Book 81, 2017
Sep. 17th, 2017 01:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chez_jaeI've been lazy lately. Sometime last week, I finished reading A Ghostly Light, which is part of Juliet Blackwell's "Haunted Home Renovation" mystery series, featuring general contractor Melanie Turner.
Mel is excited when her friend Alicia hires Turner Construction to renovate one of San Francisco's historic lighthouses. Before work even gets started, however, Alicia's abusive ex-husband shows up at the site. He claims he's changed and wants Alicia back, but Mel is hearing warning bells. When the man tumbles down the lighthouse stairs and lands at Mel's feet with a knife sticking out of his chest, Alicia becomes the primary suspect. Now, it's up to Mel to find out who else may have wanted him dead, including the ghost of an abused woman who's known for pushing men down the stairs.
In addition to looking into the history of the lighthouse, trying to speak to its ghosts, running her business, and dealing with her rambunctious family and her new boyfriend Landon, Mel is invited to tour an old home for sale. While there, she gets an alarming sense of deja vu. Later, she learns that the house belonged to her great-grandparents, and her mother spent time in the home as a little girl.
The story moved along at a good pace, and it kept my interest. Once again, though, the killer turned out to be someone whom I wasn't given a fair chance to guess at, which disappointed me. Another thing that I didn't like was that I fully anticipated Mel would buy the house she felt so connected to. Instead, at the end of the book, Landon bought a house and asked her to move in with him. It wasn't really clear if he bought THE house, or simply A house. Part of me almost hopes he didn't buy the home that Mel was thinking about, because that would have been awfully manipulative. I don't know. The ending left me feeling frustrated, more than anything.
Favorite lines:
♦ Other than his humans, food was a priority for Dog. Food, and squirrels.
I love quotes about Dog!
♦ "Sometimes I lie awake half the night worrying about quark masses."
Overall, a wonderful story. Would have been worth five stars but for the aggravating end. Giving this one four:
****
Mel is excited when her friend Alicia hires Turner Construction to renovate one of San Francisco's historic lighthouses. Before work even gets started, however, Alicia's abusive ex-husband shows up at the site. He claims he's changed and wants Alicia back, but Mel is hearing warning bells. When the man tumbles down the lighthouse stairs and lands at Mel's feet with a knife sticking out of his chest, Alicia becomes the primary suspect. Now, it's up to Mel to find out who else may have wanted him dead, including the ghost of an abused woman who's known for pushing men down the stairs.
In addition to looking into the history of the lighthouse, trying to speak to its ghosts, running her business, and dealing with her rambunctious family and her new boyfriend Landon, Mel is invited to tour an old home for sale. While there, she gets an alarming sense of deja vu. Later, she learns that the house belonged to her great-grandparents, and her mother spent time in the home as a little girl.
The story moved along at a good pace, and it kept my interest. Once again, though, the killer turned out to be someone whom I wasn't given a fair chance to guess at, which disappointed me. Another thing that I didn't like was that I fully anticipated Mel would buy the house she felt so connected to. Instead, at the end of the book, Landon bought a house and asked her to move in with him. It wasn't really clear if he bought THE house, or simply A house. Part of me almost hopes he didn't buy the home that Mel was thinking about, because that would have been awfully manipulative. I don't know. The ending left me feeling frustrated, more than anything.
Favorite lines:
♦ Other than his humans, food was a priority for Dog. Food, and squirrels.
I love quotes about Dog!
♦ "Sometimes I lie awake half the night worrying about quark masses."
Overall, a wonderful story. Would have been worth five stars but for the aggravating end. Giving this one four:
****
