Book Reviews

Book Blurb

While helping their flamboyant neighbour with his play, Dannel and Osian discover more than a ghost haunting the stage at the Evelyn Lavelle theatre. It's all fun and games until a friend is found kneeling over a dead body.

Is he the murderer or an unfortunate witness?

When one body turns to two, then to three, will the killer ever be found?

As Dannel and Osian work together to solve the mystery, the murderer focuses on them. Their drive to clear their friend’s name puts them centre stage. But not everything under the glow of the bright lights glimmers.

Will anyone be left when the curtain falls?

 

Book Review

Noting again for the ‘Ghost Light Killer’: this story falls securely in the “cozy mystery” genre. I would not shelve this as a romance – the two main characters, Dannel and Osian, are a well-established couple via the route of childhood friends. 

 

For book two I had to suspend my disbelief a bit more than I usually do for cozy mysteries. Not only was there about six months between the murder in book one and book two, but there were also three murders in one location! The theater must be a dangerous place to work…

 

Dannel has now retired from fighting fires and he and Osian are trying to make a go of their podcast.  Their outgoing elderly downstairs neighbor is in the final dress rehearsals for his theatrical production when the bodies start showing up. First body is blamed on the theater’s resident ghost, but when Osian is nearly killed by falling equipment, something is afoot. Despite repeated warnings from the local detective inspectors to “let the constabulary do their jobs”, Osian and Dannel continue to nose about.

 

Things that niggled me: why the theatrical production was allowed to proceed after the first murder and truly, after the second. It seems unrealistic that Dannel’s uncle could afford to let the building’s tenants live nearly rent free in London. Nice for the characters perhaps, but a bit unrealistic? And, for two people now living off one podcast – they spend a lot of time at coffee shops. Maybe coffee is cheaper in London?

 

Things I enjoyed: the historical theater tie-in with the ghost light explanation and the unsolved murder from a different decade. I do so enjoy Dannel and Osian’s neighbors, from outgoing Ian to the couple always walking their dog and dropping off sweets. Dannel and Oz’s supporting family and friends really stood out in this installment. I also thought this book did a better job of incorporating Dannel’s autistic traits into the narrative, into Dannel and Osian interacting as a couple, rather than a separate “thing”.   

 

So while ‘Ghost Light Killer’; may have more niggles than the ‘Cosplay Killer’, it was still an enjoyable, cozy read with a little surprise at the end. This is perfect as a commute read, vacation book, or end-of-the-day unwind. 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the author via GRRT for the purpose of a review.

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 210 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	07-August-2021
Price	$2.99 ebook, $15.99 paperback
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Killer-London-Podcast-Mystery-ebook/dp/B08YMTBXCK