Book Beginnings, First Line Friday, & Friday 56: The Curious Case of the Midnight Specter by Moriah Chavis

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading. I'm also linking up with Carrie at Reading is My Superpower for First Line Friday. Friday 56 asks you to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and share a non-spoilery sentence or two. It was started by Freda at Freda's Voice, but Anne over at My Head is Full of Books has taken over for the time being.

This week I'm featuring The Curious Case of the Midnight Specter by Moriah Chavis. This is a really good historical mystery. It releases September 16, and I should have my review up then. 

About the Book

She can see ghosts, but can she catch a killer?

Stornshire, England - 1890

Leighanna Pauley barely escaped consumption. Now, she's claimed by both Life and Death. Fascinated by justice and why she survived when so many others haven't, she has a new obsession: the murder of a fellow socialite. But the police have no leads.

The investigation emboldens Leighanna to attend the first ball held at the Carmine Estate. When midnight strikes, the unimaginable takes place. Time stops for everyone but Leighanna. Before her stands the ghost of the dead girl, pleading with Leighanna to catch her killer before someone else is murdered.

In a race against time, Leighanna hunts for clues across Stornshire. Will she be able to solve the case before the murderer strikes again, or will she become just another forgotten victim?

Book Beginnings / First Line Friday

Christmas 1889

Leighanna Pauley lay suspended between life and death.

Friday 56

"What were you thinking?" Leighanna's mother asked as she paced in front of August and Leighanna in the parlor.

What have you been reading lately?

Can't Wait Wednesday: The Curious Case of the Midnight Specter by Moriah Chavis

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights and discusses the books we're excited about that we've yet to read. Generally, they're books that are yet to be released. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week I'm featuring The Curious Case of the Midnight Specter by Moriah Chavis releasing September 16. I have an ARC of this book and am so excited to read it. It sounds so good! 

About the Book

She can see ghosts, but can she catch a killer?

Stornshire, England - 1890

Leighanna Pauley barely escaped consumption. Now, she's claimed by both Life and Death. Fascinated by justice and why she survived when so many others haven't, she has a new obsession: the murder of a fellow socialite. But the police have no leads.

The investigation emboldens Leighanna to attend the first ball held at the Carmine Estate. When midnight strikes, the unimaginable takes place. Time stops for everyone but Leighanna. Before her stands the ghost of the dead girl, pleading with Leighanna to catch her killer before someone else is murdered.

In a race against time, Leighanna hunts for clues across Stornshire. Will she be able to solve the case before the murderer strikes again, or will she become just another forgotten victim?

What upcoming release are you eagerly awaiting?

Review: Galvanism and Ghouls (Manners and Monsters #2) by Tilly Wallace

About the Book

Together beyond death...

A new unnatural horror is about to rattle Hannah Miles' quiet existence, and it's not the short-tempered viscount prowling the hallways. Someone is creating a monster by stitching together pieces of different people. When a limb makes an escape attempt, Viscount Wycliff is called to investigate. All of London knows there is one mad scientist among them capable of creating such an ungodly monster... Sir Hugh Miles.

Hannah's father is suspected of a most heinous crime and she is determined to clear his name, even as Wycliff works to see the murderer hang. Buried secrets that touch all their lives will be brought to the surface. One such secret belongs to Hannah and could tear her world apart.

With Hannah and Wycliff on opposing sides, can they find the real monster and will it be the hand that wields the scalpel, or the creature hiding in the dark?

Amazon / Goodreads

MY THOUGHTS

One didn’t have to scream and shout that one was not following the expected conventions. Many like herself went about quietly doing as they pleased. Marching to their own drum, as it were.

I had such a great time reading this book! This series is turning out to be so much fun. This installment was even better than the first. The world building is spectacular and the characters are charming and easy to root for. I can't get enough.

There were twists and turns and a couple of surprising reveals that I didn't see coming. I thought the mystery was good. I was absolutely convinced I knew who the guilty party was. So much so that I pretty much dismissed everyone else. Boy, was I in for a shock! And while this mystery was solved, there are quite a few loose threads that I'm sure will carry through the rest of the series, which I'm eager to read ASAP! If you're a fan of paranormal cozy mysteries, this series gets a huge recommendation from me. Start with book one and you'll be hooked!

4.5 STARS

Review: Miss Knight and the Ghosts of Tsavo (Society For Paranormals #1) by Vered Ehsani

About the Book
Armed with Victorian etiquette, a fully loaded walking stick, and a dead husband, Beatrice Knight arrives in the small colonial town of Nairobi desperate for a pot of tea and a pinch of cinnamon. But she’ll need more than that if she’s to unravel the mystery of the Ghosts of Tsavo without being eaten in the process. She must survive the machinations of her best friend's dashing godfather and the efforts of her safari guide to feed her to any lion willing to drag her away. What is a ghost-chasing widow to do?

Miss Knight and the Ghosts of Tsavo is the first case in the “Society for Paranormals” series, in which a paranormal detective refuses to let danger, death, and unsolicited suitors inconvenience her in colonial Kenya. Welcome to a cozy mystery series concerning Victorian etiquette, African mythology, and the search for a perfect spot of tea.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY THOUGHTS

This was an entertaining, fun, and witty read. I read the prequel and loved the world building so much that I immediately had to start book one.

Widow Beatrice Knight and her disagreeable relatives must start a new life in Africa after financial ruin leaves them bankrupt and unable to afford life in London. Bee’s work as an investigator for the Society for Paranormals & Curious Animals continues though. Her unique ability to identify supernaturals by seeing the energy fields that surround them really comes in handy. She’s not even settled into her new abode before she’s faced with her first case in this new country. A pair of goat-eating ghost lions are wreaking havoc around town and Bee is tasked with stopping them.

I loved learning about all the African folklore. It was so fascinating and a nice change of pace from what's normally found in this genre. And I really enjoyed the author's 'Fact or Fiction' section at the end of the book. It was filled with some very interesting information.

This was very much an introductory book, setting everything up for future installments, so, at times, the pacing was a little slow. There was a lot of explaining going on, and the plot would meander around sometimes. But there was a lot of promise here. I did really enjoy the prequel and am excited to see what happens next.

3.5 STARS

Book Beginnings + Friday 56: Miss Knight and the Ghosts of Tsavo (Society For Paranormals #1) by Vered Ehsani

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading. Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and asks you to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and share a non-spoilery sentence or two.

This week I'm featuring Miss Knight and the Ghosts of Tsavo (Society For Paranormals #1) by Vered Ehsani.

About the Book

Armed with Victorian etiquette, a fully loaded walking stick, and a dead husband, Beatrice Knight arrives in the small colonial town of Nairobi desperate for a pot of tea and a pinch of cinnamon. But she’ll need more than that if she’s to unravel the mystery of the Ghosts of Tsavo without being eaten in the process. She must survive the machinations of her best friend's dashing godfather and the efforts of her safari guide to feed her to any lion willing to drag her away. What is a ghost-chasing widow to do?

Miss Knight and the Ghosts of Tsavo is the first case in the “Society for Paranormals” series, in which a paranormal detective refuses to let danger, death, and unsolicited suitors inconvenience her in colonial Kenya. Welcome to a cozy mystery series concerning Victorian etiquette, African mythology, and the search for a perfect spot of tea.

Book Beginnings

It's an uncommonly known fact that a strong pot of tea will obscure a werewolf's stench.

Friday 56

Snap out of this, I instructed myself firmly. You've been through worse. You should be able to handle anything. Especially after what happened in West Africa with an elephant-sized Praying Mantis.

What have you been reading lately?

Book Beginnings + Friday 56: Interview with a Dead Editor (Lucky Lexie Mysteries #1) by Shanna Swendson

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading. Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and asks you to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and share a non-spoilery sentence or two.

This week I'm featuring Interview with a Dead Editor (Lucky Lexie Mysteries #1) by Shanna Swendson. I loved this author's Enchanted, Inc. series, so I'm excited for something new from her.

About the Book

Worst Job Interview Ever!

Alexa “Lucky Lexie” Lincoln has always had a nose for news and a knack for being first on the scene whenever there’s a big story. Now her luck seems to have run out. First, she loses her reporting job. Then she gets an interview for a job at a small-town paper, only to find the editor dead on the newsroom floor. That makes her a suspect in the eyes of local policeman Wes Mosby.

To make matters worse, someone sabotages her alibi, and a freak ice storm strands her in town. That’s when she learns that this idyllic little town right out of a movie set is full of secrets, including people with uncanny abilities and the ghost who really runs the newspaper.

To clear her name (and get the job), Lexie will have to find the real killer—a killer who seems to think she knows a lot more than she does. If she’s not careful, she could be the next victim.

A magical new mystery series from the author of Enchanted, Inc.

Book Beginnings

I'd feared I was heading to the middle of nowhere, metaphorically speaking, but I didn't realize it might be literal until I saw the "Sterling Mills, Population 3,500" sign on the side of the road.

Friday 56

I made my way carefully up the stairs. The sun hadn't hit this area, so there was still ice on the steps. I unlocked the door, and as soon as I went inside, I knew something was wrong. My bag had been emptied all over the floor, and books lay in front of the bookcase. The place had been ransacked.

What have you been reading lately?

Review: Sparrow Hill Road (Ghost Roads #1) by Seanan McGuire

About the Book
Rose Marshall died in 1952 in Buckley Township, Michigan, run off the road by a man named Bobby Cross—a man who had sold his soul to live forever, and intended to use her death to pay the price of his immortality. Trouble was, he didn’t ask Rose what she thought of the idea.

It’s been more than sixty years since that night, and she’s still sixteen, and she’s still running.

They have names for her all over the country: the Girl in the Diner. The Phantom Prom Date. The Girl in the Green Silk Gown. Mostly she just goes by “Rose,” a hitchhiking ghost girl with her thumb out and her eyes fixed on the horizon, trying to outrace a man who never sleeps, never stops, and never gives up on the idea of claiming what’s his. She’s the angel of the overpass, she’s the darling of the truck stops, and she’s going to figure out a way to win her freedom. After all, it’s not like it can kill her.

You can’t  kill what’s already dead.

Amazon / Goodreads

My Thoughts

It's been a few years since I first read Sparrow Hill Road, so I figured I should reread it to refresh my memory before starting the sequel, The Girl in the Green Silk Gown. I loved it the first time and loved it even more this second go around.

It's a little spooky, but not too bad. I'm not usually a fan of scary stories, but I found this one to be just right, I think. It was a bit melancholy at times, but it's narrated by a ghost who died too young, at the age of sixteen, so that's to be expected. Though there was also a lot of humor, too. So that was nice.

Rose is an instantly likable character. She's seen many things and traveled many roads through many decades often known as “the Ghost of Sparrow Hill Road, “the Girl at the Diner”, and “the Phantom Prom Date”, just to name a few. She's not someone to be messed with. She's grown to be fierce, but she's also just about the most helpful and honorable ghost you'll ever meet.

It was great to travel the ghost roads with Rose once again and I'm very eager to find out what happens next in The Girl in the Green Silk Gown. 

Note: This book contains strong language

4.5 Stars

Book Beginnings + Friday 56: Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading. Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and asks you to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and share a non-spoilery sentence or two.

This week I'm featuring Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire. It's a collection of short stories that follows Rose Marshall - the 'Ghost of Sparrow Hill Road'.  I'm in the process of rereading it right now since the sequel just came out. I thought I probably needed to refresh my memory of the events that happened in this book before diving into The Girl in the Green Silk Gown. So far, it's just as good, possibly even better than I remember.

About the Book

Rose Marshall died in 1952 in Buckley Township, Michigan, run off the road by a man named Bobby Cross—a man who had sold his soul to live forever, and intended to use her death to pay the price of his immortality. Trouble was, he didn’t ask Rose what she thought of the idea.

It’s been more than sixty years since that night, and she’s still sixteen, and she’s still running.

They have names for her all over the country: the Girl in the Diner. The Phantom Prom Date. The Girl in the Green Silk Gown. Mostly she just goes by “Rose,” a hitchhiking ghost girl with her thumb out and her eyes fixed on the horizon, trying to outrace a man who never sleeps, never stops, and never gives up on the idea of claiming what’s his. She’s the angel of the overpass, she’s the darling of the truck stops, and she’s going to figure out a way to win her freedom. After all, it’s not like it can kill her.

You can’t kill what’s already dead.

Book Beginning (From the first story, 1973: The Dead Girl in the Diner)

There's this vocabulary word - "linear." It means things that happen in a straight line, like highways and essays about what you did on your summer vacation. It means A comes before B, and B comes before C, all the way to the end of the alphabet, end of the road...end of the line. That's linear.

The living are real fond of linear. The dead...not so much.

Friday 56 (55% on my Kindle from the story, 2013: The Devil in the Wind)

Things are different here on the edge of the twilight. Black clouds streak the sky like spilled ink, and the broken cars glitter with firefly brilliance in the process of slowly - so slowly! - fading into darkness.

What have you been reading lately?

Can't Wait Wednesday: The Girl in the Green Silk Gown (Ghost Roads #2) by Seanan McGuire

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights and discusses the books we're excited about that we've yet to read. Generally, they're books that are yet to be released. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week I'm featuring The Girl in the Green Silk Gown (Ghost Roads #2) by Seanan McGuire releasing July 17, 2018.

About the Book

The second book in the Ghost Roads series returns to the highways of America, where hitchhiking ghost Rose Marshall continues her battle with her killer--the immortal Bobby Cross.

Once and twice and thrice around,
Put your heart into the ground.
Four and five and six tears shed,
Give your love unto the dead.
Seven shadows on the wall,
Eight have come to watch your fall:
One’s for the gargoyle, one’s for the grave,
And the last is for the one you’ll never save.

For Rose Marshall, death has long since become the only life she really knows.  She’s been sweet sixteen for more than sixty years, hitchhiking her way along the highways and byways of America, sometimes seen as an avenging angel, sometimes seen as a killer in her own right, but always Rose, the Phantom Prom Date, the Girl in the Green Silk Gown.

The man who killed her is still out there, thanks to a crossroads bargain that won’t let him die, and he’s looking for the one who got away.  When Bobby Cross comes back into the picture, there’s going to be hell to pay—possibly literally.

Rose has worked for decades to make a place for herself in the twilight.  Can she defend it, when Bobby Cross comes to take her down?  Can she find a way to navigate the worlds of the living and the dead, and make it home before her hitchhiker’s luck runs out?
               
There’s only one way to know for sure.

Nine will let you count the cost:
All you had and all you lost.
Ten is more than time can tell,
Cut the cord and ring the bell.
Count eleven, twelve, and then,
Thirteen takes you home again.
One’s for the shadow, one’s for the tree,
And the last is for the blessing of Persephone.

Why I Need It

First of all, it's Seanan McGuire... that should be all the explanation I need, lol. I didn't know there was going to be a continuation of Rose's story, so I got super excited when I saw there was a sequel to Sparrow Hill Road. I don't read a lot of "ghost stories" but I really enjoyed the first book and can't wait to get my hands on a copy of this one!

What book are you eagerly anticipating?