Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Ghost Flower by Michele Jaffe YP FIC JAFFE



It started as a con.  Eve was a runaway with a past she can barely remember.  When she meets Bain and Bridgette they give her a chance she never dreamed of.  She looks like Aurora, their cousin that disappeared three years ago, the very night her best friend Liza committed suicide.  She can come back as Aurora and collect a lot of money, but there’s always a price to pay.  Liza’s ghost appears and tells her she was murdered.  Is this ghost a benevolent protector, a vengeful spirit, or something even more dangerous?  And whatever really happened to missing Aurora, and will Eve be able to avoid the same fate?

This is a fun, twisty mystery that has a lot of suspense and memorable characters.  This is Jaffe’s follow up to the similar Rosebush (I reviewed it here), and I must say that this one doesn’t feel as memorable.  The twists in both books are somewhat similar and rely on villains with BECAUSE I’M CRAZY motivations. On the bright side, this is a REALLY GOOD but not great story with loads of suspense and an interesting premise.  I liked following Eve and seeing how she would pull off her deceits AND handle all the ghostly shenanigans of Liza.  I also liked how freaked out Eve was of Liza.  Far too often, characters rebound way too quickly to such a huge revelation.  So if you like mysteries and suspense, then Ghost Flower is one of the better recent entries.  It has a nice slow build of suspense and a believable and relatable main character.  Hopefully the sort of way over the top ending doesn’t spoil it too much for you.  

You can check our catalog for Ghost Flower here.

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