Description (from cover):'Bed-and-breakfast--with a side of ghosts.
Word has spread that contractor Mel Turner can communicate with the spirits of the dead, and she's having a hard time maintaining a low profile. She decides to embrace her reputation for the chance to restore a historic house that calls to her. The new owners, who hope to run a haunted bed-and-breakfast, want Mel to encourage the ghosts that supposedly roam the halls to enhance the house's paranormal charm.
The catch: Mel has to spend one night in the house to win the project. During the spine-chilling sleepover, the estate gains another supernatural occupant when someone doesn't survive the night. As Mel tries to coax the resident spirits into revealing the identity of the killer, she risks becoming the next casualty of this dangerous renovation.'
My thoughts:
I am quickly becoming a huge fan of this series. Mel Turner is a character that I can really enjoy and I love the supernatural ghost elements of these books. Personally, I don't really believe in ghosts, but it is still very fun to read about them. This book series usually features home renovation and construction, but this book focused more on the paranormal element and the murder mystery, more so than the home renovation process that was predominately featured in the previous two novels in this series. I enjoyed that a lot about this book because, while Juliet Blackwell, makes home renovation and construction very interesting, it still was a breath of fresh air to focus on something a little different this time around. It really works for this series and I have to say that I can't wait until the next book comes out.
Mel has been asked to look into doing a renovation of a historic home that has its own resident ghosts. The new owners of the property want to make a haunted bed-and-breakfast and want Mel to negotiate with the ghosts to get their approval for the home renovation. Mel must stay in the haunted house over night in order to win the bid and be allowed to be the contractor for this project. While she stays the night, the ghosts make an appearance, that leaves everyone a little shaken up and on edge. Soon, someone is found murdered and Mel must find out whether it was a ghost or human that wanted this person dead. Using her new-found ghost hunting skills and some friends along the way, Mel must solve this murder before she becomes the victim herself.
This book read like a charm. Juliet Blackwell has a knack for weaving supernatural and mysterious elements into a beautiful story that the reader just cannot put down. I'm really not that big into construction or home renovation, but Blackwell makes it a very interesting subject to read about and the ghosts, well they're just awesome. Blackwell also uses the past with the present to create a mystery that leaves the reader guessing until the very end. This series doesn't necessarily need to be read in order to get what is going on and I highly encourage cozy mystery readers or even readers who enjoy a quick and light mystery to pick this one up. I don't think you will be disappointed!
Overall Rating: 4.5
Title: Murder on the House
Author: Juliet Blackwell
Series: Haunted Home Renovation Mystery #3
Publisher: Signet
Publication Date: December 4, 2012
Pages: 336
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Get It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Disclaimer: This book was selected from the library by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.
