A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke (2024)
I can't say I fully embraced this whole heartedly, since it fell a little short in a few key areas. But mostly, I found it an entertaining read that kept me staying with it all the way through.
I guess you'd call it a Big City Cozy......unfolding not in a quaint little town but on the cold, snowy, sometimes violent streets of Boston. New 20 year old apartment dweller Ruby moved in to wipe out the memories of her 'jerkface' cheating ex. Quirky, cute and the world's worst job interviewee, she's got another problem - Cordelia, the 40-something previous tenant, hasn't vacated, unless you count committing suicide in the bathtub as vacating. Cordy's still inhabiting the apartment as a ghost.......and initially not thrilled with her new roommate.
And now the fun begins. Ruby and Cordelia, not only slowly establish a workable living (and dead) apartment sharing arrangement, but team up as oddball amateur detectives. Yet another neighbor of theirs, Jake, was shot dead on the street (and for some strange reason,barely dressed), right in front of the apartment building. Ruby then has her hands full questioning potential suspects who can't quite figure out the paranormal oddities that often occur all around her.
I was expecting a more generous helping of humor in a setup like this, but the author Olivia Blacke seems to ration it out in careful spoonfuls. The book devotes a huge amount of time to its own ghostly mythology that dictates the extent of Cordelia's abilities and powers.....a little too much of it and it slows down the pace. What I did enjoy, was the step-by-step building of friendship and the beginnings of affection between the two sleuths stuck in separate modes of existence. And their exasperating attempts to communicate with each other keeps a reader smiling - especially when they stumble upon the one way that actually works for both of them.
The expected showdown-finale with the killer comes in kind of a rush but still makes for an exciting, witty, and satisfying way for these unlikely detectives to close their first case.....and move on to the next.. I'll be there with them for sure, but hoping the next one streamlines the paranormal exposition and amps up the amusing byplay.
I guess you'd call it a Big City Cozy......unfolding not in a quaint little town but on the cold, snowy, sometimes violent streets of Boston. New 20 year old apartment dweller Ruby moved in to wipe out the memories of her 'jerkface' cheating ex. Quirky, cute and the world's worst job interviewee, she's got another problem - Cordelia, the 40-something previous tenant, hasn't vacated, unless you count committing suicide in the bathtub as vacating. Cordy's still inhabiting the apartment as a ghost.......and initially not thrilled with her new roommate.
And now the fun begins. Ruby and Cordelia, not only slowly establish a workable living (and dead) apartment sharing arrangement, but team up as oddball amateur detectives. Yet another neighbor of theirs, Jake, was shot dead on the street (and for some strange reason,barely dressed), right in front of the apartment building. Ruby then has her hands full questioning potential suspects who can't quite figure out the paranormal oddities that often occur all around her.
I was expecting a more generous helping of humor in a setup like this, but the author Olivia Blacke seems to ration it out in careful spoonfuls. The book devotes a huge amount of time to its own ghostly mythology that dictates the extent of Cordelia's abilities and powers.....a little too much of it and it slows down the pace. What I did enjoy, was the step-by-step building of friendship and the beginnings of affection between the two sleuths stuck in separate modes of existence. And their exasperating attempts to communicate with each other keeps a reader smiling - especially when they stumble upon the one way that actually works for both of them.
The expected showdown-finale with the killer comes in kind of a rush but still makes for an exciting, witty, and satisfying way for these unlikely detectives to close their first case.....and move on to the next.. I'll be there with them for sure, but hoping the next one streamlines the paranormal exposition and amps up the amusing byplay.
4 stars (****). Nice way to kill a chilly night...(you should pardon the expression.....)
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