughout. I love Kit’s attitude and Rockabilly style.

Grif has had a blind spot the whole series for his wife from 50 years ago, Evie….he’s been obsessed with solving his murder and finding out what happened to Evie. This is the book where he finally starts to take the blinders off and see what’s right in front of him. I loved how Grif struggles with resolving issues from his past life versus embracing a new life with Kit.

The mystery is a bit convoluted but was well done. There was a lot of “she did it”…”No, wait…he did it”…”No…wait..someone else did it!” types of twists and turns. The whole thing got a bit serpentine and, at times, kind of confusing. There were a couple times I had to stop and read back about who was who in all the organized crime families. In the end though everything made sense and worked out. Things are tied up well for the end of this series. There were some surprising twists and turns.

Overall this was a decent conclusion to this series. The twist and turns in the plot got a bit convoluted at times. However, I really enjoy the way the book had a nostalgic feel even though it takes place in modern times. I also really enjoyed Grif and Kit as characters, they are very well done and have excellent chemistry together. This book was an interesting blend of paranormal, mystery, and crime. I would recommend to those who like urban fantasy and are up for reading something with a bit of a nostalgic feel to it.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Series Reading Challenge
– Ebook Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge