The Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum

by Kirsten Weiss

I really enjoyed this interesting take on small town quirkiness. This one may have them all beat, but then it is a paranormal town as are all, or almost all the inhabitants. So what would one expect on returning to what was her old home. Well, I suppose, expect the unexpected would be about right, and Maddie is certainly going to get that. Three very good friends are going to need each other's support and caring as shenanigans appear to be common, especially when Maddie's friend Adele tries to talk her into buying the Paranormal Museum which just happens to be attached to the tea room she is opening. Why Maddie would want the museum is as unsure as Maddie herself.

This book by Kirsten Weiss is a good solid story with differences from the usual cozies. First, Maddie had a very good job but now is at odds with herself. Adele is from money via the winery her father owns. Harper, the third in the group of young women make up the threesome who are glad to get back together. They've been through a lot, are they ready for more? Spells, ghosts, murder and mayhem seems to be the main attraction in this magical town. And who is suspected of a murder but one of the three. Was it one of them? Was it a so-called "ghost"? Was it a break-in?

Maddie has pretty well decided she may like to buy the museum, the thought is kind of growing on her, especially with GD cat, the cat that sees ghosts. She's left the business world behind but certainly has the ability to bring it up to snuff. There's so much going on in this book, and then of course, there's that gorgeous guy upstairs! So if paranormal, ghosts, old relics of the supernatural days of spiritualists, and/or murder is to your liking, this is sure good reading.

The Trickster by L.G. Miles and Amy Miles

by L.G. Miles and Amy Miles

A good short story about three older children who find themselves caught in a supernatural struggle they didn't expect. A good story-line children and young teens should enjoy, a tale of curses, ghosts, and hidden spaces. How often young people like to take a dare to prove their loyalty or bravado. The Prologue sets the scene in 1905 for dark magic, goosebumps and things that go bump in the night, not to mention a fabulous dragon staff that is not all it seems. Strange things are happening in the woods at night. What is the hooded man doing with his steel and artifacts? Someone is watching him when he should run for his life.

Jumping to present day, something strange is happening at the museum. The staff has been found and is about to be revealed the next day...or will it? In the meantime, who is playing tricks on the night watchman? Who or what is the Trickster? A school group is scheduled to go on a field trip to the museum the next day, but on the next day the museum has been taped off as a crime scene. What could have happened? Three young people make a deal to visit an old mill with a long history when they learn that the dragon staff is missing and ghosts are believed to be haunting the old mill house, one a ghost clown at that. Will they be able to hide their fears? Will they find the staff or will they be defeated in their attempts to access every part of the house, tunnels and all. Fun and creepy, a good read for kids, and by a young person according to "About the Authors" at the end of the book.

Psychic Surveys Book One: The Haunting of Highdown Hall by Shani Struthers

by Shani Struthers
reviewed from e-reader

A story all too often heard, particularly in the times of the event. It's Christmas Eve, 1958; it is also Cynthia Hart's 31st birthday. It was a time of big movies in colour, and wannabees drawn to the studios like flies to honey. Cynthia is already a huge star, but tonight she will die. How? Why? We'll follow along the search for these answers with the Psychic Surveys group.

The Psychic Surveys group are devoted to helping the dead into the light, but this will be no easy feat. Where most calls come from people who have purchased houses that were built on land where "Britain's most notorious mental asylum" once was, and could very easily have activity terrorizing them, the group attends them all and has very informed, dedicated and sensitive members, usually explaining and helping these spirits into the light, then performing a house-wide cleansing.

The group consists of Ruby, Theo, Ness and Corinna, all with different abilities. They will have a difficult task ahead. They have been called in by a very rattled homeowner, reporting what appeared to be a very angry spirit. Theo, first on the scene, has felt the strong presence herself, strongest in the master bedroom and ballroom. It seems that Cynthia has never passed on although she died many years ago. Somewhere in her last decades she has been led to believe her soul has been taken, hence the probable feeling of loss end of life, and whoever told this information will nullify it and punish the sender.  I will take care of the other errors.  Her estate had been willed to her maid Sally, and subsequently Sally's nephew Alan Kierney moved in, he is the one who called the group.

Of ghost stories, this one is a bit unusual to say the least. She is not willing to leave. Her death was recorded as a heart attack. What from that night could have caused such a thing at the top of her career? She appears to be terrified and no one could convince her otherwise. What is holding her back? The secret will have to come out soon so she can escape.  In the meantime, a ghost dog has been found at the last house barking and disturbing the neighbours, add it to the pile of queries. While checking the neighbourhood, she meets a young man who strangely is reading the same book "Drive Like Hell" seems a fitting book for the circumstances.

Questioning what Ruby did, she is always thrown off, fortunately she doesn't fall back on her usual wording, but explains she is a psychic surveyor. Of course Cash is confused, but she manages to explain her part of the rescues. This, of course, brings questions re a ghost hunter, no, she is not a ghost hunter but a psychic surveyor, there's quite a difference. She is intrigued by him, but wary. Dressed casually, she wondered what he did. "I'm a website designer, freelance." Wow! This is something helpful or so she hopes. She is needing a website for her business but knew very little about such things. Of course this requires a lot of time between them to a) learn about website control and b) teach what would be needed in her particular work. Her training coming mostly from her Gran, they must be sure everything is precise. Cynthia is terrified to leave and spends most of her time hiding, believing in a small compartment in her room. Oh, Cash has a lot to learn, and fast! The next day is going to be a wild one. He is willing to learn though, especially learning from Ruby.

Cynthia appears to be severely traumatized. She is in complete terror about what is ahead for her. Nothing seems to calm her. The group tries very hard to reason with her but for some reason she is sure that someone from her past sold her soul to the Devil. What? Much as they try to soothe her and reassure her, it will take at least one more visit from them. This was a great read, I loved it and could not have imagined the ending, with suspense building up to a crescendo, I really didn't see it coming. Great story-telling! I would happily read more of this series.

Dead Medium by Peter John

Published by Createspace

Most definitely not your average ghost story

What do a group of elderly women, a multitude of ghosts from different generations, a dead cat, and a college student have in common? Don't let a cantankerous old woman fool you. Peter John has come up with a genuinely different story and really hit it on target. We all know about mediums contacting the dead, but what if it's the other way around? This book has humor, relationships and a bit of terror thrown in the mix. What is it that haunts the dead? Where do they go from there? The characters have it covered one way or another, including Mr. Kibbles, May's dead cat, bringing a fascinating twist to the end. I scarcely put the book down once begun.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

I am so glad I decided to read this book again. This one is the original first edition text from 1843. This edition was reproduced from the original by Dover Publications in 1991 with the following note added:
“The Christmas gift presented to the English-speaking world in 1843 by the preeminent novelist Charles Dickens (1812-1870) has never lost its power to delight. Adapted in numerous ways and for a great variety of media over the yeaars, this modern Christmas myth, which is linked to every Christmas celebration and whose characters have become household names, is still best enjoyed in its inimitable original wording. The text in the present volume is that of the first edition (Chapman and Hall, London, 1843)”.

I quote this from the Dover Classics Edition because it is very true. Much as it wouldn't seem like Christmas without "A Christmas Carol" in one form or another, nothing tells it as well as Charles Dickens' original. My favorite movie version is the second made, with Alistair Sim, which sticks to the original fairly well. But the last time I read the book was in 1952. I loved it then and I love it now.

Dickens' descriptions of mid-1800s London are so real and so chilling one wonders how the English survived those times. The attitudes are spot on, as Dickens' characters always are. What makes "A Christmas Carol" different is the absolute fear that Scrooge feels upon seeing his old "dead as a doornail" partner visit him on Christmas Eve. The feel of Dickens' writing is so powerful nothing can be ignored.

The visits of the three spirits are amazing in the depth they are given and in what they accomplish and how. As most people do know the story in one form or another, I won't go into the visits other than how imaginative the story is in the way Scrooge's background and Scroogeness is dealt with so succinctly. This book is a must-read at least once in a reader's life, even if seen as plays, movies, even cartoons and remakes. Nothing is so satisfactory as the book itself.

The Ghost Writer by John Harwood

A ghost story within a ghost story, unique plot. An overprotective mother who adamantly would not talk of her family but did tell her son stories about a home she loved in England, Staplefield. Gerard was forced to come home directly school was over, his mother said she “had to keep him safe” without ever explaining why, and who “they” were who she so feared that it ruled her life.

Gerard eventually joins a Penfriend group through the school and receives a letter from a girl in England no much older than himself, although she is crippled and in a hospital they keep up a lifelong exchange. His mother is furious that he has a penfriend in England, somehow “they” might find them. It was about this time when the first letter arrived that his mother no longer told any stories of Staplefield, nor any hint of family. In fact, if his father hadn’t intervened and insisted that she allow him to receive his letters and read them for himself, he would never have had the opportunity to make a friend through Penfriends.

There are many mysteries in this book. Stories within stories to keep the excitement level up. Just when you feel you are getting to know about the relationship between Gerard & his mother and Gerard & his Penfriend Alice Kessell, He discovers a new story hidden away that taxes his feelings toward his mother and the people he reads about. The stories are written by the person he believes to be his grandmother Viola (or so he was told). With each new story and each new piece of information, Gerard struggles to sort out who these people really are, who his mother was (this after his mother’s death), who relates to him, and he sees his chance first with Alice, a true ghost writer, and later with an ad placed in the English paper to which he receives a message. He soon finds everything he knows about his life falling to pieces through lies, secrets, name changes, and ghosts.

The unexpected discovery of every letter he has written to Alice, found among stored papers, directly influences everything he does from this point on. By the description, these letters sent by email run through several decades. This is a fascinating plot line, all three or more plot lines in fact. Strange repetitions come down through the centuries, connections, murder, mystery, and much more. John Harwood knows how to write a story to captivate his readers. This was my first read of his books, but I am definitely read more of his novels in the near future. The story does tend to jump from past to present without a lot of warning, but persevere, it is definitely worth it. Now here’s a teaser, who actually died and when. This book is a dollop of horror, sprinkled liberally with secrets, and built on a foundation that quickly crumbles.