Exposure by Ramona Emerson

 

The plot:  Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer with the Albuquerque police department. She can also see the ghosts of murder victims. And since her last case, when she almost died, the ghosts won't leave her alone. It's making her sick. She heads to her grandmother's house in Tohatchi hoping to find some healing on the Navajo reservation. But she gets drawn back into a murder investigation in Gallup, where a detective suspects that a serial killer is stalking and killing indigent Native Americans.

My thoughts:  I loved Emerson's first novel about Rita Todacheene; Shutter was a magical mix of Navajo myth and culture, mystery, suspense and ghostly hauntings. Rita is a fascinating character. This novel picks up where Shutter left off. It's more character-driven, with chapters alternating between Rita with all her current struggles and the serial killer's own story, which was more sad than creepy/scary. It also focuses on the plight of Native Americans in places like Gallup. It's both heartbreaking and enraging. This was a different mystery than what I was expecting, but it's a compelling read and I continue to be a fan of Rita Todacheene.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

 

The plot:  A recovering addict who's been clean for eighteen months, Mallory Quinn, just got a job as a nanny for Caroline and Ted Maxwell's five-year-old son, Teddy, for the summer. She's desperate to prove herself, and they're willing to give her a chance despite her past drug use. And it's all because of Teddy. He's a sweet, shy boy who likes to wear purple and draw pictures of rabbits. He also draws pictures of his imaginary friend, Anya; those aren't as cute. Then his pictures get even darker, showing a man dragging a woman into the forest and then burying her. And Mallory begins to suspect that Teddy is being haunted by something sinister. Was Anya murdered? Mallory gets drawn into solving the mystery in order to protect Teddy, but his parents start to question her honesty...and her sanity. 

My thoughts:  I loved Teddy and how cute he is with Mallory; I also really loved getting to see his artwork throughout the book...and the eerie story his pictures start to tell. And a mystery with a touch of the supernatural like this one has is one of my favorite kinds of books to read. I appreciated the atmosphere and suspense Rekulak creates and how he keeps you guessing about the truth behind the haunting until the very end. This is such a compelling read. I loved it.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Grimm Curiosities by Sharon Lynn Fisher

 

First line:  They say York is the most haunted city in England, but I'm probably the only person in it named after a ghost.

The plot:  December 1851. Lizzy Grimm and her mother live above their small shop, Grimm Curiosities. For awhile, Lizzy's mother worked as a medium to help pay the rent, but a year ago she was stricken silent. Now it's up to Lizzy to take care of her mother and to keep her late father's antique shop open, but things aren't going well. She finds unexpected help from Antony Carlisle, the oldest son of the local baron. His younger sister has also been stricken silent. He and Lizzie team up to try and discover why. And they think they just might find the answers they're seeking in her father's treasured set of books about ghosts, faeries, doorways, otherworldly creatures, and yuletide myths. Only someone else really wants those books--an older gentleman who is also interested in Lizzy.

My thoughts:  This book is an enchanting combination of mystery & romance with a touch of fairy tale magic. Oh, and ghosts! I loved the Grimm's small curiosity shop and the ghostly atmosphere permeating York. All the old buildings and narrow alleyways called ginnels made for a great setting. And Lizzy and Antony are both very engaging characters. I loved how their cautious friendship deepened into something more over the course of their search. There's even a ball. And the magical elements made this book even more fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Happy Reading! 

Middle of the Night by Riley Sager

 

From the blurb:

"The worst thing to ever happen on Hemlock Circle occurred in Ethan Marsh’s backyard. One July night, ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend and neighbor, Billy, fell asleep in a tent set up on a manicured lawn in a quiet, quaint New Jersey cul de sac. In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. During the night, someone had sliced the tent open with a knife and taken Billy. He was never seen again.

Thirty years later, Ethan has reluctantly returned to his childhood home. Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. Someone seems to be roaming the cul de sac at odd hours, and signs of Billy’s presence keep appearing in Ethan’s backyard. Is someone playing a cruel prank? Or has Billy, long thought to be dead, somehow returned to Hemlock Circle?

The mysterious occurrences prompt Ethan to investigate what really happened that night, a quest that reunites him with former friends and neighbors and leads him into the woods that surround Hemlock Circle. Woods where Billy claimed monsters roamed and where a mysterious institute does clandestine research on a crumbling estate.

The closer Ethan gets to the truth, the more he realizes that no place—be it quiet forest or suburban street—is completely safe. And that the past has a way of haunting the present."

My thoughts:  I've read six other books by Riley Sager: I really liked three of them, disliked two, and thought the sixth landed somewhere in the middle. So I didn't know what to expect with this one. But I'm happy to report that I ended up really liking it. Ethan's guilt and grief felt so real, as did his desire to figure out what happened to his friend that long ago night. And Sager does an excellent job of interweaving the past with the present through the different characters' POVs. The way he lets the story unfold builds good suspense and made me want to keep reading. I also really liked the touch of supernatural in it. All in all, this is a fun mystery!

My rating:  4.5/5 stars.

Happy Reading!

The other three Riley Sager novels I really liked:

Home Before Dark

The Last Time I Lied

Lock Every Door

I did post reviews of the other three Sager books that I've read, so you can find them on my blog if you're interested in knowing what I didn't like about them.

The Spirit Girls by Dawn Merriman

 

First line:  I should be afraid, but I'm not.

Plot summary:  Rylan Flynn can talk to ghosts. She and her friend, Mickey, film some of her encounters for their YouTube show Beyond the Dead Investigations. But mostly Rylan tries to help the ghosts crossover. But when the ghost of a young woman leads Rylan to her dead body in the woods near her aunt's house, Rylan finds herself caught up in a murder investigation. Something Detective Ford Pierce is not thrilled about. 

My thoughts:  This is a fast and fun paranormal mystery; it's a little short, and not too scary, and I really liked it. From the ghosts in her home to her penchant for filling her house and garage up with found 'treasures', Rylan is an interesting and likable character. And her longtime crush on Ford hints at the possibility of some romance in future books. It's a very promising start to this new ghostly series. And I look forward to reading more books about Rylan Flynn and the ghosts in her life. 

My rating: 4/5 stars.

Happy Reading!

Gallows Hill by Darcy Coates

 "Gallows Hill is cursed."

From the blurb:  It's been more than a decade since Margot Hull last saw her childhood home. And she was young enough when she was sent away that she barely remembers its dark passageways and secret corners. But now she's returned to bury her parents who died in her childhood home from mysterious circumstances. She's also inherited Gallows Hill and the winery that is her family's legacy...along with all the dark secrets that lie buried beneath the crumbling estate. Secrets she was never told.

My thoughts:  Margot should never have returned to Gallows Hill, not even for her parents' funeral. The name alone hints at its macabre past. And there are worse horrors hidden within. This book is seriously scary. From the ringing of the bells throughout the house, to the blood in the attic, to the reflection Margot keeps seeing in the mirror of her own corpse. And that's just the beginning! The house may be haunted, but what emerges from the tunnels beneath Gallows Hill is like a disturbing nightmare come to life. Coates does an amazing job of building suspense throughout the book, and creating an atmospheric and haunting setting. It gave me chills. And what an ending! I loved this one; it's a great October read.

Happy Reading!

Shutter by Ramona Emerson

 

The plot:  Rita Todacheene is Navajo. She was raised by her grandmother on the reservation, and grew up loving photography; she also grew up seeing ghosts. Too bad her supernatural gift is taboo in Navajo society. As an adult, Rita now works in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as a forensic photographer. She photographs crime scenes, and her gift sometimes helps her see clues the police miss. Though she tries very hard not to let any of the ghosts around her know that she can see them. It doesn't always work. And her latest case just brought a very angry ghost into her life, one who was murdered and who is determined to make Rita find her killers. 

My thoughts:  What a spellbinding read! Rita is such an interesting character. I loved how the author interweaves her childhood and all her first ghostly experiences with her present day life. The well-drawn New Mexico backdrop along with Rita's detailed camera skills ground the novel and give it a real sense of authenticity, which contrasts nicely with all the supernatural elements. And Emerson does an excellent job of creating tension and suspense. I was drawn into Rita's life, and her job, and the mystery surrounding the angry ghost. I really hope Emerson is planning on writing a sequel.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

The Trailwalker by J.L. Bryan

 

The plot:  Paranormal investigator, Ellie Jordan, and her partner, Stacey, have been hired by Josh and Allison Conner to investigate the old summer camp they just purchased and hope to reopen soon. The camp has a lot of history, not all of it good. Allison is convinced the rustic lodge and cabins are haunted. Josh isn't so sure. But there's a cold mist in the attic, ghostly footsteps at night, something haunting the lake, and an old burial mound near the camp. Ellie and Stacey have their work cut out for them. First, they need to find out who or what is haunting the place, and then figure out how to lay it to rest.  

My thoughts: I love books with a summer camp setting. And a camp that's haunted, too? Even better! This is the thirteenth Ellie Jordan novel that I've read and it's another fun one in this ghost-hunting series. It reads fast. The mystery surrounding the summer camp is interesting. And there's lots of ghostly activity and good supernatural suspense. And the ending is awesome. (Just wait 'til you meet the Trailwalker!) That's what I love most about these books; they all have good endings. They've also got humor, and I really like the main characters. This one can be read as a standalone, although I do recommend checking out the first one, Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper, just because it's so good.

Happy Reading!

Got Ghosts?

 "I hadn't come all this way to run from whatever might be haunting this house. Protecting the living against the evil and restless dead, that's my calling, my only real purpose in life. My intuition, unscientific as it was, told me there was something here, something that might be endangering both of them ... and I wasn't going to abandon them."

The Necromancer's Library by J.L. Bryan is the twelfth Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper novel. These books are very fun ghost stories with good scares, lots of humor, a very likable heroine, and some very creepy haunted houses. I love them. 

In this one, Ellie and her ghost-hunting partner, Stacey, have been hired by two sisters to investigate a haunting at an isolated antebellum home in rural Georgia. It's more library than house, with walls of overflowing bookshelves in every room. They once belonged to Professor Marconi and include medieval occult manuscripts along with books on conjuring spirits, contacting ghosts, and raising the dead. Marconi died mysteriously a few months ago. Is he the one haunting the mansion? Or is the spirit something darker and more demonic? Ellie is determined to find out. 

A house full of arcane and esoteric books is the perfect setting for a haunting. And some very scary things take place in this old house. I loved the mystery and suspense. Stacey's boyfriend, Jake, who is a CPA and reluctant psychic, comes for a weekend to help them out with their case; he always makes me laugh. And that ghostly ending? It's a good one! This book is a perfect read for October. But then, any of J.L. Bryan's books are. 

Happy Reading! 

Other J.L. Bryan ghost stories I've reviewed:

Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper

The Crawling Darkness

Maze of Souls

The Whispering Dead by Darcy Coates...

 "Keira cracked her eyes open. Rain fell through tree branches and pinged off her flushed skin, washing tracks of blood away from her cheek. ... She probed for memories but came up empty. Her name was Keira. She'd woken in a forest of some kind coated in mud, sore, and soaking wet. That was the extent of her knowledge."

Not only is Keira suffering from amnesia, she has some bad guys after her, too. She just doesn't know who or why. They chase her through the forest, but she manages to evade them and find refuge at the parsonage in Blightly. The pastor, John Adage, kindly lets her stay in the groundskeeper's cottage at the edge of the graveyard. Keira likes the isolation... until she sees her first ghost. It's the ghost of a young woman who seems to want something from her. But what? 

Keira soon has some real company at her small cottage. A black stray cat who loves to laze by her fire adopts her. And Adage introduces her to Mason, a medical student with chocolate brown hair, who sees to her wounds. Then there's the crazy conspiracy girl, Zoe, who works at the local grocery store. Zoe quickly adopts her, too. But none of her new friends can help her figure out her past, or how to help the ghost in the graveyard. 

This is the first book in Darcy Coates's Gravekeeper series. It's a fun introduction to Keira and her newfound friends. I loved Mason, Zoe, and Darcy's cute cat, Daisy. And while Keira manages to figure out the mystery surrounding the ghost, her own past remains a giant question mark. I guess those answers will come in a later book. Overall, I thought this book was very entertaining. There's some suspenseful moments along the way, but nothing too scary. I actually liked all the ghosts Keira comes in contact with; some of the humans she meets were definitely more creepy. And the ending made me smile. I'm looking forward to reading the next book, The Ravenous Dead, which is supposed to come out next March. Until then...

Happy Reading!

Some ghostly reads for October...

I love a good ghost story. Especially when it's set in an old house that's haunted. And Sarah Rayne has written several quietly suspenseful ghost stories in her Nell West and Michael Flint Haunted House Series. There are six books in this series:  Property of a Lady, The Sin Eater, The Silence, The Whispering, Deadlight Hall, and The Bell Tower. It's hard to pick a favorite because they're all really good, but I recommend starting with one of the first ones.  

Another fun series is J.L. Bryan's Ellie Jordan series. She and her colleagues kick ghosts out of haunted places by finding and trapping them. What I like about this series is that the characters are funny, the books are suspenseful, and the endings are always satisfying. I think there are sixteen books in this series. I haven't read them all yet, but I've loved all the ones that I have read. It's best to start with the first book: Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper. But Cold Shadows, Maze of Souls, and The Crawling Darkness are also really good. 

And if you're into ghost stories that have a more classic feel to them, you can't go wrong with either Susan Hill's The Woman in Black or Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. They've made movies of both of these books, but even if you've seen the movies, I still recommend reading the books, because the books are better.

So if you're looking for some fun ghostly reads this October, these are some to try. 

I list more ghostly books I've read and enjoyed under my Ghostly Reads tab at the top.

Happy Reading!

Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon

 "Our train got snowed up and I and some others tried to walk across country to another station, Hemmersby, but the snow was so bad that we got lost, and then I fainted like a fool, twisting my foot, and a young man carried me to the house where we now are and may have to stay till the snow stops if it ever will. It's funny because although no one is here the tea was laid and the fires going....Of course, it's a funny situation."

 

Heavy snowfall forces seven strangers to seek shelter in a deserted country house. Only, one of the seven might be a murderer. And there's something strange, almost eerie, about the portrait over the mantel as well as the house. One man, who claims to be psychic, says it's haunted. And where are the house's inhabitants? It's a mystery. Outside it just keeps snowing and snowing. And did I mention it's Christmas Eve?

My thoughts:  I always enjoy reading these British Library Crime Classics! There's an old-fashioned charm about them that I really like. They're not usually super suspenseful, but there's always a puzzle to be solved and some thoughtful sleuthing to be done. I appreciate the 1930s dialogue. And the plucky characters, too. They're never perfect reads, but they're always good fun. I enjoyed this one a lot.

Happy Reading!

Other British Library Crime Classics:

Murder in the Museum by John Rowland

Death in the Tunnel by Miles Burton

Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay

Thirteen Guests by J. Jefferson Farjeon

The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley

Seven Dead by J. Jefferson Farjeon

The Family Plot by Cherie Priest

 Music City Salvage has just landed the Withrow Estate; Dahlia Dutton is in charge of stripping out everything that's valuable. It's a job she does well. But there's something about this house that's different.

"She didn't want to start work on the Withrow house. This wasn't some favor she was doing for an old friend; this wasn't a restoration gig to preserve a landmark. This was a vivisection, a slow slaughter of a thing on its last legs. She loved the house, and she loved all its parts, so she hated her job, this time. She didn't want to take anything. She wanted to fix everything, but that wasn't up to her."

And what is the house feeling? Angry. Unloved. Lost. 

Or that just might be something in the house.

Then there's the cemetery plot Dahlia finds near the house. And the ghost she thought she saw: a girl in a yellow dress. The rest of her crew is seeing ghosts, too. A soldier and a little boy. And strange things are happening at night. It looks like the secrets of Withrow house are finally starting to come out.

There are some good thrills and chills in this one. And some memorable characters, too. I really liked the beginning when Dahlia and the others first arrive at the house. The big scares come in the second half of the book, along with those ghostly revelations of what happened in the past. They were good, too, if a little convoluted at times. But the epilogue bugged me. I hate when authors ruin things at the very end, because the rest of the book is an entertaining ghost story. So while I didn't end up loving this one, I did like it a lot. (And if you decide to read it...skip the epilogue!)

Happy Reading!

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

There's something not quite right about the Sun Down Motel. And it's not just because people have died there. Viv Delaney is sure that it's haunted. She's the night clerk at the motel and she keeps a notebook of the happenings and hauntings that go on there. But when she learns about Betty, Cathy and Victoria--three young women who were all murdered in Fell, New York, within the last four years--she begins investigating their deaths. Because she thinks they're connected. And she thinks she knows how. Only no one believes her. And then, on November 29, 1982, she disappears.

Thirty-five years later Carly Kirk comes to Fell to solve the mystery of Viv Delaney's disappearance--Viv is the aunt she never got a chance to meet. She follows Viv's tracks, even taking a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down. And that's when strange things start to happen: unexplained noises and smells, motel doors opening for no reason, and the appearance of a woman in a floral dress who isn't real. Soon, Carly is investigating more than just her missing aunt. She has some handsome help, too. Nick Harkness is staying at the motel...and he's seen the ghosts, too.

My thoughts:
A great combination of mystery and ghost story, The Sun Down Motel is one of those dual timeline novels that alternates between Viv's POV in 1982 and Carly's in 2017. I found both characters likable and engaging in their own ways, and I quickly got drawn into both of their stories. What I didn't love at first was jumping back and forth between the two narratives and having to remember where I last left Viv or Carly, and what suspenseful thing had just happened to each of them. Happily, St. James's writing pulled me back in every time. And the two story lines soon paralleled each other in a way that kept the suspense building. There's some great supernatural action throughout. I also liked the way Viv and Carly were able to solve the mysteries in their own respective timelines. I ended up really loving this one. But then, I've loved most of Simone St. James books. She's become one of my favorite authors. What made this one even better? Reading it with Melody! Be sure to check out her review to see what she thought of it.

Happy Reading!

Melody's questions to me about this book:

Q. What did you think about the dual timeline between Viv and Carly? In what ways are Viv and Carly similar and different from each other?
A. I thought the dual timelines worked well in this book; I liked how Carly's story often echoed Viv's, and how the ghosts and the same people showed up in both timelines. As for how they're similar, Carly and Viv are both inquisitive and surprisingly fearless. Viv felt like more of a loner than Carly; Carly a bit more naive. I did think Viv was the better detective. She also had an intensity about her that Carly lacked. But I liked them both.

Q. So we know going in this was a ghost story and a haunted motel. Have you ever encountered anything strange or scary while staying in a hotel? If not, is there any other strange experiences that you can share with us?
A. Although I've stayed in some sketchy motels over the years, none of them have been scary, or have felt haunted in anyway. I did feel an eerie vibe when I was visiting Chaco Canyon, especially when the wind blew, that made me think the ruins there could definitely be haunted by the spirits of the past. But mostly my life has been ghost free.

The End of Temperance Dare by Wendy Webb

"I have left a puzzle for you to solve, Eleanor Harper. You, the would-be sleuth. You, of the curious mind. I know you will latch on to it, just as you latched on to the murders of my father and sister all those years ago. I trust you'll be more successful this time. You see, that's why I chose you and brought you to Cliffside. Only you can work out all of the mysteries that are swirling through these halls....my nightmare is over. Yours, however is just beginning."

Brief summary of the plot:
Situated on the shore of Lake Superior, Cliffside Manor was built in 1925 as a TB sanatorium. Decades later, Chester Dare turned it into an exclusive retreat for writers and artists. Penelope Dare, his daughter, has just hired Eleanor Harper to be Cliffside's new director. Eleanor, who spent 20 years as a crime journalist, is looking forward to her new job in this peaceful haven. But all is not as it seems at Cliffside. First, there's an unexpected death. And Eleanor keeps waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of children laughing, only there aren't any children there. Then the five guests--a photographer, a landscape artist, a poet and two writers--all seem to have a connection to Cliffside's past. Why did Penelope bring them all here? And what's the mystery that Eleanor is supposed to solve? And does it have anything to do with the ghostly children haunting the manor?

My thoughts:
This is a very entertaining read. It combines the enigmatic mystery surrounding the Dare family with the history of Cliffside Manor as a sanatorium and a haunting supernatural twist. There's an eerie atmosphere at Cliffside throughout the book that I liked, but the most suspenseful ghostly activity doesn't happen until the last third of the novel. It's the same with Eleanor's attempts to solve the mystery of Cliffside. I felt like she didn't make any real progress until the other guests arrived. Although, to be fair, she doesn't have a lot of clues to go on at first, and none of the servants are exactly forthcoming with their secrets. And the ghostly secrets of Cliffside are as plentiful as they are unexpected. I guessed a few of them, but most I did NOT see coming. Which made for a compelling, if fantastic, ending. I would have liked a few more clues along the way to how this one was going to end because I felt like it came out of nowhere. But it was suspenseful. One other thing bugged me at the end, but to talk about it is to spoil one of the big reveals, so I'll just say this wasn't a perfect read, but I still liked it. What made it even better was reading it with Melody! Be sure to check out her review to see what she liked...and didn't like about this one.

Happy Reading!

Melody's questions to me...and my answers:

1. What do you think of Eleanor and what do you like and/or dislike about her?
For the most part, I liked Eleanor, although I felt she was a little slow to accept the idea that Cliffside might me haunted. And for being a crime journalist, I felt like she kept stopping her investigation into Cliffside's mystery too soon...although I guess the reason for that gets explained at the end. One thing I didn't like is how she was instantly attracted to two of the men she meets at Cliffside, that bugged me. But I liked how she didn't panic or faint at the scary parts. And I liked her interactions with the servants and other guests. Overall, she made a good narrator.

2. In your opinion, what are the attractions of this story? 
The Gothic atmosphere surrounding Cliffside; it's such a cool old manor! And the fact that you know something eerie and creepy is going on there right from the beginning, even though you have no idea what exactly it is. And I always like stories with ghosts, and that have a supernatural twist to the mystery, so that was good, too.

Thanks for another fun buddy read, Melody!

Supernatural suspense...

Rules For Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

From the blurb:  "Sara's sister disappeared one year ago--and only Sara knows where she is. Becca went to find the ghost of Lucy Gallows and is trapped on her road. ... When Sara and her skeptical friends meet in the forest to search for Becca, the mysterious road unfurls before them. All they have to do is walk down it. But the path to Lucy has its own rules. Every mistake summons new horrors. Vengeful spirits and broken, angry creatures are waiting for them to slip, and no on is guaranteed safe passage. The only certainty is this:  the road has a toll and it will be paid. "

My thoughts:  A small town legend. A missing girl. A haunted road. Eerie atmosphere. Nightmarish creatures. And documentary-style storytelling. What's not to like? This compelling story is a dark and suspenseful puzzle. And that road Sara and her friends are traveling? It's a waking nightmare. I've never read anything by Kate Alice Marshall before, but I really liked her lyrical prose and the way she chose to tell this story. This book doesn't unfold in a traditional linear way; instead, this narrative is a collection of interview clips, cell phone videos, and personal narratives pieced together in a way that builds the mystery and suspense layer by layer. And I really liked it. For me, this YA novel was fun and entertaining. And I can't wait to see what Marshall writes next. 

Happy Reading!

Urban Fantasy Fun...

Felix Castor, or Fix to his friends, is an exorcist. Of ghosts. A very handy skill to have since the dead in London started rising ten years ago.

"It's not as bleak as it sounds, because not everyone you lay in the earth comes back; there are a whole lot who are content to sleep it out. Most ghosts are tethered to the place where they died...but sometimes ghosts go walkabout, impelled by ... some unfinished business that won't let them lie quiet. ... (And) a close encounter with a ghost can be an upsetting experience. That's where exorcists come in--both the official church-sponsored ones, who are usually either idiots or fanatics, and the freelancers like me, who know what they're doing."

Only something went wrong a year and a half ago when Castor tried to help a friend, and he's been refusing all exorcist jobs ever since. Then the Bonnington Archive called needing to get rid of a ghost. Castor would have refused this job, too, except he really needs the money. So he reluctantly accepts. But things don't go as planned. And Felix soon finds himself investigating the employees of the archive hoping to discover the identiy of the ghost and how and why she died. That's when things really start to go wrong...and people start trying to kill him.

The Devil You Know by Mike Carey has all the makings of a really good urban fantasy series:  a London where ghosts and other undead creatures are known to roam, a complicated main character with layers and flaws to go along with his gift for necromancy, quirky secondary characters, and great writing. I enjoyed reading this one. I like Carey's take on ghosts and how Castor uses music to connect with and exorcise them. I like that there's potential for more demons, zombies, and loup garous to show up in future books. I like that Castor's complicated past continues to complicate his life now. And I look forward to seeing where this series goes next. If you like books that combine urban fantasy with mystery, you might want to check this one out.

Happy Reading!

Mystery & Suspense...

Title & Author:  The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

The Setting:  Talgarth High, West Sussex, England

The Main Characters:  
CLARE CASSIDY -- a divorced high school English teacher who's writing a biography about the Gothic writer R.M. Holland (or at least trying to)
GEORGIA -- Clare's 15-year-old daughter who's into creative writing and Wicca (which her mother doesn't know)
HERBERT -- their fluffy white dog that's a cross between a cairn terrier and a poodle
DS HARBINDER KAUR -- the lead detective on the case who still lives with her parents and who also attended Talgarth High when she was a teenager

The Premise:  This well-written mystery begins with the murder of Ella Elphick, an English teacher at Talgarth High and Clare Cassidy's friend. The police think the murderer is someone Clare knows, but she can't imagine anyone wanting to kill Ella. Then she finds a note in her diary written in the same handwriting as the note the police found by Ella's body. How did the killer get hold of her diary? And is she next on the killer's list? Or is he killing for her?

My Thoughts:  Griffiths writes such engaging and compelling characters! The narrative rotates between three POVs: Clare's, Harbinder's, and Georgia's. And I liked them all. None of them are perfect, but I got caught up in each of their stories. Griffiths also weaves the fictional R.M. Holland's Gothic tale, The Stranger, throughout the narrative, adding another layer to this intriguing mystery. While I didn't guess the killer, I had fun trying to figure it out. I had even more fun reading this book with Melody. This is our fifth buddy read this year. Be sure to check out her review, and her questions for me that follow.

Happy Reading!

1. The author has written a suspenseful mystery with a Gothic tone in this story (and a story within as well.) What do you think of this "book within a book" concept? Generally, do you think it's a good addition or is it a diversion to the overall story?

I usually like it when an author uses this 'story within a story' device. It's always interesting to get an added layer and a secondary story to go along with the main one. But it doesn't always add to the mystery. In this book, for example, I think the overall story would have been the same with or without including those parts from Holland's short story, The Stranger, along the way. But even though the short story didn't tie in too tightly with the main mystery, I still thought it was fun to read. I just wish I could have read Holland's other short story, The Ravening Beast, too.  

2. To put this in a fun and hypothetical way, what do you think Harbinder and Gary had seen back when they were both students back at Talgarth High? Do you think it's the ghost of Alice Avery or is it their imagination, given the atmosphere of the old building?

Hmm... Harbinder doesn't strike me as the kind of person to be influenced by atmosphere or rumors of ghosts (even though she loved to read horror stories as a teen). So I'm going to say that they really did see the ghost of Alive Avery. The fact that neither she nor Gary ever told anyone about what they saw afterward also makes me think that they really did see something creepy and supernatural that night at the school that they both wanted to forget. I loved that practical, no-nonsense Harbinder had this unexplainable and eerie moment as a teen; it made me like her even more. 

Thanks, Melody, for another fun buddy read!

From my TBR shelf...

Title & Author:  The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates

Why I bought it:  I like Darcy Coates; and I like books about creepy old houses that might be haunted.

The premise:  Ashburn House holds many secrets:  there isn't a single mirror in any of its rooms; there are boxes and boxes of candles in the attic; rumor has it that the Ashburn family was murdered there; and in the woods surrounding the house, there's a solitary grave. Of course, Adrienne didn't know any of these things when she inherited Ashburn House from her Great Aunt Edith. She didn't even know Ashburn House existed. Now she's stuck in this ancient house with nothing but her cat, Wolfgang, for company, and a scant twenty dollars in her pocket. She has no WiFi, and no phone. She doesn't know anyone in town. And she's started having unsettling dreams at night about something unnatural crawling through the woods...coming for her!

My thoughts:  Adrienne seemed ill-prepared to inherit any house, let alone a haunted one. And when strange things start to happen around her, she's loath to attribute any of them to supernatural causes. Not that I blamed her. When your electricity keeps going out, your first assumption is that there's a problem with your fuse box, not that you have a ghost. And she doesn't have a lot of clues to suggest otherwise. That's one of the flaws with this book--there aren't enough clues to help the protagonist or the reader figure out the mystery. And the suspense in this one builds very slowly. It's not until the last hundred pages that things get really eerie and intense. There are a few good scares at the end, and I liked the way Coates wrapped things up, but I have to say, this isn't my favorite of her novels. Still, it's a good book for this year's R.I.P. reading challenge.

My rating:  3/5 stars.

Happy Reading!

Want ghosts?

Eighteen months ago, Ellie Jordan and her boss came up against a ghost they couldn't trap. Now it's back, a creepy boogeyman that crawls out of the darkness to feed on people's fears, and it's terrorizing a new family. It especially likes children. Ellie, along with her ghost-trapping partner, Stacey, is determined to stop it before it hurts anyone else. There are just a few problems:  they don't know who it was, where it came from, or how to trap it. Luckily, they have the help of Jacob, a CPA who's also a psychic medium, and Michael, the cute firefighter who lives upstairs from where the main hauntings are taking place. And they're going to need all the help they can get because what they're fighting is very scary...and very dangerous.

"It can kind of take over certain doors, and certain small spaces, and use them as a crossing point. It's powerful. And it likes to terrorize living people. It ... drinks fear like a bat sucking blood. The fear makes it stronger, but also corrupts it. The stronger it grows, the more evil it becomes. If it ever was human, I'm not sure it even remembers that."

The Crawling Darkness by J.L. Bryan is another book from off my TBR shelf. I bought it because I love Bryan's Ellie Jordan series. These books are humorous, suspenseful, full of ghosts and always a lot of fun. And they take place in Savannah, Georgia, which makes for some great atmosphere. I really like all the characters, too; Ellie, especially, is tough, funny, and always up for the next ghostly challenge. The other thing I love about these books is that the endings never leave you hanging; they pack a wallop and always satisfy. So, if you love a good ghost story, I highly recommend The Crawling Darkness... and all the other books in this series.

Happy Reading!

Other Ellie Jordan novels:

Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper

Cold Shadows

Maze of Souls