Bea Reviews Haunted by Cathy Pegau

Publisher: Cathy Pegau
Source: the author in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: June 15th, 2020
Buying Links: Amazon* | Apple Books* | Barnes & Noble  | Kobo |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Environmental consultant Georgie Del Ducco sees dead people. Well, one dead person--her best friend, journalist Min Goldfelder. Min’s latest visit comes as Georgie flees her own wedding in her cheating ex-fiancé’s car. As much as Georgie appreciates Min’s company, she can’t help but wonder why her friend keeps showing up and hasn’t “crossed over.”

While Georgie’s being held for car theft, Min sees a man she knows is somehow connected to her fatal accident. And her accident is connected to a bear poaching story she was working on when she died. Can Georgie and Min solve the mystery of Min’s death so she can continue her journey to the other side? Better question: Can Georgie face having her BFF gone forever?

Content Warnings: scenes of dealing with grief and loss of a close friend and an adult child; brief rough handling by a former romantic partner; recounting fatal automobile accident and images of injuries.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed Pegau's historical cozy mystery series, the Charlotte Brody mysteries, so I jumped at the chance to read this one. Paranormal cozy mysteries are booming right now but most are heavy on the paranormal. This is solidly set in the real world but has a ghost as a main character.

Min's been dead for several months and has been hanging around with her best friend from her human days, Georgie. Georgie has run away from her fiance and left him at the altar. She has good reason. When she leaves, she steals her former fiance's car and gets arrested. That leads to Georgie and Min to investigate the circumstances around Min's death.

"Haunted" was a delightful mix of mystery, action, procedural, and paranormal with a mix of romance and humor. Min is sassy, impulsive, devoted to her family, and both desirous of and reluctant to move on. She thinks that finding out what happened to cause her death will help with that. Turns out it's not so simple. I adored Min's family, especially her Bubbe, and hope that we'll see more of them in book two. Georgie is not quite as impulsive but she's loyal, even after death, she has standards, and she's willing to take a risk.

Georgie and Min are believable amateur sleuths and make a good team. There were a few unlikely coincidences, especially Min's Bubbe and her old friend Mr. Wong but overall it was an intriguing mystery. I did figure out the villain but not their motivation. The story made me smile, made me laugh, gave me some nervous moments, and in all was an enjoyable read. I'm ready for the next.

Friday Book Meme featuring Haunted.