Caroline is looking for a new way to help her savings
last longer into her old age – and property development sees like a nice way to
expand her bank balance.
Except Caroline has a secret – she can see ghosts. And
her new house, while perfect in every other way, has a spectral tenant –and she
has a mystery she wants Caroline to solve.
I’m having difficulty reviewing this book because it
should never have really have landed in my inbox in the first place. It’s not
Urban Fantasy – it’s a Cozy Mystery meets Romance. I was concerned when the
publisher first approached us that this didn’t sound like our genre and
expressed this to them. But the publisher assured me it was our genre
Sadly, I think they’ve done the author a terrible
disservice to spam her book to blogs and review sites where it is clearly not
appropriate. Sadly, it’s going to end up in the hands of people like me who
just won’t enjoy it simply because it’s not their preference.
So I’m going to do my utmost to be fair to this author
(who deserves better than her publisher’s shenanigans) even while I have to
acknowledge that this is really not my thing
I found this book… pleasant. It was a nice meander of a
story, the pacing wasn’t super fast or exciting but I think it suited it not to
be. It wasn’t fast paced or action packed, it contained no adrenaline, no odd
twists, no sudden surprises. There was no adventure or blood-fizzing or
particularly intriguing or interesting elements or depth or much else to make
the book zing
And that’s fine. It’s not meant to zing. It’s a not a book that makes you sit on the edge of your seat unable to stop turning the pages, or a book that makes you laugh uproariously. It’s a book to laze away the day casually strolling through it, meandering through Caroline’s story while still being able to put it down and pick it up again later or follow the development of her life
It is a sweet little story, we have an older protagonist
– Caroline is in her 60s – and sexual and romantic at that as well as being competent
and capable and having a powerful, loving relationship with her granddaughter. I like her take on the world – she isn’t up to
date with everything, but she has an experienced, mature outlook without being
shocked or scandalised. She doesn’t live in a happy bubble and we’re not expected
to consider her naive because she’s older. Nor is she weak or incapable or
non-sexual even if several people assume she is because of her age.
She has some nice little plot lines – her buying the new
house and decorating it even as she falls in love with it. Her sweet growing
romance with Bob which is nice to see two older people and is filled with
respect and affection. Her worries about her independence, her loss of identity
are powerful and poignant without being over-dramatic and seeming out of place.
Diversitywise there are no minorities at all. There are
several strong and capable women but that’s pretty much it.
This is a cosy book. It’s a comfortable book… and it’s
just not my kind of book. Despite this, I definitely didn’t hate it – I pleasantly
enjoyed it even if it wasn’t a book I’d pick up again. It isn’t a book I would
choose but if it is your genre of book then I think you will love this, it’s
excellently written and a good read.
