A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke is a murder mystery involving Cordelia, a woman who recently died and is now a ghost, and Ruby, the woman who moves into her apartment. Early on the story there’s a murder of someone who lives in the building and Ruby and Cordelia, once they realize they can communicate with each other, partner up to solve the crime.

What a fun, lighthearted read! The characters were interesting, and there were a lot of funny moments, along with the adventure of solving a murder. This is the first book that I’ve read by this author, and I would definitely read more and I’m excited to see that this is going to be a series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an advanced reader copy of the ebook. A New Lease on Death is expected to be published just in time for spooky season on October 29, 2024.

Thanks so much St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the ARC! While it took me a bit to get into the story, I couldn't put it down once I got into it! I love a murder mystery book and this one fit the bill! I loved seeing the relationship between Cordelia and Ruby form and loved the different ways they found to communicate. I'm hoping that this is just the start of a series! Looking forward to more.

This was a good read, a blend of dark humor and supernatural intrigue that kept me entertained. The quirky protagonist and her encounters with a sassy ghost create a unique and funny dynamic that adds a lot of charm to the story. The plot is cozy and engaging, weaving mystery with lighthearted moments. I did find that it all started to blur together after a while, plot wise, but I really enjoyed the relationship between Cordelia and Ruby.

3.5 *'s
Thoughtful portrayal of the ghost existence, good mystery; things are all setup for a continuing series... my only quibble... (spoiler alert) why did Cordelia drop the search for a pen? There must be pens somewhere!

LOVED this book, which looks like the first one of a series (I hope there are more to come). The premise is very creative -- Ruby, a twenty year old, has just moved to Boston, to a new apartment that she knows was occupied by a former tenant who committed suicide. What she doesn't know, at first, is that the tenant, Cordelia, is a ghost, and is still living in the apartment. The friendship that develops between Ruby and Cordelia is so great, and eventually they team up to solve the mystery of who killed one of their fellow tenants in the building. The characters are so well developed, and the mystery is enough of a puzzle to keep readers guessing a bit. Lots of heart and humor here -- even readers who think they don't really care for supernatural elements in their mysteries will enjoy this one.

3.5 rounded up to a 4.

For fans of Finlay Donovan and Riley Thorn, A New Lease on Death is a fun paranormal murder mystery. The female civilian turned sleuth has been done a fair amount, but I didn't feel like this was too similar to some of the others I've read. I liked the dual POV’s, and the set up for another book in the slight cliffhanger of an ending. While I didn’t find any of the reveals all that shocking, this was still a fun lil read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur books for the opportunity to read and review. Out October 29th, this will be a great spooky "lite" (very lite) read heading into Halloween.

A New Lease On Death by Olivia Blacke

Death is only the beginning in this novel, a funny super-natural mystery, introducing an unlikely crime-solving duo.

Very different and interesting novel. Ac ghost trying to get her roommate to solve ca mystery. It has humor and a well-planned plot. The characters were to my liking. I recommend this book.

Thanks to Net galley for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for my review.

The cozy mystery vibe fell flat for me. The mystery felt like a third wheel to the two main characters; Ruby and Cordelia who spend the book figuring out their friendship with each other. Ruby is now renting the dead-Cordelia's apartment - and Cordelia is a ghost. Most of the book focused on mundane interactions such as their learning how to communicate. There was also lots of whining from Cordelia. She was very irritating in the beginning, she can do this, but she can't do that, but she doesn't know the rules (even though she's been a ghost for a little bit). Very wishy washy - not sure what the authors goal in that was.

This book would have benefited from just lots of editing...get rid of Cordelia's whining. Say she can do this , can't do that. And those are the rules.
I felt the author missed a huge opportunity with technology. Ghost Cordelia sets off alarms, ruins phones/computers and cannot use them to communicate. But if we are bending the rules and ghost Cordelia can toss people....than we should probably use technology and make the story move along.

Also feel like Cordelia's death...would have been a better mystery to start the series with. Instead we use a lackluster mystery and it feels it.

I gave this book 1 star. Which is low, even for me - especially because I am very forgiving for cozies generally. But this reminds me a lot of Casey Daniel's Don of the Dead (Pepper Martin series). Casey Daniels writes with many pseudonyms. One being, Kylie Logan. I love Kylie Logan cozy mysteries - so I searched out her pseudonyms and previous books....including Casey Daniels Pepper Martin series. And that earlier series, fell extremely flat for me writing style wise. AND YET, there are 10 books in that series. But it was one of the authors earlier mystery series.

That is the vibe I get here. That this series has potential. And this author will slam out of the park. It's a question of when and getting that formula fine tuned for success.

A New Lease on Death is a fun and unique take on mystery with the perfect mix of supernatural, I didn't know I needed this until I was reading it!

Cordelia and Ruby find themselves as roommates but in the most unsuspecting circumstances. Cordelia is dead. Ruby has just moved into her new apartment, but it used to be Cordelia's. Then, their neighbor Jake, gets murdered. Cordelia and Ruby end up teaming up to solve the case. I love how the two find ways to communicate with each other and brought lighthearted humor into a grizzly situation.

The story is written in both Cordelia and Ruby's POV which I enjoyed the most, I love getting to see into both of their minds and reading their thoughts and reactions throughout the story. And the twist! It was not one I saw coming and that's always the best kind of surprise with a murder mystery. I hope to get more stories with this dynamic duo in the future.

Thank you so much to Olivia Blacke and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

I absolutely loved this book. The detail, the writing, the characters, the plot, the ending!!! Everything truly pulls you into the story.
I was hooked from the very beginning, I felt as if I was shouting at the characters throughout the story, trying to get them to hear me, just bad as Cordelia wanted Ruby to hear her.
My jaw did infact drop at the plot twist with Shannon, I couldn't picture that she could be the killer, so having her ex come into the picture was just very unexpected for me .

This was a very fun read, I loved getting to Cordy and Ruby, getting closer and figuring out how to make things work when one of them literally can't see or speak to the other.
In a way, this book reminds me of dead boy detectives , solving mysteries while dead.
Will absolutely be recommending this book to literally everyone.

I love cozy mysteries but I have never read one where there were supernatural elements at play. It added a different level of complexity to the story and I thought the writing pulled you in and made you want to get to the bottom of Jakes murder. I thought there would be a connection between Jake and Cordelia’s murder but.. maybe I’ll have to see if that’s present in book number two. I enjoyed that this story was told by two narrators and that you got pieces of Cordelia’s story as the story unfolded. I also liked that the killer surprised me - it wasn’t anyone I thought it would have been.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A contemporary term for genre mixture is 'mash-up'. This describes a novel where an author combines two or more genres to create a new work.

Olivia Blacke is known for her light-hearted cozy mystery series. While continuing to write cozies (Rhythm and Blues was released earlier this year), she has ventured into the realm of suspense, combining women's fiction with a crackling good ghost story.

As with her Brooklyn Murder Mystery series, Blacke has relocated her settings northward. This time, she has chosen Boston in a typically frigid winter. Our ghost, Cordelia, recently deceased, has wandered the streets of Boston searching for something—or someone—else. With persistence, she has lingered on this plane, growing increasingly lonely. Determined to uncover the rules of her new existence, she has confined herself to her apartment. Now sharing it with Ruby, a vibrant 20-year-old, impulsive, and perky ghost lover, she might find more than just a cohabitant. These two form an alliance that will lead them into a spooky mystery that unfolds beautifully. If the spirit world were real, one could only hope for connections as compelling as those created by Blacke. I'm thrilled that this is the beginning of a new series. The first volume was a delightful haunting experience for anyone who enjoys exploring the beyond.

Full disclosure: I received this ARC from Netgalley and Minotaur in exchange for an unbiased review.

Thank you to Olivia Blacke, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Sara Beth Haring for the email invite.

I liked this book. I'm ashamed to say the mystery stumped me; I really should have been able to guess whodunit. The crime is obvious once it's revealed, but Blacke excelled at false leads and red herrings. I was far more interested in what happened to Cordelia than Jake, but alas, we don't find that out in this book.

This is touted as similar to Darynda Jones's Charley Davidson series, but if you go in expecting that, you'll be disappointed. One of the protags has ADHD, though she doesn't appear to know it, and the setting is urban, but that's about where the similarities end. This book's humor is subtle, there's no love interest, they aren't working with law enforcement, and it deals only with ghosts, and very few ghosts at that. And communication between ghost and "breather" is not easy.

Which is one of the issues I had. The co-leads can't talk to each other. They struggle to find ways to communicate, and I got exasperated with them because they weren't trying very hard! Get a Scrabble game! Whiteboard! Alphabet beads! USE the methods and tricks you've come up with. I realize it's a conflict for the narrative, but conflicts can be overcome! Gah!

But aside from the frustration, the communication issue resulted in a LOT of exposition/inner monologue, since they couldn't exchange dialogue. The excessive exposition/inner monologue dulled the narrative and reduced the pace to a trudge. By 60% I was checking my progress every few minutes, wishing I was at 95%.

That was the biggest thing. Smaller frustrations included Cordelia's unsolved mystery and the rather sloppy investigative work. E.g., it's mentioned at one point that Jake could have driven somewhere, but no one searches a vehicle. Did he actually have a car or were they just spitballing? But of course, Ruby and Cordelia were amateur sleuths, so naturally some stones went unturned.

I liked Ruby a lot, but the more I learned about Cordelia the less I liked her.

Overall, an interesting if at times frustrating ghost story. I'll check out book 2 if I come across it, but I'm not super eager for it.

ARC review.
A New Lease on Death
This is my honest to goodness review on this book, despite being an ARC reviewer. 🩵
This book was funny, interesting, and so fun to read. The ghost story of it was fun and different.
This was a fun, cozy mystery. I definitely didn't have any idea who did it and I love that!
I loved Roby and Cordelia together. They made such a fun friend pair.
It was such an enjoyable read. I didn't want to put it down.
My only down fall was the ending. Cliffhanger, I'm hoping...? I need to know what really happened with Cordelia.

I really enjoyed this cozy paranormal mystery. From page one I knew I'd be sucked right in, I usually don't read books like this so I'm glad I did. Cordelia is a ghost, She doesn't remember when or how she died. She still resides in her old apartment which someone has moved into and is killing her plants.Lol Jake who lives across the hall is found dead outside. Ruby and Cordelia try and solve Jake's murder. I really enjoyed the characters in this story and look forward to reading more from this author. Thank you to netgalley for this one!

The cover and the title are so cute so I have no doubts people will pick this up (the idea is also good). How much people will enjoy the book tho is TBD.

Thank you so much to Olivia Blacke, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for this ARC of A New Lease on Death! I’ve been a fan of Simone St. James’ books for a while and this is a similar, supernatural vein. While this books is more cozy and whimsical, it was still a good read! My complaint is that the ending seemed so rushed?! I feel like I still have a few unanswered questions but the cliffhanger really got me and I can’t wait for the sequel!

Ruby has moved to Boston fleeing a cheating boyfriend. She lucks into a completely furnished apartment she can sort of afford, and by completely furnished that means everything including the last occupants clothes. Oh - and the ghost of the last occupant, Cordelia. Not long after Ruby moves in the man across the hall ends up dead in the street in front of their building. Once Cordelia manages to find a way to communicate with Ruby they set out to solve the murder because both f them are convinced it was not just a random mugging gone wrong.
This is an intriguing cozy. While Ruby is aware of Cordelia’s existence their communication is complicated using either magnets on the fridge or a Etch-a-Sketch. While we are sure Jack, the across the hall neighbor, was murdered we have lots of questions about Cordelia - did she really kill herself or was she murdered? The chapters alternate between either Ruby’s or Cordelia’s viewpoints and gives us glimpses into each woman’s personality with Ruby being an optimistic 20-year-old while Cordelia was 40ish when she passed. While we find out what happened to Jack - and I’ll grant it wasn’t what I suspected - we still aren’t sure whether Cordelia was murdered or killed herself so that mystery lingers until the next book. This was an enjoyable read, I like both women and hope to see the next entry in the series soon. Recommended

I was lukewarm on this one. It was mildly entertaining, mildly amusing, and just felt pretty slow. Cozy mystery? I guess so. Would I read more from the author? I'd have to think about it.

The cover was a pretty good representation of the book.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.

A New Lease On Death, is the first book in the Supernatural mystery series by Olivia Blake, Ruby Young has recently fled a heartbreak and moved from Marilyn to Detroit trying her best to get over it this is how she got such a great price for an already furnished apartment and the not so great part of town.
Ruby has heard about the previous tenant who “committed suicide“ and the reason for the fully stocked apartment and cheap rent. What she doesn’t know is Cordelia Graves is still living in her apartment only now she’s a ghost. Ruby is open to having a ghost roommate and even talks to Cordelia long before she is certain of her existence win Ruby‘s neighbor Jake is shot in the face in front of their apartment building things just get confusing because Ruby believes Cordelia is encouraging her to investigate the murder even though she is trying to do the exact opposite. There’s a lot of great suspects and LOL moments in this new cozy mystery and I was down for all of it. I was so excited when Cordelia met the dead guy at the pawnshop and that’s when I knew the book had sucked me in. I cannot wait for the next book in the series and I do want to say you may think you know the suspect but OMG it was a total surprise to me because I certainly didn’t see that twist coming. I loved how Cordelia got Ruby a job, money but then again I loved a lot of things about this book. I really like ruby and Cordelia and hope they investigate what they talked about at the end of the book in the next book. If you love para-normal cozy mysteries then you’ll definitely enjoy this one with Ruby and her ghostly sidekick Cordelia.#SaintMartin’sPress, #NetGalley, #OliviaBlake, #ANewLeaseOnDeath, #ParanormalMysteries,