I am happy today to provide a review for you at my blog stop for Haunted House Ghost by James J Cudney on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour. Scroll down to enter your chance to win the Giveaway!
Haunted House Ghost: Death At The Fall Festival
(Braxton Campus Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Gumshoe Books – A Next Chapter Imprint (October 1, 2019)
Digital Edition, 275 pages
ASIN: B07WGKGZ9J
It’s Halloween, and excitement is brewing in Braxton to carve jack-o’-lanterns, go on haunted hayrides, and race through the spooky corn maze at the Fall Festival.
Despite the former occupant’s warnings, Kellan renovates and moves into a mysterious old house. When a ruthless ghost promises retribution, our fearless professor turns to the eccentric town historian and an eerie psychic to communicate with the apparition. Meanwhile, construction workers discover a fifty-year-old skeleton after breaking ground on the new Memorial Library wing.
While Kellan and April dance around the chemistry sparking between them, a suspicious accident occurs at the Fall Festival. Soon, Kellan discovers the true history and dastardly connections of the Grey family. But can he capture the elusive killer – and placate the revenge-seeking ghost.
Haunted House Ghost is the fifth in the Braxton Campus Mysteries and my second with this author. Although a series, bringing back protagonist Kellan Ayrwick and his main support characters, each in the series can easily work as a standalone as each storyline is unique.
Kellan has earned the reputation as “The Unlikely Death Locator” as he seemingly has the unhappy timing for the discovery of a murder victim. April and Connor figure prominently again as the local detectives, with April becoming a romantic interest. Kellan has a large family unit, most notably Saraphina Danby, better known as Nana D, as well as daughter Emma. Kellan enjoyed a recent stint as a Hollywood director and now back home functions as a college professor.
This entry to the series has Kellan finishing renovation of his purchase of an old Victorian, the Grey House, which has been standing empty for the better part of fifty years. Any new occupant left quickly due to the possible paranormal activity in the house now said to be haunted and it isn’t long before Kellan begins to experience disturbing and unexplained occurrences as well.
Also occurring at the same time, the implosion of the old wing at the library in the process of being replaced by new and modern accommodations. It is there that Kellan discovers a human skeleton.
Now, as you might expect from this author, things begin to get complicated. The town is in the process of celebrating Halloween with all manner of planned activities and excitement, lending the perfect autumnal feel to the narrative while multi-layers begin to complicate an already complex and well-plotted storyline.
Twists, red herrings, characters in and out of suspicion as Kellan attempts to herd his youngsters, plan his lessons and provide his lectures, and ferret out leads of persons to interrogate (that is, interview) in his quest to find the answers to multiple questions. You can guess, but you probably won’t be right. This is a more serious mystery than a cozy. I’m on the fence with April being a romantic interest and this particular novel ended in a huge (and I mean HUGE), cliffhanger. Oh man, another cliffhanger… (But I happen to know Book 6 is in the works.)
I was given this digital download by the author and publisher for this blog review stop and appreciated the opportunity to read and review. You’ll appreciate the intelligent and complex storyline.
Sign up for your chance to win one (1) print copy of the Haunted House Ghost by James J Cudney (US only) in this Rafflecopter giveaway.
James is my given name; most call me Jay. I grew up on Long Island and currently live in New York City, but I’ve traveled all across the US (and various parts of the world). After college, I spent 15 years working in technology and business operations in the sports, entertainment and media industries. Although I enjoyed my job, I left in 2016 to focus on my passion: telling stories and connecting people through words. My debut novel is ‘Watching Glass Shatter,’ a contemporary fiction family drama with elements of mystery, suspense, humor and romance. To see samples or receive news from my current and upcoming books, please subscribe with your email address at my website: https://jamesjcudney.com
What do I do outside of writing: I’m an avid genealogist (discovered 2K family members going back about 250 years) and cook (I find it so hard to follow a recipe). I love to read; between Goodreads and my blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, I have over 900 book reviews which will give you a full flavor for my voice and style. On my blog, there is humor, tears, love, friendship, advice and bloopers. Lots of bloopers where I poke fun at myself all the time. Even my dogs have segments where they complain about me. All these things make up who I am; none of them are very fancy or magnanimous, but they are real and show how I live every day.
List of Books
Watching Glass Shatter (October 2017)
Braxton Campus Mysteries
Academic Curveball – #1 (October 2018)
Broken Heart Attack – #2 (November 2018)
Flower Power Trip – #3 (March 2019)
Mistaken Identity Crisis – #4 (June 2019)
Haunted House Ghost – #5 (October 2019)
Websites & Blog
Website: https://jamesjcudney.com/
Blog: https://thisismytruthnow.com
Next Chapter: https://www.nextchapter.pub/authors/james-j-cudney?rq=cudney
Social Media Links
Amazon: http://bit.ly/JJCIVBooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamescudney4
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamesJCudneyIVAuthor/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BraxtonCampusMysteries/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jamescudney4/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamescudney4/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jamescudney4
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamescudney4
Purchase Links – Amazon
Thank you for visiting my stop on the tour and please visit the other stops listed below!
Tour Participants:
October 1 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
October 1 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
October 2 – I Read What You Write – REVIEW
October 2 – The Book’s the Thing – SPOTLIGHT
October 2 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW
October 3 – Reading Authors – SPOTLIGHT
October 4 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT – Sapphyria’s Books
October 4 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – CHARACTER GUEST POST
October 5 – Diary of a Book Fiend – REVIEW
October 6 – Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW
October 7 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
October 8 – I’m Into Books – SPOTLIGHT
October 8 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT*
October 9 – Carla Loves To Read – REVIEW
October 10 – Valerie’s Musings – REVIEW
October 10 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
October 11 – Diane Reviews Books – REVIEW
October 11 – Ebook addicts – REVIEW
October 12 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
October 12 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
October 13 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
October 14 – Cozy Up With Kathy – GUEST POST 
Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this cozy mystery!
©2019 V Williams
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Rosepoint Publishing 