Ruby is renting an apartment where Cordelia was found dead in the tub. The ghost of Cordelia haunts the apartment and tries to communicate with Ruby. The man across the hall was also found dead. Cordelia wants Ruby to help find the killer.

This crime solving duo is so fun! I loved Cordelia and Ruby's story and hope to hear more from them! I loved watching them solve this crime and get into a little bit of trouble doing so!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC. While this is written by 2 POV one of the FMC is a ghost. There is nothing scary about this book or I definitely would not have read it. Both FMC Ruby and Cordelia are trying to solve the murder of one of their neighbor. This is a fun easy read. But it is the first book in a series and there is no conclusion on why one of them is a ghost. So while one murder is solved it is not the main one.

This book was amazing. I loved the dual viewpoints in the story and that it continued where the last one left off as the story went on. These two make quite the pair solving crime. I'm so curious to see how they continue to involve their communication skills and what other cases they might tackle next, though I can probably guess what the next one might be.
Loved the banter and voices of each character. Definitely a good read!

This was a cute, cozy mystery set in Boston!

I really enjoyed the setting & the character buildings.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Cozy mystery - perfect for someone who likes a bit of mystery without the scary aspects of a thriller.

Went into this book knowing next to nothing about it and I’m so glad I did. This story is a super refreshing cozy mystery that starts off in such a cute & quirky way.

I loved Cordelia’s commentary about her new “roomie” and the dynamic between a 49 yr old ghost and a 20 yr old that’s a bit lost in life.

If I were a betting person I would have bet that this book would be more ooky spooky ... especially given its release around Halloween. BUT I would have lost that bet, because the only thing ooky spooky about this was a ghost and a couple m*rders.

Personally, I loved Blacke's take on paranormal beings/ghosts. Is it weird to say this felt believable? Because it kind of did. At least, if I believed in ghosts I would want them to be like the ones in this story.

But ghosts aside, both characters were charming in their own ways, and their dichotomy was refreshing. Where it lost me a bit was the ending, it felt a little rushed.... to the point where I was certain I missed some parts.

Overall it was a fun easy "whodunit". Imagine Finlay Donovan meets The Dead Romantics but held in a janky neighbourhood in Boston.

3.5 stars and looking forward to reading the next in the series when it makes its debut!

As always, thank you St Martins Press and Olivia Blacke, for the early e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Death is only the beginning in Olivia Blacke’s A New Lease on Death, where a ghost and her living roommate team up to solve a murder in a Boston apartment building full of secrets.

Ruby Young is new to Boston and, with little money and no job, can’t resist the setup she finds in Cordelia Graves’s “as-is” apartment. Fully furnished and affordable, it’s a deal too good to pass up—even if the building isn’t exactly in the best part of town. Ruby quickly learns her new home comes with some eerie perks: barely functioning heat, neighbors she can hear through the walls, and a spirit who is very much still in residence.

Cordelia has been stuck in her apartment since her untimely death and is desperate for a distraction from her afterlife boredom. When their neighbor Jake Macintyre is shot in an apparent mugging, Cordelia suspects foul play and ropes Ruby into investigating. With Cordelia’s sharp mind and Ruby’s living status, they make an unexpectedly perfect team, even if they occasionally drive each other nuts. From interviewing suspects to digging through old records, Ruby and Cordelia stumble upon more secrets than they bargained for, bringing them closer not only to the truth, but also to an unexpected friendship.

The dynamic between Cordelia and Ruby is fantastic—Cordelia’s dry wit and frustration with Ruby’s free-spirited ways make for laugh-out-loud moments, and the multi-POV storytelling keeps the pace lively and engaging. I did struggle a bit to get into the story initially, but it quickly redeemed itself around the 25% mark, and I couldn’t put it down from there. Blacke’s writing balances humor and suspense effortlessly, and there are subtle hints that this won’t be the last we see of these two, which has me eagerly awaiting more adventures with them!

If you’re in the mood for a cozy supernatural mystery with a fresh, quirky twist, A New Lease on Death is a must-read.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the eARC. 4.5 stars and excited for the next installment.

4.25 stars

This is the first book in a new paranormal mystery series from author Olivia Blacke. Ruby and Cordelia are two vastly different roommates in a tiny Boston apartment. Beyond the fact that an elder Millennial Cordy can't seem to figure out what Gen Z Ruby is talking about most of the time, Cordy is also a ghost which does tend to complicate their relationship. Their neighbour across the hall winds up dead outside one evening, and Cordelia is convinced it was murder. It takes a bit of time for Cordy to get Ruby to understand what's going on, but once they're on the same page they make a pretty good crime solving duo. Ruby is an excellent sleuth - young, perky, and fearless - but soon she starts getting threatened by whoever wants their murderous secret taken to the grave, and it's up to the two women to keep digging for the truth.

There are some pretty good characters in this series, who will be fun to see again as recurring characters in upcoming books. And this book ended EXACTLY where I thought it would so I'm very excited to get into the second book as soon as it comes out - I need resolution!

Thanks to NetGalley, author Olivia Blacke, and St. Martin's Press for giving me access to a free digital advanced readers copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own and are provided voluntarily.

This is a (new to me) author and I will definitely be looking for more of her works. I was immediately pulled into the story and felt like I was right there with the characters and I love me some Cordelia and Ruby. I can’t wait to see what they get into next.


I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Ruth and Cordelia are unlikely friends. Cordelia is the ghost that lives in Ruby's new appt. When Ruby's neighbor is murdered the pair try to solve the mystery.
Full of fun banter between an unlikely duo.

I received a complementary ARC of this book from NetGalley on behalf of the author and the publisher.
This book was a little cozy mystery, a little supernatural, and a little bit of fun. When Cordelia realizes she's dead but still haunting her apartment and the are where she lived she decides to solve a murder that takes place out in a snow storm. This was a clever, story, the characters were quirky and interesting and the whole communicating with the dead in light way makes it an interesting and fun read.

Cordelia Graves may have died a few months ago, but she’s still hanging around Boston. She’s kept up “residence” in her apartment, and she’s gone around the city looking for anything to keep her interest. Life has been pretty boring. She’s still figuring out some of the “rules” for her state of existence.

When Ruby Young moves into Cordelia’s apartment, Cordelia’s not excited about sharing the space. She’s particularly displeased that all but one of her plants have died under Ruby’s care. But she manages. It could be worse.

Then early one morning, Cordelia finds a dead body on the ground right outside her apartment building. It’s her neighbor across the hall, Jake. When his spirit rises from his body, she’s excited to have someone to talk to. But he poofs out of existence fairly soon, and she’s afraid it’s her fault for not giving him better post-life instruction.

Jake was shot, and the police are assuming it was a mugging. But a few items don’t add up, and Cordelia thinks the situation needs more investigating.

As it so happens, Ruby thinks the same thing. Cordelia manages to get her attention with a few ghost tricks, and the two work together, in an unusual way, on this case. Each uses her skills and particular attributes (one can walk through doors, and one can actually ask people questions, for example) to collect information.

The unlikely roommates actually become friends in a manner of speaking too. Cordelia, who was a 40-something introvert, ends up getting to appreciate the energy and extroversion of the 20-year-old Ruby. And Ruby appreciates Cordelia’s ingenuity. They make a great crime-fighting duo.

I do enjoy cozy mysteries, and A New Lease on Death certainly has an unusual twist! It’s fairly light and fun, and I found a good amount of it clever. I did wonder, however, why the two didn’t solve a few of their issues early on; they keep saying, for example, that they need better “systems” of communication. I think that would naturally be their first order of business to take care of. It felt like the situation is being artificially stretched out for further books. Other mysteries and hints are dropped regularly to indicate the threads that will be followed in more books. They are pretty obvious, and I kind of felt like I can already solve them, but I imagine the books will be entertaining anyway.

A New Lease on Death isn’t a five- or quite a full four-star read for me, but it’s fun.

A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke presented an interesting premise: a ghost and her living roommate solving crimes together. While the concept had potential, the execution fell a bit flat for me.

The characters were a bit hit-or-miss. Cordelia, the resident ghost, had some humorous moments, but her snarky attitude grew tiresome at times. Ruby, her living counterpart, was a bit too bland for my taste. The mystery itself was mildly intriguing but lacked the depth to truly captivate and make me want to keep reading.

While the book wasn't a complete bust, it didn't quite live up to the hype I was expecting.

If you're looking for a light & cozy, supernatural mystery, it might be worth a shot even though it didn’t work for me, and also keep in mind I don’t read a lot of cozy mysteries.

Thanks to the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my review, the audio was easier to grab and keep my attention so I would recommend that way if you choose to read.

This cozy, paranormal mystery was such a fun read! Cordelia died and is now a ghost who still hangs around her apartment, where Ruby now lives. When the neighbor across the hall is found dead on the sidewalk out front, Cordelia and Ruby team up to find out who killed him.

Cordelia and Ruby were such endearing characters, and I loved seeing their relationship grow throughout the book. It was interesting to see how Cordelia learned to navigate her new life as a ghost. Since Ruby couldn't see or hear her, she had to find creative ways to communicate. Ruby was a bit of a firecracker, and I thought she was pretty cool for helping to solve the murder of someone she didn't really know.

This ends on a cliffhanger, so there is a second book coming, and I'm looking forward to reading it and revisiting these characters!

Thank you, @netgalley and @stmartinspress, for the #gifted e-arc! Thanks also for sending me the physical ARC, but sadly, it never made it here.

A humorous mystery with a ghost! I enjoyed the dual POV of this book, and those usually aren't my favorite. I'm looking forward to the sequel as I enjoyed the story of this book!

I loved everything about this! The premise, the plot, and the mystery of course--but the two main characters really hooked me from the beginning. The idea of a ghost using the living inhabitant of her apartment to help solve murders is just such a great twist. The characters are quirky and clever, and the mystery is compelling. Highly recommend.

I've never read a book by Olvia Blacke but I just became a fan after reading this. Times are a bit crazy right now and you want a bit of escapism so this book was the perfect book to pick and get my mond of things and head into the world of a ghost trying to solve the murder of a neighbor in her building. She is also haunting the person who is living in her old apartment. The book takes place in Boston which I loved becuae it's my hometown so the atmosphere part of it was great. The two main characters are Ruby and Cordelia. Ruby is the charcter wholives in the apartment and Cordelia is the ghost who used to live there unyil she died. Jake is someone who lived in the apartment building and ws found shot dead outide th front of the building. The ladies try to solved the murder together once Ruby realizes that a ghost is helping her find out hwo the killer is. This book is just an enjoyable fun esy rea. It's going to be part of a series in that it's called book #1. I can't wait for the next one to see whwre the author takes this character. Thank you to Netgalley and Minatour books for the arc.

3.5 stars ⭐️

What a fun cozy mystery with a unique twist! I loved the duo of ghost Cordelia Graves solving a murder with her polar opposite “breather” Ruby, who had taken over Cordelia’s apartment after her death. This cheeky, laugh-out-loud book featuring female empowerment and friendship was a captivating read and has me hopeful for more books in the series!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the gifted copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

This was my first Olivia Blacke book and I really enjoyed it. This felt like such a dark humor cozy mystery and it was wonderful.

Ruby moves into an apartment fully furnished because the former tenant has died and left all her belongings. Little does she know she never really moved out and now Ruby has a ghost for a roommate.

Right after Cordelia (Ruby’s ghostly roommate) passes away, her neighbor is murdered. So Ruby and Cordelia team up, in the most unlikely pair, to try and solve the murder.

This book was funny and witty and I absolutely can’t wait for the next in the series.

4/5 stars and would highly recommend this book.