Impulses is the second volume in my Imp Mysteries series. (Each volume title begins with Imp. Volume 1 in the series was Implications.) Although these mysteries use some of the same characters and settings as my earlier Lord’s Prayer Mystery Series, the Imp mysteries are not tied to a single theme. They are loosely connected stand-alone novels, some of which may stray a bit from the mystery genre.

Impulses presents a story that has many facets, or impulses, to it. Arthur Blake moves from initial boredom caused by a dearth of cases to an array of situations requiring simultaneous investigation. We focus on a small-town rehabilitation home where four female patients have died over the course of a year and also look at the apparent suicide of a pastor who had visited all of those women shortly before they died. Additional casework involves the disappearance of two people from a college town, the arrival of a mysterious shipment at Arthur’s father’s antiques shop, and examination of a woman who is experiencing flashes of memories from a deceased man. This latter evaluation leads Arthur and all of us readers to consider the possibility of life after death, in the context of university studies that have documented convincing instances of prior life memories.

The story also includes the introduction of a pair of younger investigators who assist in this volume’s cases but are likely to have their own adventures in future novels. Enjoy all of our Impulses and the characters who participate in them.