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A review by mercyblue
The Book of Beloved by Carolyn Haines
4.0
Star Rating: 3.5 - 4 Stars
Raissa a young war widow, hopes to make her dreams come true as a novelist when she receives an invitation from her uncle to a party he's throwing at his Alabama antebellum. Since the plantation is known to be haunted Raissa jumps at the chance to find inspiration of a very real ghostly kind. But when a young man dies during the shindig, Raissa isn't so sure that the nosedive he took off the antebellum's roof was an accident. Contending with malevolent spirits and a possible new beau, Raissa has a lot to overcome if she's to become a successful writer and catch the murderer responsible for Roberts death.
Overall this novel was a solid edition in this brand new historical paranormal mystery series by Carolyn Haines. While I enjoyed Raissa, her Uncle Brett, Isabelle and a host of other characters in the novel, I felt like the story was drawn out just a little too much. There wasn't enough forward momentum in the story line until about 70% of the way through when many of the puzzle pieces fell into place. In total I feel like Carolyn Haines could have chopped a good 100 pages off this novel and I would have given it 5 stars instead of just 4. I still want to see what ruckus Raissa manages to make in the next novel, but I just hope it will be even better then the this first edition.
Raissa a young war widow, hopes to make her dreams come true as a novelist when she receives an invitation from her uncle to a party he's throwing at his Alabama antebellum. Since the plantation is known to be haunted Raissa jumps at the chance to find inspiration of a very real ghostly kind. But when a young man dies during the shindig, Raissa isn't so sure that the nosedive he took off the antebellum's roof was an accident. Contending with malevolent spirits and a possible new beau, Raissa has a lot to overcome if she's to become a successful writer and catch the murderer responsible for Roberts death.
Overall this novel was a solid edition in this brand new historical paranormal mystery series by Carolyn Haines. While I enjoyed Raissa, her Uncle Brett, Isabelle and a host of other characters in the novel, I felt like the story was drawn out just a little too much. There wasn't enough forward momentum in the story line until about 70% of the way through when many of the puzzle pieces fell into place. In total I feel like Carolyn Haines could have chopped a good 100 pages off this novel and I would have given it 5 stars instead of just 4. I still want to see what ruckus Raissa manages to make in the next novel, but I just hope it will be even better then the this first edition.