Halloween Bingo 2022
I waited a (subjectively) long time for this book, the previous borrower hanging onto it well after the due date. I was really looking forward to it, because I have really enjoyed Molly Harper's writing before. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I found myself disappointed with this book.
Harper's trademark humour was much reduced. This was a much more serious ghost story than I anticipated. Had I known, I would have waited for daylight to crack it open. Because, as I have stated before, I am easily spooked by supernatural tales and can't read the truly scary ones in the dark. Ghost stories can be particularly fear inducing, as apparently my subconscious is a believer. Once I got started, I needed to know the ending if I was going to be able to sleep. It was a late, late night. (For you committed horror readers, I know I am a coward. I'm okay with that.)
One aspect of the book bothered me: point-of-view changed regularly. There's a Scooby Do team of five characters and they all get their turn at POV. I always knew whose head I was in, but I found the switching unsettling. I guess I'm used to a single narrator, especially in books with a romantic element. Nina was a decent main character and I would have happily remained with her view point.
I found the ghosts to be far too corporeal for my tastes and the apparent possession disturbing. Give me ambiguous hauntings, please, not ghosts waiting for me in bed. How will I ever sleep again if that's a possibility? How will I ever be able to turn my back on the bed or click off the light? Harper did keep the ghostly identity uncertain until the very end, very well done.
I did love the developing friendship between the three women. Cindy and Dottie are good support for Nina, as she rebuilds her confidence. Cindy has her professional reasons for choosing this unusual work arrangement and also gets a romantic plot line. Both Nina and Cindy are like me: publicly saying they don't believe in ghosts but privately being scared out of their wits. Dottie is a true believer, frustrated because the phantoms don't manifest to her.
So, not quite the humorous romp that I had hoped for from Harper. Still, I read it in one night and although a bit jittery when I went to bed, I am recovered this morning. With this book for the Ghosts and Hauntings square, I have completed my Halloween Bingo reading for this year. It's been a good game!
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