Genre: Mystery/Paranormal
Hardcover; Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781635------; 9781635115512
Henery Press Publishing
[Pages tba]
$31.95; $15.95; $---- Amazon
September 10, 2019
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When Misty Dawn, a former Hollywood Psychic to the Stars, moves into an old craftsman house, she encounters the former owner, the recently deceased Hollywood set designer, Wilson Thorne.
Wilson is unaware of his circumstances, and when Misty explains the particulars of his limbo state, and how he might help himself if he helps her, he's not at all happy. That is until young actress Zoey Chamberlain comes to Misty's door for help.
Zoey has recently purchased The Pink Mansion, a historic Hollywood Hills home, and believes it's haunted. But when Misty arrives to search the house, it's not a ghost she finds, but a dead body.
The police are quick to suspect Zoey of murdering her best friend. Zoey maintains her innocence and fears her friend's death may have been a result of the ghost...and a long-time family curse.
Together Misty and Wilson must untangle the secrets of The Pink Mansion or submit to the powers of the family curse.
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Misty Dawn is a psychic who's helped both the police and the FBI solve crimes. But since she never saved any money, she's currently living in her VW van with her cat, Bossypants. On this day, however, she's given a chance at a real home. One of her clients, realtor Denise Thorne, has offered to let her live in her late brother's home in exchange for regular readings. With some misgivings, Misty decides there are more pros than cons and agrees to the arrangement.
What she doesn't expect though, is the fact that Wilson Thorne, who was a movie set designer, would still be living in the home. Sort of. Since he's a ghost and all. And he doesn't want to share his space with Misty or especially her cat, since he's allergic. However, Misty isn't afraid of ghosts, having dealt with them in the past, and she's not going anywhere. So eventually they come to an uneasy truce, although Wilson isn't happy about it.
Then a young actress shows up at Misty's door; a young woman named Zoey - and Wilson already knows who she is. Zoey is convinced her new home - nicknamed the Pink Mansion - is haunted, and she wants Misty to find out why the ghost is there. When Misty is waffling about helping Zoey, Wilson convinces her to do so, and agrees to help, too. Once Misty knows she's won in her battle with Wilson, she agrees.
But then she gets another visitor - Denise. Wilson couldn't stand his sister in life, and he still can't, and wants Misty to get rid of her. But Denise has just come from another psychic (she's a psychic junkie it seems), who told her she was going to meet an important man. She takes this to mean that she's finally going to meet Hugh Jackman. This is significant because poor deluded Denise believes that Mr. Jackman will meet her, realize they're soulmates and leave his wife. When Misty refuses to be part of it, and actually tells her she's stalking him, Denise refuses to accept it.
The next day Misty goes to Zoey's and is surprised to see the place surrounded by police. She discovers that Zoey's best friend Lacey accidentally drowned in the spa the night before. After the police leave, she also meets her fiancé Chad, who has a band, and his bandmates Zac and Kelsey. Then Zoey tells Misty that she thinks the ghost killed Lacey - who was not only her best friend, but her stunt double - because it thought she was Zoey, and now the ghost is out to kill her.
When Misty starts looking into the history of the house, she discovers that a four-year-old girl drowned there in 1943. She knows a small child didn't kill Lacey and isn't out to kill Zoey, so now her curiosity gets the better of her and she's curious as to what's going on. But Misty finds more than she's looking for, and none of it is good. Now she needs to help Zoey, help the police find a killer, and help Wilson find out why he's still stuck in the human world...
This is the first book in a new series, and a very good start. If anyone has read the Carol Childs series by the author, they will have remembered Misty Dawn as having shown up on Carol's doorstep one day, much as Zoey showed up on hers. But then, Misty wasn't asking for help, she was there to help Carol (mostly against Carol's will), and help her get into a good place in her life.
Now Misty has her own beginning, and quite a delightful one. I do love stories about ghosts (as long as they're not poltergeists), and I love it especially when they interact with the living. In this, Ms. Silverman does not disappoint. Wilson begins as quite an arrogant, curmudgeonly spirit who morphs not only through his association and friendship with Misty, but as he drops his earthly ties, he becomes more ethereal and caring about the earthbound people around him. It is quite a transformation, and quite enthralling.
The story is written very well, and with plenty of things occurring around Misty, and it's wonderful to watch her 'read' the people around her to get to the core of it all. Her ability to see and hear things others aren't aware of is the main charm of the story. It draws you into the action, and the developing friendship between Misty and Wilson is indeed worth reading.
Watching Misty try to help those around her and help the police solve the murder of Lacey also brings her in contact with police detective Romero, who doesn't believe in ghosts or pretty much psychics, yet we see things change between them through the course of the book.
When we finally discover who killed Lacey and why, it's disturbing; but the way Misty puts it all together with the almost-blessing of Romero is fun to read, and even Wilson does his part, understanding at last what he needs to do to help someone else instead of thinking only of himself.
We watch as the characters of Misty and Wilson first circle each other in a battle of wills, then come to an uneasy truce, and finally to friendship and caring about each other. Their characterizations are done beautifully, and I loved the fact that we watched them develop throughout the book.
Misty is quite a character on her own, having lived life on her own terms (as did Wilson), and she's comfortable in her own skin. I felt that this was an outstanding introduction to the collaboration of Misty and Wilson, and I enjoyed it immensely. In this, Ms. Silverman has created an entertaining cast of characters that bring the story to life, and I find myself eagerly awaiting the next book in the series. Highly recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/House-Hallowed-Ground-Misty-Mystery/dp/163511554X/ref
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2865570054
More on Nancy Cole Silverman's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/s/nancy-cole-silverman/
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