Colleen Helme

Colleen Helme writes light paranormal mysteries around Shelby Nichols, a suburban mother whose accidental ability to hear thoughts repeatedly draws her into investigations. Devious Minds is the eighth Shelby Nichols Adventure and sends Shelby to Paris with a spy while a rogue agent threatens an international attack. Her unusual advantage becomes unreliable because she cannot interpret thoughts formed in French. Helme balances that danger with humor, family awareness, and Shelby's tendency to improvise under pressure. Recurring allies and earlier cases give Shelby a life beyond each puzzle, while Devious Minds offers a distinct Paris mission with its own stakes. The language barrier shapes both the investigation and its comic disruptions. Readers familiar with the series will recognize its mixture of mind reading, quick decisions, and family complications; newcomers can identify this volume by its international setting and Shelby's struggle to use a familiar power in unfamiliar circumstances.