She can touch an object and sense the emotions of the people who’ve held it before…

After solving the mystery of her predecessor’s death, geologist Petra Cloch wants to focus on her new job as the rocks and minerals curator at a quirky, small-town New Mexico museum. But her friend and colleague, Liberty, is suspicious of the “accidental” death of Frank Underwood, a retired petroleum engineer and rockhound who unexpectedly died while hiking. Frank acted odd and secretive in his last weeks—mumbling about an incredible find in the desert and aliens. Was he showing the first signs of dementia, or were more sinister forces at work?

Petra agrees to help excavate the truth, and soon, instead of meeting for book club, she and her friends become amateur investigators. Petra uses her gift and her brains to sort through the contradictory stories and confusing clues as she and her friends dig for answers.

Did Frank’s heirs decide to hasten their inheritance? Or did his rock shop business partner decide to go solo? Petra joins the local geological club to discover whether someone there acquired a taste for murder, because they’ll need rock-solid evidence to catch a killer.

Titles in the Reluctantly Psychic Murder Mystery series include: A Stone Cold Murder ~ Death at Rock Bottom ~

This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Title:  Death at Rock Bottom
Series:  Reluctantly Psychic Murder Mystery #2
Author:  Kris Bock
Published:  August 4, 2025
Publisher:  Tule Publishing
My Rating:  4.5 stars

Death at Rock Bottom is the second title in the Reluctantly Psychic Murder Mystery series.

Once again, Petra’s unique ability, psychometry, comes into play as the death of a local rockhound, Frank, has more questions than answers. Right now, only her friend, Liberty, knows of Petra’s ability to ‘read’ an object that a person has recently touched, their emotions flowing through the item into her mind.  The more that the details of Frank’s death don’t add up, the more Petra is drawn into the mystery.

Soon, an entire crew of amateur detectives, aka Petra’s old and new friends, will do some serious sleuthing to uncover clues to put the right person behind bars… but there are so many possible suspects.

Death at Rock Bottom kept me on my toes, trying to figure out whodunit along with the rest of the gang.  I enjoyed seeing Petra’s growth from the first story in the series.  She’s letting people into her solitary life a bit easier, well, sometimes she has no choice, but still she’s not hiding in a corner quite so much.

If you enjoy a well-written mystery or figuring out puzzles, then you’d have a very good time with Death at Rock Bottom.  I enjoyed myself, and I’m already looking forward to Petra’s next adventure.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or the author’s team via Booksprout, and I sincerely thank them for their trust. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

This title is available at Amazon (affiliate link)