Summary: I just finished reading Ghost Gifts by Laura Spinella. Here’s what I thought of this book.
All Aubrey Ellis wants is a normal life, one that doesn’t include desperate pleas from the dead. Her remarkable gift may help others rest in peace, but it also made for an unsettling childhood and destroyed her marriage. Finally content as the real estate writer for a local newspaper, Aubrey keeps her extraordinary ability hidden—until she is unexpectedly assigned the story of a decades-old murder.
Rocked by the discovery of a young woman’s skeletal remains, the New England town of Surrey wants answers. Hard-nosed investigative reporter Levi St John is determined to get them. Aubrey has no choice but to get involved, even at the terrifying risk of stirring spirits connected to a dead woman’s demise and piquing her new reporting partner’s suspicions.
As Aubrey and Levi delve further into the mystery, secrets are revealed and passion ignites. It seems that Aubrey’s ghost gifts are poised to deliver everything but a normal life.
I ended up reading this book because it was offered through Amazon Prime’s Kindle First Picks. I thought it sounded pretty interesting and I always love a good ghost/medium story. I ended up enjoying the story a lot more than I expected, and there were several more twists and turns than I could have imagined! It’s always best when a book keeps you guessing until the end.
The book is 386 pages long, but the story flew by and I wouldn’t have done with any less. The author does an amazing job of developing the main character Aubrey’s backstory, and then adding in the story of her newspaper colleague, Levi, and the murdered girl, Missy, as the book goes on. The images she paints are what really drew me into the story. The author uses smells quite often as a part of Aubrey’s gift. Their descriptions, along with what Aubrey could see and feel, really drew me in and made me feel like I was there with her.
If you’re looking for a “thriller” I wouldn’t say this is it since the murder has already taken place, but if you like a good “whodunit?” type book, then you will love Ghost Gifts.