Tome Thursday: Going Ghost

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome to tonight's book of choice.

 

I was honestly going to pick something else - a fanfiction, actually, which I hadn't read in years and forgotten just how GOOD these used to be - but then ended up finishing this book instead, so I figured, why not feature it?

 

It's exactly my kind of thing.

 

It's got a compelling heroine, a cute doggo (you ALWAYS want to read books that have cute pets involved!), a backstory that you want to keep reading about, a murder mystery that just so happens to fall into the heroine's lap, and a ghost running around who's gallant and a gentleman.

 

And oh, someone with green eyes that's NOT a ghost but keeps popping around the town of Salem, Massachusetts.  

I mean, what's not to like, am I right?

So here we go. This is the first in a very new series, and I'm definitely going to be picking up further books, just because. But we're starting with Going Ghost.

Since this IS a brand new thing, I won't have any other links down at the bottom of the page like I normally do.

Dina Marie (a pen name) released Going Ghost as the very beginning to a series she's writing mostly for her mother, someone who enjoys watching this type of stuff on TV, but it's really something wholesome that anyone can enjoy.

Our heroine, Clara, has just arrived in Salem in the middle of the night, sneaking into her husband's property because she's on the run.

Why is she on the run?

 

Her husband is an abusive asshole, that's why, and while her father was alive she was the obedient wife who he liked to push around (and other forms of abuse ...), but now her dad's gone, and she's had enough.

 

Salem's going to be just a stop on the road for her, but things immediately get complicated when she meets the house resident ghost, William, who she can not only see and speak to, but she can see his Ghost Cat, as well as TOUCH THESE GHOSTS.

 

Clara's special, okay? But we just don't know HOW special she is right now.

 

She's also a compassionate person so her idea of keeping a low profile goes right out the window when she rescues a Shih Tzu out of a pipe and meets the ghost of a young man she'd just seen earlier that day in the market.

 

Except this young man wants her to solve his murder. Because he was, in fact, murdered.

 

Beckett is the type of jock character you'd normally roll your eyes at and want to move along from, but right alongside Clara we, as readers, learn that looks can definitely be deceiving. Sure he's got his issues - and had them in life - but he loves his family, is loyal, and doesn't double-cross people like some others we come to know in the process.

 

And while he threatens to haunt Clara for the rest of her life if she doesn't help him, I doubt he'd have actually done it.

 

Instead, we're treated to the sight of Clara spreading her wings more and more after having them clipped for so long, and it's a beautiful sight to behold. The murder mystery, too, is written very well and can easily be followed along by any reader, picking up the clues and coming to the conclusion as to who actually did it.

 

At this point in time though, the mystery takes a bit of a backseat to Clara's personal troubles, which is that her husband's actually IN TOWN for a conference (well alright, he's in Boston, but Salem's close-by, so he always comes to view the property when he's there anyway), and he manages to find her by the end of the book.

 

By this time though, Clara's grown more than she herself realizes, and she stands up to him; she also has help in the form of William, who puts himself between the douche canoe and her so that she doesn't get physically assaulted, which has to be a funny scene if you imagine it right because the husband can't see or hear William, while Clara can, so he just thinks he's bouncing off air and that she's a witch.

 

Gasp.

 

I know, people are ridiculous.

 

How the story ends is the lunatic wants to set the house on fire with his wife inside it (because, obviously that's a thing you do as a normal, sane person), but ends up tripping over Ghost Cat and breaking his neck.

 

Good riddance.

 

Clara, now with inherited millions and property and whatnot, returns to Salem because during the course of her investigation she's started to feel at home here and that she was building something, and she wants to see if William might let her turn that old property into a bed and breakfast type of thing.

 

She's asking because she's polite and doesn't want him to feel uncomfortable, but William's all for it! So we'll definitely be seeing more of THEM soon.

 

And honestly, while I love Sebastian, our green-eyed Good Samaritan who helps Clara along the way, I'll admit that I'm kinda secretly rooting for her and William to somehow become a thing. I'm an old softie, okay, and this IS a paranormal, cozy thing.

 

But we'll just have to see where the road takes us!

 

I love Clara, who's got her work cut out for her, and I can't wait to read more about her ghost whispering adventures. I think her husband got exactly what he deserved, and don't you just love a gallant ghost?? William is swoon-worthy!

I like that the case she was sleuthing wasn't too complicated, you don't need it to be in these types of books, but it had just enough edge and adventure to keep you reading.

Clara's healing journey has just begun, but I think, with William, her dog, and the ghost cat by her side, she can do it.

The author writes wonderfully well, not using too long sentences but keeping you engaged and making you feel like you're right there with our heroine. Plus, setting it in Salem was a great idea, considering the backdrop!

All in all, definitely recommend.

xx

*image not mine