Bed-and-breakfast—with a side of ghosts.

Word has spread that contractor Mel Turner can communicate with the spirits of the dead, and she’s having a hard time maintaining a low profile. She decides to embrace her reputation for the chance to restore a historic house that calls to her. The new owners, who hope to run a haunted bed-and-breakfast, want Mel to encourage the ghosts that supposedly roam the halls to enhance the house’s paranormal charm.

The catch: Mel has to spend one night in the house to win the project. During the spine-chilling sleepover, the estate gains another supernatural occupant when someone doesn’t survive the night. As Mel tries to coax the resident spirits into revealing the identity of the killer, she risks becoming the next casualty of this dangerous renovation.

Review

For fans of:  Victoria Laurie

When contractor Mel Turner is invited to bid for a job renovating an old house in San Francisco’s Castro District, she’s beyond excited; the building is magnificent, and if the project’s done right, it could earn Mel a prestigious American Institute of Architects Award. Mel has to do more than put together a good proposal in order to win the contract, though – she also has to spend a night in the house and prove to the owners she can survive the ghosts that are actively haunting it.

Now, Mel’s no stranger to working with spooks; in fact, thanks to some recent high-profile encounters, Haunted House Quarterly named her “California’s most promising up-and-coming Ghost Buster.”  But the folks in charge of this particular remodel don’t want Mel to help their otherworldly houseguests find peace – they want her to smooth things over with them regarding the remodel and then convince them to stick around. Because you see, the new owners don’t want to just live in the house – they want to turn it into a haunted bed and breakfast.

Mel’s on board with that plan (a job’s a job, right?) – until somebody’s murdered in the garden during her requisite overnight, and the house gains another ghost.  Who killed Mrs. Bernini, and why?  Is Mel in danger?  If the resident spirits know anything, they’re sure as heck not telling…

Murder on the House is the third installment in Juliet Blackwell’s Haunted Home Renovation Mysteries, and it’s an incredibly entertaining addition to what I’ve come to consider a must-read series.  Blackwell’s latest not only has a very strong sense of place, bringing San Francisco to life on the page, but it flaunts as much quirk, funk, charm and attitude as San Francisco, itself.  Architecture aficionados will delight in her careful and loving descriptions of the city's historic homes, and Blackwell manages to work in just enough San Francisco history to anchor her story and lend it an air of verisimilitude without drying it out or slowing it down.  The setup is fun, the pace is quick, the plot is intricate, and the prose has great flow.  And if you’re a fan of the classic haunted house tale, prepare to have your socks knocked off, because Blackwell has genuine skills when it comes to bringing the chills.

I do wish Blackwell had taken the time to develop her murder suspects a bit more; some of them feel a little hastily sketched.  That said, however, the mystery itself is complex and multi-layered and does a great job of tying the past to the present.  Blackwell works in some clever clues (and some even more clever red herrings), and the book itself ends strongly, so my complaint is a minor one.

Blackwell’s dialogue is sharp and snarky, and her core characters are vibrant and full of life.  Mel is an exceptionally likable heroine – tough and smart, but also sweet and kinda goofy. I love the fact that yes, she can see and communicate with ghosts, but that doesn’t mean she has any idea where her ability comes from, how it works, or what rules apply in any given supernatural situation.  She’s got a genuine talent, but no one to guide her way, which means she’s forced to learn as she goes.  This uncertainty not only contributes to Mel’s already considerable charm, but also adds an extra layer of tension and drama to every single one of her ghostly encounters.

Reviewed by Kat

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