It’s 1972. Karen and Mike have only been married a few years. Karen had a daughter before Mike; Leslie is now 10 years old. They want to move out of the city and fall in love with an old fixer-upper out in a nearby small town. But things change after they move... and not for the better. Karen was an interior designer before she married Mike, so she takes on the renovation project for the house. Leslie has a hard time fitting in with the local kids, but she makes a friend in the resident ghost, Christopher. Although Mike is still working his photography job for a magazine, he falls back into some old bad habits.

So, this is an older book of this author’s, published in 1983, I think before she started writing cozies. The writing seemed a bit odd at times, and Leslie (at times) seemed much older than she was, but overall, I liked the story. Not only that, I really liked what she did with the ending. Creepy... (Interesting - some didn’t like the ending, yet it increased the star rating for me.) ( )

Joanne Fluke is best known for her cozy mysteries. I would not have expected her to write a traditional haunted house story, but it's a good one. It's copyrighted 1983, so there won't be any cell phones, home computers -- no internet for our characters! The 911 emergency system isn't universally available yet. Still, how did the Houstons, give up TV so readily? Didn't they have one before they moved?

Mike Houston's pregnant wife, Karen, and her daughter, Leslie, fell in love with the Appleton mansion at first sight. The rest of the book follows their work renovating their purchase. There are misunderstandings with narrow-minded, conclusion-jumping local residents and their unpleasant children. We can listen as a ghost who vowed vengeance early in the 20th century goes to work on the family. The ghost has a rather nasty mind when it comes to methods of taking vengeance. My heart sank with every foolish decision the family members take. The end was chilling in its implications.

Dog lovers, there's no need to turn off your players half-way through. I was really worried, but the Chihuahua will be fine. ( )

From Fantastic Fiction:

A Small boy huddled in the dark. His mother had promised she would never leave him... not in this awful house... not in this terrible town. But she was dead. Gone. And he was alone. Trapped. With no one to answer his desperate call or hear his final agonized cry... and now.

Expectant parents Karen and Mike Houston are excited about restoring their old rambling Victorian mansion to its former glory. With its endless maze of rooms, hallways, and hiding places, it's a wonderful place for their nine-year-old daughter Leslie to play and explore. Unfortunately, they didn't listen to the stories about the house's dark history.

My Thoughts:

I love ghost stories and this was really pretty good. It was one of Joanne Flukes early writings from the 1980's. It really wan't a mystery...it was more of a horror story although a fairly mild one. Actually it reminded me of some of John Saul's early books such as Suffer the Children and Come The Blind Fury. A very fast read with an intriguing story line. Definitely worth the read for those who like suspense and psychological aspects to their reading.



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Wasn't a bad book, easy read. Just what I was hoping for. ( )