Tuesday, February 19, 2013

What's A Ghoul To Do?

Title/Author: What's a Ghoul to Do? by Victoria Laurie.

Genre: Paranormal Thriller.

Publisher: Signet.

Source: Purchased.

Favorite character: Gilley

Synopsis: M.J., her partner Gilley, and their client, the wealthy, de-lish Dr. Steven Sable, are at his family's lodge, where his grandfather allegedly jumped to his death from the roof-although Sable says it was foul play. But the patriarch's isn't the only ghost around. The place is lousy with souls, all with something to get off their ghoulish chests. Now M.J. will have to to quell the clamor-and listen for a voice with the answers...~Goodreads.com

My Thoughts: I've wanted to read this book for a while (I love the cover), so when The Book Nympho and Romancing the Darkside announced they were a having a Read-A-Long of the series, I figured it was my perfect chance.  I was expecting a kind of a light cozy-mystery and that's what I got. 

This is a murder mystery and thriller and main protagonist M.J., who is a Medium, has to solve the murder and some other puzzles that she and her team uncover in the course of the investigation. Although we know  who the bad guy is, there is still some deep and buried secrets to uncover.  There were some surprises that I did not see coming, which I love, but I also felt at times the plot stalled.  From the first chapter, I also thought the book was going to be darker than it was and I was looking forward to that, but the rest of the book did not have that darkness.  I love ghost stories and there are some chilling and creepy parts in this book, but they are not terribly frightening so if you are a scaredy-cat, don't avoid this book because there are ghosts.

I like the main character M.J. She is smart and funny and also vulnerable.  I do wish there had been further character development with her because I *do* like her.  I think I just wanted a bit more.  The character who steals the show, in my opinion however, is Gilley, her business partner who is ironically, afraid of ghosts.  He is hilarious and snarky and mischevious and a perfect foil for M.J.  Every girl should have a Gilley. 

Unfortunately, I really did not like Dr. Steven Sable, the love interest.  I felt he was arrogant and at times condescending to M.J.  Also, I didn't always buy his misuse of the English slang.  At first it was cute, but it went on too long.  It just seems to me a world reknown surgeon who is fluent in several languages would have a better grasp of English.  Maybe that's just me. The romance did not make me swoon and I really didn't feel a chemistry between them.  I do think the next book will be interesting however, given the turn the ending took relating to him. 

Also, the bird Doc Holliday, didn't work for me at first either as a sidekick pet.  However, when it was explained why she received the bird and from who, I understood.  I wondered why the author chose a parrot and then I read in the back that she herself has a parrot named Doc. 

I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series, but I really love the Read-A-Long and hearing everyone's opinions so maybe I'll at least give the second installment a try.

All in all: The book seemed a bit slow to me at times, but it was still a light and fun read. 

Other Editions:









7 comments:

Felicia the Geeky Blogger said...

I like the series :) Some books are better than others but they fill that light mystery spot perfectly. The characters are fun to boot!

Kate @Midnight Book Girl said...

While I enjoy paranormal romances/comedies, I think I'll probably stick to Molly Harper and Charlaine Harris, although if I meet this book in a library someday I wouldn't say no to taking it home!

Aurian said...

Great review, and I agree with you. I did not like Dr. Sable at all. So due to the ending, I decided not to read any more books in this series.

Midnyte Reader said...

@Felicia-I agree that most of the characters are fun.

@Kate-Havent tried Molly Harper. I have seen this in the library and that's when I first learned about it.

@Aurian-I think a lot of people didn't really like him. Maybe he'll grow on some readers as time passes.

Karen said...

This sounds cute for an in between series books read. I love the covers.

It must be a trend because I've been reading quite a few books that start out dark then steer away from that. Which is too bad because I like darker books too.

Anonymous said...

Sounds cute. I have Goul Interrupted on my shelf, I am going to try it out, even though I haven't read the others. Hopefully the love interest changes! :)

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