Fran Stewart

I started this one yesterday with all the bad reviews I've recently read in the back of my mind, thinking 'I'll start this one, and DNF it if it's as bad as everyone says' and I'd have another book off the TBR pile.

But it actually wasn't as bad as I'd expected. It's actually not that bad at all. The characters are ok: Peggy, the MC, isn't someone I'd be clamouring for as a BFF in real life, but she's not unlikeable and the secondary characters all have a bit of life to them. Dirk, the ghost, feels real and ghosty enough, although I don't like the name "Dirk" - it's a nickname Peggy gives him because his real name is Macbeth.

The story itself is slow; the author takes her time building up the background, having Peggy find Dirk, and establish the setting before the dead body is ever found in chapter 11. This pace might be too exasperating for some, who prefer the bodies to drop as close to chapter 1 as possible, but I didn't mind; the progression felt more natural and I wasn't subjected to an info-dump.

The mystery was well-plotted and there was just the barest hint of the murderer given if you paid close enough attention. The reveal didn't surprise me, but I wouldn't have been at all surprised if it had been someone else, either. I also really appreciated the lack of amateur sleuthing so popular these days: Peggy wasn't actively trying to find the murderer so much as solve a related puzzle, and I loved this angle.

The author leaves enough small character-related questions left open for me to think she's aiming for a slow building of her 'universe' over time. Questions are left unanswered about Dirk and about the possible romantic interest's past (Harper), and I'll happily read the second book to see how many of those questions are answered.

[PopSugar 2015 Challenge: A book with bad reviews.]… (más)

3 stars even though the author probably deserves a fourth just for writing something outside the cozy box. While I appreciated what she was doing intellectually, emotionally I was just getting irritated.

Being thrust into the modern world hasn’t been easy for Dirk, but Peggy is at her wit’s end trying to keep the ghostie galoot in line...

When the local police chief finds the body of Peggy’s friend Karaline’s college professor in a deserted mountain cabin, everyone is thrown for a loop. It seems the secretive professor may have been killed over his ecological work, an idea that’s only reinforced when Karaline herself is shot.

First, Dirk is a stupid nickname; the ghost has something like 6 middle names and his first name is MacBeath; she couldn't choose a less porn-sounding nickname from one them?

Second, Peggy, isn't a very nice person. She seems a bit emotionally stunted, which makes for a realistic protagonist, but not a likeable one. She admits when she's been impatient or intolerant, but she does it begrudgingly and she acts out like a brat when she's called out on her behaviour. She's not unlikeable, but it's close.

Finally, the ghost. I like him, but - and this is realistic (assuming a 14th century ghost existed) - he questioned everything. Which he would, given that our English and his couldn't be much more different without being separate languages, but it gets really annoying after awhile. Also, he abused wee as an adjective. He called everything wee, including motor vehicles.

The book is told in alternating POV's and the author does it well. It flowed nicely and I don't normally like POV jumping. The story was well-plotted although a clue early on gave away the murderer for me, if not the motivation. It was a subtle clue, I think; readers that aren't a fan of word games might not pick up on it.

Overall, it sounds as though I didn't like the book, but I didn't hate it either. I think the author has a lot of talent, but the balance between realism and like-ability in her main characters was off (and the sheriff just needs to die; near as I can tell, he has no redeeming qualities). There's a lot more to this cozy than it appears from the title and cover and there's a lot of talking points about this one. But it's not as good as it could be. I'm not sure if I'll continue this series or not.… (más)

Peggy Winn owns The Scotshop, a Scottish store in the small tourist town of Hamlin, Vermont. When she discovers her boyfriend cheating, she dumps him on the spot. Then she continues with a planned visit to Scotland, where she's visited shops before to find treasures to sell back in America. But this time she finds another shop with the same name as hers -- and inside finds a lovely, ancient shawl that she is urged to purchase by the women at the shop. But when she wears it later on a picnic with the hosts of her B&B, the shawl conjures up the ghost of a fourteenth-century Scotsman, complete with full kilt attire and dagger.

Realizing she's stuck with him, she names him Dirk since she can't pronounce his given names, and once back in America she urges him to keep quiet so people won't think she's talking to herself. But when she finds the body of her ex-boyfriend buried under a bookcase after what appears to be a break-in, there's more than a ghost to worry about. Now her cousin is arrested for the crime, and if she doesn't find out what the burglar was looking for and who really killed her ex, her cousin might be sent away for good...

I really wanted to like this story because I love stories with ghosts in them, and there are several very good ones out there. Unfortunately, this isn't one of them. It started out with promise in Scotland, but when they got back to Vermont it steadily went downhill. More so because of the many unanswered questions throughout the book (and here you're going to have spoilers, so do not read on if you haven't read the book): Why are there spiders all around Dirk? What is the reason for this in the book? Why was the police chief so obnoxious toward Peggy? Do they have a past? Why was Mason killed? This was never explained. Why could women see Dirk but not men? This was just ridiculous. And last, why was Mason blackmailing someone?

I know that there are two more books in this series, but I won't be reading either of them because of this. I abhor cliffhangers and things that aren't explained, it makes me feel cheated as a reader. I just felt that I wasted my time on this book. Sorry.… (más)