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Saturday, February 16, 2013

20) Chance of a Ghost by E.J. Copperman

The Blurb :

Alison Kerby’s guesthouse is haunted all year round. Surviving the dead of winter, though? That’s a spooky proposition.

Even with a blizzard bearing down on New Jersey, Alison can count on at least two guests—Paul and Maxie, the stubborn ghosts who share her shore town inn. Then there’s her widowed mother, who hasn’t just been seeing ghosts, she’s been secretly dating one: Alison’s father. But when he stands her up three times in a row, something’s wrong. Is he a lost soul…or a missing apparition?

Their only lead is an overdramatic spirit—stage name Lawrence Laurentz—who doesn’t take direction well and won’t talk until they find his killer. Alison will reluctantly play the part of PI, but when the clues take a sinister turn, the writing is on the wall: If Alison can’t keep a level head, this will be her father’s final act—and maybe her own.

My Review :

This is the fourth book in a nice ghostly cozy mystery series I have been following and I was excited to have another installment to read. The guesthouse setting and the concept has been not only interesting but sometimes fun too. The mysteries so far have been quite interesting and I have to say that this was on my top ten cozy list. However this new book may have pushed it out of that list.

There wasn't really anything majorly wrong with the book itself. It just felt bland. The story was good and kept me interested but I felt the main character was rushing around here and there all the time. It was hard to keep up with her and felt like someone should be holding her down. The constant need for help was also slightly annoying. Alison doesn't seem capable of doing anything by herself and is always bossing around the others to her work. She seems to be happy chatting to all the suspects but that is all.

The plot was ok but nothing special. This time around I felt the mystery was very poor. I did want to know if there had indeed been a murder (it was all a little up in the air for a while) and how it was accomplished but I had no connection to the ghost who was looking for his killer. He was actually annoying.

Character wise I was mostly happy but I have to admit that I wouldn't miss any of them after this book. Alison, as I already mentioned, was just haphazard. Her new love interest was a nice addition but I wonder if that will keep going. Her daughter Melissa is so young and I keep forgetting it. She acts older than she is (don't they all) but nobody is giving her the room to explore who she is. As for the ghosts. I didn't feel they really shined in this one. Plus we now get a third ghost who will surely be more involved. Is it too much? I am not sure.

All in all I enjoyed this book but felt it needed some extra pep. A nice cozy with a cool ghost element, the series is really a great read. At the beginning I felt a wow factor and thought it was cool. Now I feel that the spark has gone. I am going to be keeping up with this series and look forward to the next installment. However I think the fifth book will have to offer that little extra something to keep me 100% interested.

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2 comments:

Nancy said...

I've eagerly looked forward to this book and just bought it, so I didn't read the whole review. (You don't do spoilers, but I wanted to have my own unbiased in any way experience. :))

I'll check on your review after I've read this one, but I sure have loved all the others in this series!

Light,
Nancy Haddock

Aurian said...

Sorry you are disappointed in this installment. But well, so many great books, so little time.