Details:
Series: Haunted Guest House Mystery
Edition: Kindle
Pages: 305
Publisher/Date: Berkley / February 5, 2013
Price: $7.99 on Amazon
Reading Challenges: Mystery/Crime Challenge, Women Authors, Where Are You Reading? (New Jersey)
★★★★★★★★☆☆
Chance of a Ghost, the fourth book in E.J. Copperman’s Haunted Guest House Mystery series, has been rated number one on the list of “Best Books to Read While You’re Snowed in and Curled up Next to a Fire.” Of course, that list was compiled entirely by me and only includes this one book (not to mention I was neither by a fireplace nor snowed in when I read it), but still, I know what I’m talking about.
You, sush!
I’ve been a fan of the series and couldn’t wait for this book to come out (except I forgot it was coming out until I was like randomly, “Oh, hey, I wonder if that’s out yet?” and it was and I was all “OH MY GOD! AAAAHH! READ READ READ NOW NOW NOW!).
Sometimes when it’s been a while between books, it takes me a while to get acclimated to the characters and plot. But not with Chance of a Ghost. Nope. Even with few “remember when...” recaps on events that happened in past books, I just felt at home with Allison and her crew (daughter, Melissa, and resident ghosts, Maxi and Paul) and had no problem catching up. Some of that, also, is because each of the books is kind of a standalone mystery – a separate case, if you will.
The cases, while they’re not airtight concoctions of detective genius, are interesting and full of twists and turns (and laughs). I love how Copperman scatters so many little clues around that seem to have no connection, but they end up fitting together. And, actually, that’s the reason that I have to say this is my favorite in the series so far.
In Chance of a Ghost, Allison Kirby, guesthouse owner and part-time (reluctant) private detective whose clients consist mostly of the already dead looking to find out what or who made them that way, is asked to investigate the possible murder of her mother’s ghost visitor, a former “thespian,” Lawrence Laurentz. Although the autopsy record states Lawrence died of “natural causes” (a heart problem), he insists he was electrocuted by an invisible assailant who chucked a toaster in his tub.
It would be easy for Allison to shrug off the self-centered drama king’s story as the product of his own melodramatic imagination, but Lawrence has leverage. He claims to know how to find the ghost of Allison’s father (who, until recently, had been having weekly visits with her mother, but hadn’t shown up for a few weeks), but will only help bring him back if Allison solves his "murder."
To solve this case, Allison must deal with an angry six-foot-tall transvestite, a Viagra-smuggling ring, and endure a horrific performance of Peter Pan (a New Old Thespian’s production) where Wendy is a senior citizen trying to convince Peter it’s cool to grow old and Neverland is, I quote, “a place where everyone is on Medicare.”
And, yet, this somehow all ties into a murder of the “actor” and the disappearance of her already-deceased father? You can see why I was more than half way through the book before I could even venture a guess as to who the killer was – and I was in the dark until the very end about where her father was (or why he disappeared).
A lot of what I loved about Chance of a Ghost, however, were things I’ve loved about all the books.
For starters, Allison is just a great character. I love her! I mean, really, if I were a lesbian polygamist and either one of those types of marriages were legal in New Jersey (come on Chris Christie!) I would totally marry her. Okay, maybe not really. She is so funny – witty and sarcastic (and has some great one liners). She’s a great mother, even though she questions herself when she lets Melissa help out on a murder investigation and can’t cook to save her life. She’s a savvy businesswoman (fixing up her 100-year-old home and working a deal with the ghosts in her house to land a contract with a supernaturally-minded senior citizens tour group).
The supporting characters are hilarious and totally come alive on the page – well, for some, as alive as a dead character can be. Her daughter, Melissa, is so mature and provides an interesting “voice of reason” at times. Paul is somewhat less developed (in my opinion), but I enjoy his passion for solving the case. Loudmouthed, somewhat temperamental Maxi – in her jean miniskirts and sarcastic screened t-shirts – is easily the most colorful character (I happened to be reading this book while my husband was watching The Sopranos and now Maxi has officially taken on the most obnoxiously perfect accent!).
This would’ve been a nine-out-of-ten star review, except one little thing kind of nagged at me.
Well, two things (both of which are spoilers so I’m going to hide them):
[spoiler title="Click to read" open="0" style="1"]
At the beginning of chapter 26, Morgan (the guest and former police chief that is helping Allison with her case), has just returned from doing some investigating and looks pleased. Allison asks him if he’s had a good day (made progress in the case) and he replies, “Better than good,” ... “I think we have some stuff that will help. You’ll probably be able to make an arrest in a day or two.” Then he goes on to say how there is absolutely no concrete evidence on anyone or anything. All the leads have hit a dead end. The conversation eventually ends with Allison saying “So there’s really no evidence that anyone killed Larry” and Morgan replies, “That’s right” ... “We might have some suspects, but we have no proof at all.” I kept flipping back to his initial statement that they had stuff that would help them “make an arrest in a day or two” to see if I missed some implied sarcasm or something, but I couldn’t find any.
Also in chapter 26, Morgan is detailing each of the suspects’ histories and notes that Frances has two sons “Barry, a pharmacist and Mark, an accountant. Barry lives in Livingston, Mark in Flagstaff, Arizona.” HELLO!? Someone is dealing Viagra. Frances spent a night in jail when someone tipped off the police that she was involved, but no one draws any connection that her son is a freaking pharmacist!? And Morgan is supposed to be a professional crime solver? Really?
And then again, in the next chapter, Frances mentions her son was going to fly in for the play but had an emergency, Allison’s mom asks which son, the accountant or the pharmacist? AND NO ONE SEEMS TO SEE THE CONNECTION. Really!?[/spoiler]
But, other than those couple nits, I loved the book and can’t wait for the next one!
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