To Catch A Storm is the first thrilling novel in an exciting new action detective series from Mindy Mejia. Read my full review.

To Catch A Storm Synopsis

When her husband’s car is found abandoned and on fire—in the middle of a rainstorm—Eve Roth becomes the police’s number one suspect. After all, her husband was suspended from the University of Iowa for inappropriate conduct with a student, and who else but an atmospheric physicist could incinerate a car in a downpour? But Eve has no idea why her husband disappeared. She’s desperate to find him, both for herself and her beloved, disabled father-in-law.

Jonah Kendrick appears on their doorstep with a theory. He’s seen Eve’s husband, bound and bleeding in a barn. Claiming to be a psychic detective who dreams of the lost, Jonah has helped find missing people his entire life. He dreamed about a young woman trapped in the same barn months ago, and she’s still missing.

As a firm believer in the laws of nature, Eve rejects anything to do with psychics, but their investigations soon collide. As the temperature drops and Iowa turns to ice, Eve and Jonah race across the state to discover what happened to the people they’ve lost. But the truth is more deadly either of them expected, and the physicist and the psychic must learn to believe in each other if they want to escape this storm alive.

(Grove Atlantic, August 2023)

Genre: Crime-Detective, Action, Mystery, Thriller

Book Review

To Catch A Storm, the intriguing title of Mindy Mejia’s latest novel speaks to the appealing recurrent theme within. From the car fire in a downpour that’s this mystery’s catalyst, to the unusual pairing of a hyper competent physicist and psychic barely hanging on to sanity determined to solve it, and lots more clever story elements, this novel considers the power of unlikely connections and the seemingly impossible being possible.

Mejia displays deft touch in her compelling exploration of the vulnerability of her otherwise largely feisty and determined character set. The trauma in this story feels real and the level of violence really packs a punch. But the readers’ burden in this respect is eased somewhat by a well-plotted, high-stakes investigation carried out at an almost frenetic pace.

To Catch a Storm features one of my favourite narrative structures, alternating first-person. However, it was always going to be a tough one to pull off cleanly with one of the leads being able to feel and see what others are. The first-person perspective provided great insight into that character’s abilities, but at times I was momentarily confused as to which character’s viewpoint I was reading. Thankfully, the perspectives alternate relatively quickly and Mejia sign-posts changes with character name headings, so any confusion I had was very short-lived.

Without giving away any spoilers, in To Catch a Storm Mindy Mejia has delivered a satisfyingly engaging, action mystery thriller with lots of clever blindsides.

I look forward to seeing what trouble this enigmatic new amateur detective pairing and compelling support characters manage to get themselves mixed-up in next.

My Rating: Story 4 / 5 ; The Writing 3.5 / 5 — Overall 3.75

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More To Catch A Storm reviews

“Mejia delivers her best work yet in this propulsive, intelligent page-turner. . . Mejia gives Eve and Jonah uncommon depth, which makes their potentially clichéd skeptic/believer dynamic feel surprisingly fresh. . . This indelible thriller has series potential.”– Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“… provides a valuable reminder that keeping an open mind, thinking critically, leaving your comfort zone, and embracing diversity of thought can yield tremendous results.  A lesson we can all learn from while being thoroughly entertained and engrossed in this exciting story.” — Best Thriller Books

“The story ricochets between the laws of physics and psychic dreams as Eve and Jonah work together, with Max circling around them. Love, lies, deceit, and violence unfold as Eve ruthlessly looks for her husband over the course of a few days. An intense, adrenaline-fueled thriller.”–Kirkus Reviews

About the Author, Many Mejia

Mindy Mejia is a CPA and a graduate of the Hamline University MFA program. She lives in the Twin Cities with her family, and is the author of To Catch A Storm and the following novels:

* My receiving an uncorrected digital copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes did not impact the expression of my honest opinions.