Review: "That's the Spirit!" by Mallory Pierce

Based on the name of this blog, it should come as no surprise that I'm mostly a romance reader. Even I need to switch it up every once in a while, however, and when I do, my genre of choice is usually mystery or thriller. Today, I'm talking about a paranormal cozy mystery: "That's the Spirit!" by Mallory Pierce. As soon as I read the description, I knew it would be the perfect book to get me ready for Halloween, and I'm so happy that I decided to pick it up. I was hooked as soon as I read the first line and had a tough time putting it down once I started reading. 

 

Gwendolyn Frink has been haunting her family home, a Victorian in the small town of Woebrook, for more than a century. With the house unoccupied, she's been there alone for the past several years, but it's recently been sold to horror writer Nolan Drake. Despite the many years of her afterlife, Gwen still hasn't figured out how to communicate with the living, but she's excited to have a new housemate - that is, until grumpy Nolan arrives and insults her beloved home. Later that day, he's moving some things into the attic when he finds the body of Morgan Charles, the real estate agent who sold him the house. That's also when he sees Gwendolyn for the first time, and at first, he doesn't believe that she's a ghost; instead, he thinks she's a crazed fan who's stalking him. Once he recovers from the dual shocks of finding a body and meeting his ghostly housemate, Nolan unwillingly becomes Gwen's partner in attempting to solve Morgan's murder. 

 

This book was a tremendous amount of fun. In some ways, it reminded me of "Castle" but with a ghostly twist. The murder investigation kept me guessing right up until the final reveal, and I loved the witty dialogue and Gwendolyn's observations on modern life. I laughed so hard when she was talking about Amazon and Alexa early in the story! I was also intrigued by the fact that she didn't know how she died. It's a great setup for a future story, and I can't wait to see where the author takes it from here.

 

I highly recommend "That's the Spirit!" for all cozy mystery fans and look forward to the next book in the series.

*Review copy provided by the author. All opinions expressed are my own.

 

 

About "That's the Spirit!"

He’s on a deadline; she's just . . . dead.

Brought back from the other side by a séance, Gwendolyn Frink has been roaming the halls of her family’s Victorian house for more than a century. She can’t communicate with the living, she can’t leave the premises, and she can’t stand feeling useless.

Enter Nolan Drake, aka the Guru of Gore. Suffering from a wicked case of writer’s block, the best-selling horror author purchases the empty Victorian, thinking a change of scenery from Manhattan to upstate New York might get his creative juices flowing again.

Gwen is thrilled to have a new housemate even when he turns out to be an antisocial, coffee-guzzling grump—spectral beggars can’t be choosers, right?

Nolan is not thrilled when he discovers his real estate agent's dead body in the attic of the Victorian along with its resident ghost—a very talkative, opinionated ghost who insists on him helping her solve the murder of Morgan Charles.

Can this unlikely investigative duo crack the case so that the streets of Woebrook will be safe for the town’s annual Festival of Frights? Or will they run afoul of the wrong person, dooming them both to haunt the Victorian, and drive each other batty, for eternity?

If you enjoy sassy sleuths and supernatural shenanigans, That’s the Spirit! is the book for you! It’s similar in tone and content to the works of Paranormal Cozy Mystery authors Angie Fox, Erin Huss, and Annabel Chase.