Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

Courtney, 40ish and Ruby, 20ish are roommates.  They have differences. Courtney is quiet, private, loves plants, and had an alcohol problem. Ruby is free-spirited, outgoing, desperately in need of a job, and wants to make her way in the world away from her family. And oh, yeah, Courtney is dead and Ruby is alive. Which makes it hard to communicate with each other, to say the least.

The two of them team up to try to solve the murder of the guy who lived across the hall.

The book was quite clever and part of the fun of solving the mystery of who done it was the mechanics of how they learned to work together once Ruby learned she wasn’t living alone in their apartment.

Courtney helps Ruby with some much needed hidden money as well as assisting her to find employment.

I enjoyed the interactions between the two main characters as well as the mystery itself. And the fact that the author named the deceased Courtney Graves and the 20-year-old Ruby Young was not lost on me. J

There’s clearly another book planned as there’s one overarching plot point that I kept screaming about that will hopefully be resolved in the next book.  I’m not a fan of cliffhangers and I’m glad this book was not one. Yes, there is an overarching plot to tie book two to book one but we got resolution of the mystery of how the neighbor died and who was responsible and that satisfied me.

Can’t wait for the next book as these characters are delightful and fun to read. Dark, yet fun, this is a great read.

This one gets five stars from me.

Amazing storyline! I thought the ending had the potential to be so much more than it was however. The characters and their interesting dynamics truly made up for it though.

"A New Lease on Death" introduces Ruby Young, who recently moved into a Boston apartment that embodies all the quirks of an old building: a view of brick walls, malfunctioning heat, noisy partying neighbors, a faulty buzzer, and an unexpected resident—a ghost named Cordelia Graves.

Cordelia met her demise in the apartment's bathroom due to an apparent overdose of alcohol and drugs. Despite initial boredom and annoyance with her new roommate, Cordelia chose to embrace her ghostly existence and find enjoyment in her afterlife. However, when Jake Macintyre, a neighbor from across the hall, is fatally shot in what seems like a botched mugging outside their building, Cordelia becomes convinced that foul play was involved. Determined to uncover the truth, she enlists Ruby's help.

Together, Ruby and Cordelia form an unlikely partnership, diving deep into the mystery surrounding Jake's death and unraveling dangerous secrets hidden beneath the surface.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book; it was a quick, suspenseful read that never disappointed. Each chapter left me eagerly anticipating the next, particularly enjoying the alternating perspectives of Ruby and Cordelia. The cover art is striking, and Blacke's ability to blend wit with darkness made the novel thoroughly enjoyable.

Many thanks to Olivia Blacke, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Make sure to grab a copy when it hits shelves on 10/29/2024!

Trigger warnings include: murder, domestic violence, shooting, and overdose.

I will be posting a review on Goodreads and Amazon in October 2024.

Thank you NetGally for the ARC. I enjoyed this book, it was a nice little cozy mystery book. I liked the dual POV’s and the vibes this novel gave.

I'd like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Olivia Blacke for allowing me access to this book. This was a good cozy murder-mystery. Ruby and Cordelia are both interesting characters and I liked their relationship with each other. I'm really excited for the sequel, especially with the cliffhanger ending.

Ruby, a twenty-year-old, new to the city, gets a great deal on an apartment, complete with the furniture, clothing, and food in the cupboards left behind when the last tenant committed suicide in the bathtub. After a neighbor is found dead on the doorstep to the building, Ruby is contacted via magnetic poetry on refrigerator by the ghost of Cordelia, the late tenant who has no idea of why she ended up dead and the two, so very different, work together to solve the doorstep murder. A delightfully entertaining traditional mystery with wry humor and clever twists, will keep me watching for the next in what is hopefully a series.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Cordelia needs help solving a murder. She asks Rudy who lives nearby for assistance. This book kept me guessing.

A new lease on death was a fun read. It was a bit slow for me but over all I enjoyed it. I like how the author switched POV between Cordelia and Ruby to give different perspectives to the story. If you're looking for a cozy mystery with some paranormal vibes, this is the book for you.

A NEW LEASE ON DEATH is the first book in the Supernatural Mysteries by Olivia Blacke. From the attention-grabbing opening, to the humor sprinkled throughout, to the ghostly shenanigans as an unlikely duo pair up to solve a mystery, this book is a terrific start to what I hope is a long-running series! Written in alternating perspectives—the ghost of middle-aged Cordelia Graves and twenty-year-old Ruby Young—the story centers on trying to solve the murder of their neighbor, after the police write it off as a mugging gone wrong. The unique premise of a ghost and a young woman teaming together to solve mysteries intrigued me and the more I read, the humorous writing, the fun characters, and the crafty plot kept me glued to the pages. The story had a good pace and as the plot thickened, I found myself unable to put the book down until I’d read the last page. And even then, I wished the next book was already available to find out what happens next!

I was provided with an advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book has a great premise. It was a wee bit wordy for me but I’m definitely interested in the thread that was left unanswered. So I will check out next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review. Loved this mystery with humour.

I was excited to see this book and get approved. I was super into the first few pages but unfortunately the pacing and repetition were a bit much for me. It took me longer than I anticipated to read this. I kept picking up other books or getting some tracked.

Cheers for unlikely duo bonding and solving a case. I wasn't as fond of the parts for Ruby. I think I'd have been fine just reading this from the one POV.

This book had so much potential. I'm a huge fan of cozy mysteries (especially ones with ghosts!) but this one missed the mark for me.

One of my biggest complaints is that Cordelia and Ruby are the most stereotypical caricatures of GenX vs GenZ. It's almost like the author did a quick Internet search on the lingo or vibes of each age and threw them all into her two main characters. (ie. GenZ can't read cursive so how in the world could a GenX ghost communicate with her??? *eye roll*) It almost felt like they had no personality of their own besides their generations.

The miscommunication trope also got old very fast for me. I understand that death does make for complications when trying to solve a murder with someone but, sheesh.

It wasn't a bad read, just didn't itch the cozy mystery scratch for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed the storyline of this book and was not expecting the plot twist that happened. The book kept my attention and is an excellent read. This is the first book. I have read by this author and look forward to reading more.

CSI Meets Ghost Hunters: A Snorting Coffee Kind of Funny

Cordelia Graves was nobody’s fool. And it was that savviness that told her something about her was different this morning. With her brain cells in high gear, it didn’t take long for her to realize that the difference was that she was dead—and she surely wasn’t yesterday. Funny that she couldn’t remember dying, but while the bout of amnesia was strange, her literally tripping over her former across-the-hall neighbor was downright bizarre. The lifeless body barefoot and half-buried in snow, the sight was tantamount to someone waving a checkered flag while shouting ‘Go Daytona!’ in her face. And while she was game to try being a detective, the post-mortem condition she was in just wasn’t conducive to tackling a full-fledged homicide investigation on her lonesome … especially since no one could see or hear her. It meant finding someone to act as intermediary and a certain Gen Z’er renting her vacated apartment would do just fine—if only they could quit fighting long enough to find the killer.

This is the premise of NEW LEASE ON DEATH, Olivia Blacke’s targeted arrow of a book! I was in the enviable position of being invited to read an ARC copy, and am I ever glad I accepted! Ghosts, humor, and solid mystery abound in this whodunit that never takes its foot off the pedal. The pacing set to “high”, Cordelia and her Gen Z’er buddy Ruby James tear up Boston in an all-bets-off effort to uncover who murdered the man obsessed with women and pizza—and not necessarily in that order. The dialogue spot on, Cordelia & Co. are at their hilarious best thanks to the author’s inventive way of slinging out grammar the way your favorite singer belts out tunes.

In terms of writing, the novel is pure pleasure all the way through. The unexpected delights of snark and sarcasm bring on the laughs as the narration hits all the right spots. The descriptive passages are impeccably handled and help bring the story to life … or is it death? Whatever it is, it works! Especially the moments when Cordelia is trying to figure out the new rules of what she can and can’t do after death. Rules such as possessing the ability to walk through walls, but not when carrying anything breakable.

So go ahead! Take the plunge. I highly recommend NEW LEASE ON DEATH. and am giving it five stars. I thank both NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC copy, and thank Ms. Blacke for the very original and entertaining ride. She is a superb storyteller and I had the bestest of ghost crime-solving times!

Ruby Young recently moved into a Boston apartment. The prior resident, Cordelia Graves, had committed suicide in the bathroom a few months earlier and do to this, Ruby’s new apartment comes fully furnished. Ruby experiences mysterious happenings in her new apartment and her neighbor across the hall ends up dead outside of the apartment building. Cordelia isn’t a fan of Ruby living in her apartment and her incessant talking. However, Ruby and Cordelia team up to make an unlikely duo to determine what happened to the neighbor across the hall, as a mugging gone wrong just doesn’t seem to mesh with the circumstances.
While I love anything ghostly and mysterious, this book missed the mark for me. The premise of the book was promising but for me, it was underwhelming, slow, and repetitive. Electronics and Cordelia don’t mesh well. Boston is cold. Ok, we get it. It was supposed to be a “darkly funny supernatural mystery”, but I struggled to find the “funny” parts. This book took me a little longer to read than normal because I struggled to get into this storyline or connect with either of the FMCs. The story is told from both Cordelia’s and Ruby’s perspectives. I didn’t expect the murderer to be who it was so that was a good plot twist and the ending, while I can’t say it was a cliff hanger because I expected it, does persuade the reader to check out book 2. I did feel like this plot bounced back and forth between Jake’s death and Cordelia’s death so I wasn’t sure if we would be solving one or two suspicious deaths.
Thank you NetGalley, Olivia Blacke and St. Martin’s Press for this advanced copy and allowing me the opportunity to provide my honest review.

I'm so annoyed! But in a good way.

A New Lease on Death is a "spooky" mystery that contains a touch of comedy. It follows two perspectives, Cordelia and Ruby, who become unexpected roommates. So let me explain, Cordelia is dead and is now a ghost who continues to "live" in her apartment. The apartment that Ruby has now moved into. They also happen to be total opposites, I mean aside from Cordelia being a ghost, she is also more of an introvert who likes to be alone whereas Ruby is perky, young and upbeat. Cordelia and Ruby have co-existed up until their neighbour's suspicious death, They begin to work together to figure out what happened to Jake their neighbour. We get a chance to follow these two around while they work together as well as watch them grow separately. We also get a chance to get flashbacks of Cordelia's past.

I liked the book, what's annoying is that I have to wait for a follow-up to get closure! So it looks like I'll be waiting for the next one.

Thank you to Olivia Blacke, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the digital ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

I was hooked as soon as I started reading this book! The characters were witty and the plot was a refreshing change from other whodunit books I've read lately. I do wish there was a little more exploration into the spirit life of Cordelia but I'm holding out hope that there will be a book 2 and we'll see that.

Cordelia died in her apartment and lives there now as a ghost with her new living roommate Ruby. Then her neighbor gets shot in the face and she wants to figure out who killed him. Cordelia gets Ruby to help her investigate what happened as the police just think it is a mugging gone bad. This story is cute, funny and entertaining. I like reading how Ruby and Cordelia navigate trying to find a way to communicate since Ruby can't see or hear her. It was a quick read that keeps you engaged without being overly cheesy. I will definitely read the second book that comes out in this series.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review. Solid 3.5 stars.

Oh my god this was so good! I was so into this murder mystery! The two characters co existing together in the same apartment was probably the funniest and cutest thing ever. The way that ended?!? Imma need book 2 ASAP.