Review: Series novella with a surprise twist
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 24, 2014
A Wild Ghost Chase is a novella falling between the third (Old Haunts) and the fourth (Chance of a Ghost) in E.J. Copperman's Haunted Guesthouse mystery series. I have been a fan of this series from the beginning, so I was a little surprised that I didn't enjoy this novella more than I did. Don't misunderstand me: I did enjoy A Wild Ghost Chase, just not as much as others in the series.Unlike the others in the series, A Wild Ghost Chase is narrated by Paul, one of the spirits living in Allison's Jersey Shore guesthouse. A private investigator while alive,Paul was murdered in the course of his first investigation for his first client - Maxie - the other spirit at the guesthouse. Since becoming a ghost, Paul has continued his business - sort of - with the help of Allison. But for this case, Allison is mostly out of the picture, and I think that her presence and involvement is what I missed the most.Paul's client is an eight-year-old boy, a Native American who died over two hundred years earlier of small pox. Paul, at the urging of Allison's ten-year-old daughter Melissa, agrees to help find the boy's mother. But as the investigation progresses, Paul, Maxie, and Melissa quickly realize that all is not as it seems. The twist was one that I definitely didn't see coming - but that I found to be very clever and smart.Overall, a good read. I really missed the narration, personality, and voice of Allison, though. She brings so much to the story and canvas of each book. I love the relationship between Paul and Allison and those scenes were some of my favorites in A Wild Ghost Chase.