LITMIR.BIZ

       Prologue: Belief

       Mia

      I sat in a hotel room in Bath, waiting. In the year since the publication of my first book, I’d seen more hotel rooms than I had in the rest of my 42 years. I lit a cigarette, and glanced around the empty room. The curtains were heavy and shiny; the table set with cups and saucers. I thought of the warmth of my kitchen on the Isle of Sheppey, filled with the noise and liveliness of my family, my clients and friends. What was I doing here, miles from home?

      People imagine psychics don’t ask questions. We’re meant to know everything but, although we are party to special and important information, we are still human. Stubbing out the cigarette, I got off the bed and padded around, hoping to relieve the wariness I could feel building. Catching sight of my reflection in the mirrored door of the wardrobe, I fumbled in my bag for my lipstick. The familiar ritual of applying it was calming.

      I had been working as a psychic for more than 20 years, giving readings to a circle of people that grew by word of mouth as my practice developed. Now I was becoming a public face, a woman known for her psychic powers and, any minute now, a journalist from a leading magazine would arrive to interview me.

      My daughter Tanya and I had read that magazine avidly, laughing at the gossip and glamour of celebrity lives. It was odd to think that now people wanted my story. But I had no illusions: our glories are transitory. Life is a wheel, bringing those at the bottom to the top – and, inevitably, down to the bottom again.

      All the same, I felt apprehensive. I believe in what I do, and I didn’t want my words misinterpreted by yet another close-minded journalist.

      I jumped at the sound of the telephone.

      ‘Rosalyn Chissick is on her way up,’ the receptionist said.

      A moment later I opened the door to a woman in her thirties, dark curls tumbling around an intense, yet friendly face.

       Roz

      Fifteen minutes before my appointment with Mia, I was sitting in the sun in a park, formulating questions for our interview.

      ‘People seeing glimpses of the past or the future? Psychics are deluding themselves or the public or both,’ I thought to myself. The vast psychic industry was probably an elaborate and lucrative scam. Nevertheless, I had to acknowledge another part of me – one that was open to being persuaded otherwise.

      The idea of interviewing Mia had come from my editor. She told me that Mia had a remarkable reputation as a clairvoyant specializing in psychic predictions and hauntings. My brief was to try and discover whether her special powers were for real.

      I did my homework. I found out that psychic readings attract all

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