Grave Expectations by Alice Bell

Reviewed by Kristin

Just last month I reviewed Displeasure Island by Alice Bell, being totally unaware that it was the second in the series. I did enjoy it enough to go look to see what else Bell had written, and there it was: Grave Expectations, the book that introduced Claire, her ghostly BFF Sophie, and their new pals Alex and Basher. Well, they weren’t exactly friends at the beginning, but after many misunderstandings and suspicions of murder (going almost every direction) they finally get to the place where they might vacation together, such as taking a trip to Displeasure Island….

Claire has been invited to her college friend Figgy’s family estate to be dinner entertainment. Being a medium who can see ghosts (really!) isn’t always fun, but at least it’s a way to earn a living. Of course, a family member turns up dead.

No, not actually at the séance. (Whew!) But the newly deceased family member contacts Claire before they fully leave this plane of existence to give her a heads up that there is another relatively fresh ghost hovering around the library, and it appears that a member of the family had something to do with that death.

Basher was recently but is no longer a police detective, and uncle to the newly adult Alex, who is a total delight both in their charity shop outfits and the fresh outlook they have on the world. Alex and Basher live away from the ancestral home, to the disappointment of parents and siblings alike. Basher is a little more hesitant to believe that Sophie even exists and that Claire can see ghosts, but Alex is enthusiastically on board.

With this being the first in the series, Claire and Sophie’s characters are developed a little more fully, and I had a few “aha!” moments. In this debut novel, Claire’s formative ghostly experiences are explored more in depth, and her crime solving proclivities explained by her obsession with the television show Murder Profile. Overall, I really enjoyed both books in the series, and look forward to more from Alice Bell.

Nine Lives and Alibis by Cate Conte

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

It’s Halloween in Daybreak Harbor, and this year the town is trying attract some of the tourist trade that Salem, Massachusetts has enjoyed.  Of course, Daybreak doesn’t have quite the witchy history that Salem does, but they have managed to nab one of Salem’s big name draws, a psychic named Balfour Dempsey who has quite the following.  Not everyone in town is on board, though—especially not Jacob Blair, owner of the inn where Balfour will be staying doing his readings.  Maddie thinks that’s odd since it’s great publicity, especially as the inn has a few mysteries of its own—including an unsolved murder.

Maddie is hoping to attract attention for JJ’s House of Purrs, her cat café where rescue cats are up for adoption and people can enjoy delicious coffee and treats.  She’s not a believer in psychic phenomena, but she is a believer in helping the town’s merchants earn money to tide them over the winter when customers are thin on the ground.

The town is going to get attention, all right:  just as the festivities are getting under way, a body is found… and it looks like murder.

This is the seventh in the Cat Café Mysteries and for me, it’s the most satisfying one yet.  Our heroine Maddie seems to have matured a bit, which is a change for the better.  I liked the slightly supernatural flavor that this one added—it’s handled so that  a reader can believe there are other forces at work but there are also plausible explanations for most things as well. I’m looking forward to the next one!

You need not have read any of the others in the series to enjoy this one. 

Titles in order:

Cat About Town

Purrder She Wrote

The Tell Tail Heart

A Whisker of a Doubt

Claws for Alarm Gone But Not Furgotten

Nine Lives and Alibis

The Mystic’s Accomplice by Mary Miley

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Maddy Pastore’s life is upended when her husband, Tommy, is shot and killed.  Tommy worked as a deliveryman for the Outfit—the term for the Chicago gang run by Johnny Torrio and his young associate, Alphonse Capone. In 1924, a lot of men were working for some gang or other, often running alcohol, but it hadn’t seemed quite real.  Now Maddy finds herself with a baby and in desperate need of a job.  The only thing she finds is working for self-proclaimed medium “Madam Carlotta” who tries to connect clients with a deceased love ones.  Madam Carlotta’s connections to the spirit world can sometimes be a bit finicky, so she had Maddy do a bit of investigation about her clients prior to the séance… where Maddy sometimes pretends to be a client as well.

During one of her investigations, Maddy becomes suspicious about the circumstances of a death.  Soon it appears she may be on the trail of a murderer, but can she prove it before he kills again?

I picked this up because I was intrigued by the setting: Chicago during Prohibition.  The author has done a good bit of research, bringing in such things as Jane Addams’ Hull House, along with some historical events.  The author has an afterword in which she explains which characters and situations are fictional and which are based on fact, offering suggested resources to readers who want to follow up. 

The mystery is fairly obvious early on, so if you’re a mystery fan you may find the book comes up short.  I was more intrigued by the setting and the way that the author handles the whole Madam Carlotta situation.  Maddy isn’t a scam artist.  She worries about her part in researching the clients, but rationalizes that Madam Carlotta doesn’t charge, just accepts donations.  The medium isn’t out to fleece clients, and actually seems to believe that she does have psychic gifts. 

While this wasn’t an edge of the seat read, I did enjoy it.  The setting was very well done and I especially enjoyed the “slice of life” scenes such as when Maddy visits a speakeasy.  I liked the characters and appreciated how Maddy dealt with the many changes in her life. She still has an appealing innocence about her.

I’m going to be reading the next in the series to see what happens to Maddy and her friends.

Seances are for Suckers by Tamara Berry

Reviewed by Jeanne

Eleanor Wilde, better known as Madame Eleanor in certain circles, specializes in exorcising ghosts which she does without compunction because she doesn’t believe in them. She does believe in squirrels in the attic, loose floorboards, and overactive imaginations, all of which help her earn enough money to pay for her comatose sister’s care.  While she doesn’t have psychic abilities, she does have an amazing ability to read people and to rapidly assess situations so that it seems she is attuned to the Other Side.  She’s also a bit prickly and a lot cynical.

So is Nicholas Hartford III, which makes it surprising that he wants to hire her to clear a ghost out of his manor house in England.  He doesn’t believe in ghosts any more than she does, but there is something going on and he wants to get to the bottom of it. He believes Eleanor is just the person to do that.

Wary but intrigued, and with the promise of generous payment, Eleanor agrees.  She quickly sees that there is mischief afoot, and is attempting to figure out the responsible party when she finds a dead body which promptly vanishes before she can show it to anyone else. Eleanor knows she wasn’t dreaming, and she knows that the stakes have now turned deadly. The problem is convincing anyone else of that.

I decided to give this series a try after reading and enjoying another series by Berry.  I found Eleanor to be a refreshing heroine, resourceful, quick-witted, brave, and devoted to her sister.  She also has a brother, Liam, who deeply disapproves of the way she earns her money, but who is struggling financially himself. The other in the cast are also memorable, including Nicholas who watches Eleanor’s efforts with mocking amusement; his mother Vivian who is as lively as a woman half her age but who believes in extreme frugality; and niece Rachel, a bright and cheerful young lady who is quite impressed with Madame Eleanor.  There’s a bit of humor, a good plot, and a strong sense of place. This made a refreshing change from some of the very cozy mysteries I had been reading, and I liked the characters so much that I’m anxious to follow the rest of their adventures. There are four books in the series, and –alas!—it appears there will be no more, so I’ll just enjoy these.

The books in order are:

Seances are for Suckers

Potions are for Pushovers

Curses are for Cads