The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James
Published: 03/06/2012
Publisher: New American Library
Genre: Mystery / Romance
Goodreads ~ Barnes and Noble ~ Amazon
Sarah Piper is a young woman living in in post-World War I London. Outside of the jobs she gets through a temp agency, Sarah doesn't get out much. When a job offer appears, she heads out to the interview oblivious to the life-changing experience that awaits her. Sarah accepts a job as an assistant for Alistair Gellis, a ghost hunter heading out to investigate reports of a rather disruptive ghost in the British countryside. They are later joined by his usual (and quite moody) assistant Matthew Ryder. The three must figure out what is holding the spirit of Maddy Clare to the barn where she took her own life in an effort to stop the torment of Maddy's former employer. Things turn dangerous as the investigation proceeds and it is eventually up to Sarah and Matthew to bring about resolution to the mystery and haunting of Maddy Clare.
After finishing The Broken Girls, I launched into a week-long Simone St. James reading binge. It made for a really fun week, I highly recommend it.
The atmosphere of the story was incredibly creepy. I will probably think twice before walking into a barn for awhile. Ms. St. James knows how to integrate the paranormal into the story line while making it believable and giving the reader chills. The story of Maddy Clare was intriguing and tragic, and the reader is able to find empathy with the character even though she's doing her best to torment others.
Even though I'm not generally drawn to romance novels, The Haunting of Maddy Clare was pretty good. I didn't find myself getting overly frustrated with the progress of the romance. It helped that the characters were very well developed independently of the love story.
For more about Simone St. James, check out her website.
No comments:
Post a Comment