My love of both reading and astrology has led me to a strong interest in Astrological Fiction, a genre that blends fantasy with ideas about the influence of astrology on human life. These stories often explore how celestial events, like our birth chart or planetary alignments, might shape our destinies. And in several of these stories, they are used to unravel mysteries of a more serious nature. Here are a few of my favorites in this genre.
The Starlight Detective Agency Mysteries, Mitchell Scott Lewis
Mystery series featuring astrologer detective David Lowell - set in New York
Book One: Murder in the 11th House
Astrological detective David Lowell must use his chartsand knowledge to solve the murder of a state judge in a New York City parking garage. At the urging of his daughter Melinda, a young defense attorney, Lowell tries to prove the innocence of Johnny Colbert, a loud-mouthed bartender wrongly accused of the crime. Lowell's hacker sidekick Mort, his vivacious assistant Sarah, and their bodyguard Andy join them in their race against time. With birth charts and street smarts, Lowell sorts out a cast of characters, from the judge's clerk and her lawyer boyfriend to the judge herself, and traces the reason for the crime back to a surprising source.
Book Two: Death in the 12th House
Someone is bumping off rock's wrinkled royalty. The latest victim? Freddie Finger, 63-year-old lead singer for Rocket Fire. Seeking answers, Freddie's daughter, movie actress Vivian Younger, retains astrologer detective David Lowell to help catch her father's killer. Freddie wasn't well liked, and Lowell has plenty of suspects. Among them are Freddie's ex-wives, who seem more intent on killing each other than anyone else. And his disgruntled band members, angry because Freddie's solo career was threatening the band's future. Then there is his greedy manager, busy promoting the death of a rock star. Or could his killer have been the musician whose career Freddie sabotaged many years ago? With the help of his red-haired assistant Sarah, master hacker and psychic Mort, and his driver and bodyguard Andy, Lowell sifts through the birth charts of the characters and follows the clues to a surprising ending
Book Three: Evil in the First House
Astrologer detective David Lowell's most difficult case begins with a man, a briefcase, and a challenge. Dr. Edgar Williamson promises a briefcase containing one million dollars if Lowell can find the twin brother of the doctor's teenage son in time for a live-saving kidney transplant. Thanks to an exceedingly rare blood type, there are no other viable donors and time is running out for the doctor's son. Aided by his staff—spitfire assistant Sarah, psychic hacker Mort, and bodyguard Andy—Lowell sets out to find the twin and the mother, who have been missing since the birth of the boys. As Lowell digs deeper into the investigation, it's evident he needs legal advice in a case that's shaping up to be an ethical quagmire. Lowell enlists the legal counsel of his daughter Melinda, an attorney and prize astrology student.As more comes to light, will Lowell be able to find the missing twin in time to save Williamson's son? Or do the stars foresee a more tragic end for this case?
The Zodiac Mysteries, Connie Di Marco
Julia Bonatti, a San Francisco newspaper advice columnist and astrologer uses astrology to solve murders. All the while she is haunted by the unsolved hit and run death of her fiancé, Michael Sefton years earlier.
Book One: The Madness of Mercury
San Francisco Astrologer Julia Bonatti’s life is turned upside down when she becomes a target of the Reverend Roy of the Prophet’s Tabernacle. The Reverend, a recently-arrived cult preacher, is determined to drive sin from the city, but his gospel of love and compassion doesn’t extend to those he considers an “abomination unto the Lord.” Julia’s outspoken advice in her newspaper column, AskZodia, has put her at the top of the Reverend’s list. While the powerful Mercury-ruled preacher woos local dignitaries, his Army of the Prophet will stop at nothing to silence not just Julia, but anyone who stands in his way. Driven out of her apartment in the midst of a disastrous Mercury retrograde period, she takes shelter with a client who’s caring for two elderly aunts. One aunt appears stricken with dementia and the other has fallen under the spell of the Reverend Roy. To add to the confusion, a young man claiming to be a long-lost nephew arrives. The longer he stays, the more dangerous things become. One aunt slides deeper into psychosis while the other disappears. Is this young man truly a member of the family? Can astrology confirm that? Julia’s not sure, but one thing she does know is that Mercury wasn’t merely the messenger of the gods—he was a trickster and a liar as well.
Book Two: All Signs Point to Murder
Rob Ramer was the perfect husband until he committed the ultimate family faux pas – he shot his sister-in-law to death. Believing himself under attack by an intruder in his home, he fired back. However, when e-mails are discovered between Rob’s wife, Brooke, and her sister plotting his murder, Brooke is charged with conspiracy and manslaughter in her sister’s death. Geneva, a third sister, seek out Julia’s help. Geneva’s never believed in astrology, but she’s desperate for answers. She’s lost one sister and now it seems she’ll lose the other. Was this a murder plot or just a terrible accident? Is there more to this family than meets the eye? Julia finds the answer in a dark sun.
Book Three: Tail of the Dragon
San Francisco Astrologer Julia Bonatti never thought murder would be part of her practice. Julia loves the freedom of working for herself as a professional astrologer, but when her former boss and current client, David Meyers, asks for her help she agrees to go undercover at his law firm. David is desperate. Three People at his firm have received death threats. Julia soon discovers the only common denominator between the three is a long-settled case—the infamous Bank of San Francisco fire. Julia’s astrological expertise provides clues but no one wants to listen. Before she can convince the authorities of what she knows, two people are dead and her own life is in danger. Julia must unmask the killer before he, or she, takes another life.
Book Four: Enter A Wizard Stage Left (Kindle Only)
Julia Bonatti wasn’t always a crime-solving San Francisco astrologer. She was a young woman, engaged to the love of her life, preparing for a teaching career when tragedy struck. Her fiancé was killed in a hit and run accident. As Julia struggles with her loss and attempts to find meaning in her life again, she takes refuge with her grandmother Gloria. But there’s little time for grief or rest because Gloria, a retired seamstress, needs Julia’s help. Gloria’s been hired to create costumes for a production of Agatha Christie’s Appointment with Death at the newly opened Theatre Mars in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood. Theatre Mars is a stunning jewel, the cast is supremely talented and the script is brilliant. What could go wrong? Julia gets the first hint of trouble when her new friend, the owner of The Mystic Eye bookshop, warns that all might not go well. Opening night will take place during the dark of the moon, the last three days before the new moon, a time that bodes disaster for any new project. The dire prediction comes true when the lead actress is murdered before the final curtain, echoing the play itself. Julia discovers a vital clue to the murder, but a clue that puts Gloria’s life in grave danger. Can Julia rescue her grandmother before it’s too late? And will a black cat play a leading role?
Book Five: Serpent's Doom
As San Francisco's Chinatown prepares for the Lunar New Year festivities in the fogbound month of February, astrologer Julia Bonatti finds herself with three new clients, all in desperate straits who don’t seem to heed her advice. Tracy is the victim of a brutal husband with nowhere to run, and Jeanette is worried sick about her son, whom she suspects has fallen in with a bad lot. But most frightening to Julia is Frankie Chang’s dilemma. Frankie’s only eleven years old, and he’s terrified. His mother is missing, and no one will help him. Julia’s heart goes out to him, but her hands are tied. Frankie won’t let her talk to the police and neither will his family. Julia eventually discovers that the three worlds of her clients intertwine. Those lives inevitably collide exposing a dangerous smuggling cabal. Julia knows too much and becomes a victim of both a ruthless environmental group and criminals who will stop at nothing—including murder.
The Christy Bristol Mysteries by Sunny Frazier
Christy Bristol is an office worker who moonlights as an amateur astrologer. In each story, she gets pulled into a murder mystery and is forced to solve the crime.
Book One: Fools Rush In
On a blazing July day in California’s San Joaquin Valley, snitch Johnny Blue is murdered by a lethal heroin injection. Undercover narcotic detective James Wolfe, the operative who handled Blue, goes to the sheriff’s department substation seeking ex-girlfriend Christy Bristol. In the past, he ridiculed her hobby of casting horoscopes. Now he needs her expertise to catch the man he suspects is behind Blue’s murder, a drug dealer named Lloyd Parr. Stuck on the lowest rung of law enforcement, Christy becomes first a victim, then a hero, in the high-stakes game of narcotic trafficking. Through her eyes, the drug world is reduced to individual players, lost values, and discarded dreams. The reality of what goes on in the fertile land of the San Joaquin Valley is far more disturbing than the Hollywood version of drug lords and a wealthy lifestyle fueled by drug money. In the drug world of the Valley, there are no winners. Only losers.
Book Two: Where Angels Fear
Amateur astrologer Christy Bristol and her best friend Lennie Watkins find themselves on the fringes of Kearny society and a “members-only” sex club as they reluctantly take on a missing persons case. A prominent business man has disappeared and his wife says she can’t go to the authorities. Armed with only a prescription bottle and matchbook as clues, the two young woman infiltrate the Knights of Sensani sex club and run head first into more than their own sexual inhibitions. Convinced that the missing man is a victim of the same perp who killed three other men, Christy and Lennie—using nothing more than guts, determination, and an astrological chart of the victim—start an investigation that could not only land them in hot water…it could get them killed.
Book Three: A Snitch in Time
When sheriff’s department office assistant Christy Bristol takes a long weekend to visit her friend, Lennie, in the Sierra Nevada foothills, it’s not the vacation she anticipated. A murder has just occurred and Christy is conscripted by the homicide team to handle the reports. To add to her frustration, she gets in a fight with Lennie over her friend’s arrogant boyfriend and has no place to stay. The detectives put her up in a forest ranger's cabin while he is away fighting fires. As the body count grows, it becomes apparent the killer is targeting undesirables in the town of Burlap. One victim’s girlfriends calls Christy and accuses a deputy of the murders. Christy doesn’t know whether to believe the snitch or not. Could a killer really be hiding behind his badge? Using astrology, she casts a reverse horoscope to profile him, but puts her own life at risk. And time is running out.
Honorable Mention
Horoscope: The Astrology Murders, Georgina Frontier
Dr. Kelly Elizabeth York has spent her life helping people solve their problems. A celebrity astrologer and psychologist with a devoted following, she now finds herself in the unlikely and terrifying position of helping the police and the FBI determine the identity of a serial killer—who just may be targeting her. No matter how careful she is, Kelly knows that she will have to confront darkness, an energy so black it could challenge everything she believes in.
Note: Horoscope is a well-crafted, intelligent mystery. Unfortunately, the author died before she could write or publish any future installments. However, she did leave behind outlines for future storylines should the publisher find a qualified ghost writer to continue the series. Given that over a decade has passed since this book was published, it seems unlikely.
Carolina Dean
Senior List-Maker
12th House Books
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