Looked for it again to read on my Kindle but couldn't find it. Must have expired. Would have been interested in reading it but since I can't find it, I'm not really bothered to go find it on my own.

A Sly and Engaging Treat

Twelve year old Josephine Drollery awakens under a hedge in her back yard to discover that she, her parents, and various friends and guests have all been murdered by someone who attended her parents' dinner party. She eventually realizes that she's a ghost, and shortly thereafter she resolves to solve the mystery behind the murders. (Actually, the book is framed as a rebuttal, written years later, of an error ridden account of the event, but it reads as though in the present tense.)

It takes place in the early 1784 so we get to have a lot of fun with what a spunky, smart and sassy young lady of that era would sound like. It's a tricky feat, but the author manages to meld the natural restraint and modesty of a proper Bostonian lady with a modern girrlll power attitude, and the result is one of the wittiest, sharpest, and deadpan funniest young heroines I've encountered in some while.

In addition to Josephine, who would undoubtedly be able to carry the entire book if called upon to do so, we encounter a wide cast of reprobates, helpers, acquaintances, suspects, villains, and fools, who each contribute some flash to the project. On top of that, Josephine is being pursued by two ghost hunters, which introduces just a touch of slapstick, and menace.

Josephine can be disgruntled, resigned, angry, unorthodox, sharp-tongued, and laugh out loud funny. The ghost angle adds a nice element, but it isn't the heart of the book. (Everyone she needs to interact with seems to take her ghostly state into stride almost immediately, so we don't have any of that tedious yes-it's-really-me stuff over and over. Indeed, some of the funniest scenes involve how blase, or envious, some her friends and acquaintances can be when she reveals herself to them.)

The actual mystery is interesting enough, and there are a few thriller style moments, but the main appeal here, to me, was just following Josephine's adventure and her quick mind and wit. If you have a younger reader who likes spunky heroines, then this strikes me as an amusing and entertaining change of pace that he or she might very much enjoy.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

I'm having a hard time pinpointing why I don't care for this book. I like many of the elements. I'm cool with a ghost investigating crime, the historical setting, the idiot magician. I though maybe it was the fact that the whole thing is presented as an angry letter but on further reflection I realize that may actually be my favorite part. Individually I like all of the pieces. Something about the way they come together just puts me off.