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funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Claire Hendricks is spending the weekend with an old university friend. Figgy has asked her to provide the 'entertainment' at her grandmother's birthday party as Claire works as a medium so a paid séance is in the offing. Figgy's family home is the sort of place where a selection of ghosts are quite likely but Claire always has one with her - her friend, Sophie, who disappeared when she was seventeen. Sophie can't remember what happened &, as her body was never found, Claire is the only one who knows Sophie is dead.
The party doesn't quite go to plan though & the next morning, the family matriarch is dead, but luckily her ghost hangs around long enough to ask Claire to solve the mystery of the library ghost as she is worried that a family member has committed murder & covered it up. A ghost in the shape of a skeleton, it is tethered to the library until someone solves the mystery of its death & finds the body. Enlisting the help of the only two living people there that could possibly be trusted, Alex & Basher (Sebastian), Claire & Sophie set about solving their first mystery.
This is a mystery with a paranormal twist as several ghosts help out along the way. Claire & Sophie are still best friends even though one of them is dead & some of their conversations are like those conducted between slightly exasperated siblings. The mystery itself is rather thin, there's not a great deal of actual detecting even though Claire is a self-confessed crime show addict. There were one or two laugh out loud bits though - I particularly liked the misheard Spice Girls lyrics one. Yes, it lost its way a little in the middle but overall it was a nice little paranormal mystery with a humorous edge.
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Atlantic Books/Corvus, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.
The party doesn't quite go to plan though & the next morning, the family matriarch is dead, but luckily her ghost hangs around long enough to ask Claire to solve the mystery of the library ghost as she is worried that a family member has committed murder & covered it up. A ghost in the shape of a skeleton, it is tethered to the library until someone solves the mystery of its death & finds the body. Enlisting the help of the only two living people there that could possibly be trusted, Alex & Basher (Sebastian), Claire & Sophie set about solving their first mystery.
This is a mystery with a paranormal twist as several ghosts help out along the way. Claire & Sophie are still best friends even though one of them is dead & some of their conversations are like those conducted between slightly exasperated siblings. The mystery itself is rather thin, there's not a great deal of actual detecting even though Claire is a self-confessed crime show addict. There were one or two laugh out loud bits though - I particularly liked the misheard Spice Girls lyrics one. Yes, it lost its way a little in the middle but overall it was a nice little paranormal mystery with a humorous edge.
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Atlantic Books/Corvus, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Sexual content and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use
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