What happened that night? This is an interesting well written tale of a woman looking for answers. It will make you think twice about what you know and tug at the heart.

I was fascinated by this story and particularly liked the Native American aspect. It was very interesting.
Many thanks to Lake Union Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a good story, particularly good for an October night. Steeped in mystery and sadness, and yet approachable and easy to read. Elise has just lost her husband and is sure he's trying to tell her something. Or maybe it's just her call of help from the depths of her grief. Either way, she can't suppress the call and must follow it and find it's source. The story has many foreboding, mysterious elements of magical realism, made stronger by the presence of many Native American rituals and traditions. The story keeps a good balance of suspense and wonder, and it also has a beautiful ending. Surely a pleasant, engaging evening read.

I thank Lake Union Publishing, Elizabeth Hall and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was a skeptical when I started the book as it focuses on the supernatural and I am a skeptic. But, the story was intriguing, the writing good and I kept on going. And, it got better and better. I won't say it converted me into being a believer in the supernatural but I was fascinated to read more and learn more about 'powers beyond'. Putting aside that, it is a wonderful story about a middle-age woman finding herself again after the sudden death of her husband. She takes a difficult but wonderful journey (emotionally and physically) and brings along with her some very interesting people.

This was the first book that I read by this author...hopefully, not the last. A nail-biting story. Thanks for sharing!

Book Review: In The Blue Hour by Elizabeth Hall
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Elise Brooks has a dream that someone driving her car drives off an icy road. She can’t see who the driver is so when her husband Michael dies the exact same way she dreamed she is devastated. She is stuck in a rut and can’t move on. She’s depressed and can’t shake the feeling that Michael is trying to reach her from the other side.

I have experienced encounters with spirit-type beings so this wasn’t really a stretch for me. It was one of the reasons why I requested the book. This book was more eerie than scary so it’s not going to keep you up at night. One of the underlying themes that run through the whole book is that you have to live with the consequences of the actions you take and choices you make. Grief and how to move on is another theme.

The writing is very descriptive of the scenery. I found myself wanting to head out to New Mexico and the surrounding areas just to see the colors.

Some of the “chance meetings” were a little far fetched for me. At the end I could understand Elise’s path and how she ended up where she did but at times I just shook my head in disbelief. It was still well written and her journey was interesting to read.

The best part of this book, for me, was Elise. Even though she was suffering from grief, she eventually pulled herself up and got back to living. She had a mystery to solve and it gave her purpose but at the same time she found the inner strength that she had the whole time. It was nice to read a character that wasn’t a poor me pity me crybaby for the entire book. She was simply a woman who had been dealt a blow, and even though she wallowed in it for a time, she fought her way back to herself. She wasn’t written perfectly, she was written as a genuine human being. That is what I enjoyed the most.

I’d definitely recommend this to a friend as a good read. It didn’t drag and the characters were believable. Some were a little quirky but not over the top.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

You can find this review and more at: http://shiningstarreviews.blogspot.com/

Unable to move on after the death of her husband, woman explores possibility that he is trying to communicate with her as a spirit. Her journey makes an interesting story into her past.

This book was so realistic in its depiction of grief that it made me uncomfortable which in turn makes me appreciate it as a good book

In the Blue Hour is part mystery, part ghost story, and has a tiny dash of crime novel sprinkled on top. If you like P.S. I Love You, but wish it was a little less mushy and focused on Native American beliefs instead of the Irish countryside, this is the book for you.

A very thrilling read with a paranormal edge. Elsie is a wife who is grieving the loss of her husband in a car accident. Prior to the accident she dreamed it to every detail. As she descends into grief she realizes with her husband being Native American, she is seeing and hearing clues from beyond the grave. As she investigates his accident she finds out more about herself and her life with her husband. I enjoyed this book very much and felt it was a powerful mystery that is very well written. I thank Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC which did not influence my review. I highly recommend In The Blue Hour for your reading enjoyment.

I am sorry to say that this title was archived before I had a chance to read it. :(

Nice story. Different that it had the Native Indian aspect to it.

In the Blue Hour is a hauntingly beautiful book rife with Native American folklore and traditions. Fifty-something-year-old Elise has lost her long-time husband Michael to a tragic car accident–one she’d dreamed of a few weeks prior to it happening–and seven months later she’s still floundering. They’d known each other since they were kids in northern New Mexico and have been together since she was in her early twenties, so his absence has left a gaping hole in her life. A successful wood carver, Michael’s Native American art was and still is in demand, while Elise’s tapestries never took off. And she was always fine with that. But now she can find no solace in weaving or any other tasks for that matter, and she’s left wondering what to do with her life. Her best friend Monica drags Elise to an art fair in Taos, and here Elise encounters psychic Celestina, who not only knows things about Elise that she should not know, but she sets things in motion that change the course of Elise’s life.

Elise has grown up around Native Americans and healers, accepted into their family as one of their own, so she’s been told that the dead watch over the living. But when strange things start happening around her, whispers of her name on the wind, and a black crow begins to appear to her, Elise is positive that her husband’s spirit is back to give her a message. Elise seeks out the tarot card reading Celestina, who then sets her up with a science-minded man named Tom, and they embark on a road trip from New Mexico to Tennessee so Elise can seek out a stone carver who’s business card fell out of her husband’s jacket all by itself. Along the way, she’s guided from psychic to psychic, learning new and cryptic things about herself and

I give In the Blue Hour a 4.5 out of 5. I really enjoyed the flow and characters in this book. Elise is so steeped in her grief that it hit me hard; I’ve been with my husband for twenty-three years and I don’t know what I’d do without him. Her tight knit group of adoptive Native American family was supportive and traditional. I loved learning about their traditions and folklore. The secondary characters were well-developed and unique, even if they weren’t on too many pages. The writing was descriptive and it just popped off the page vividly into my head. In the Blue Hour is a subtle, subdued book that creeps up you with it’s deep emotions, and I really enjoyed Elise’s journey from grieving widower as she found her way to belonging somewhere.

In the Blue Hour by Elizabeth Hall is the story of one woman’s journey to restore her life after the sudden loss of her husband. Elise Brooks is trying to live life after her husband, Michael, was killed in a sudden car accident. Plagued by visions of the accident, ravens and other omens, she sets on a path to find out if her husband is trying to reach her, trying to point her on the path she needs to take now. Despite the objections of her best friend, Monica, Elise sets on a trip from the mountains of northern New Mexico to the mountains of Tennessee. Along the way she learns the truth about herself, her husband and her family’s past hidden from her for so long. Will Elise be able to move on with her life? Will she be able to see her loved ones in the blue hour?
In the Blue Hour is a great story of life through grief and a journey to a home long forgotten. The title refers to the blue hour where the sky deepens into “a deep ice-blue at dusk” where, according to the story, the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest. The story is rich will Native American folklore and omens which drive the character on her journey. I enjoyed every character as they are needed for the story. No one character seemed out of place as Elise struggles with what she knows and what she sees. It is an excellent story all around and I highly recommend In the Blue Hour for its take on grief, the Native American themes and the great story of how our loved ones never really leave us.

In the Blue Hour
is available on Amazon
in paperback and on the Kindle

I read Elizabeth Hall’s previous novel, Miramont’s Ghost, about a year and a half ago, and really enjoyed it, so I was eager to see what she’d do with a more contemporary story. With In the Blue Hour, I feel like she’s really come into her own, solidifying herself as a writer who does amazing things with supernatural thrillers.

One of the things I loved about Hall’s previous book, and which she continues to excel at in this novel, is in vivid descriptions of place. I know Taos, NM, mainly from the writings of Natalie Goldberg and one too-brief overnight there twelve years ago, when my husband and I were driving from California to Texas, but after reading this book, I feel like I’ve spent a month in Taos and its surrounding areas.

Hall’s characters are all very vivid. While I enjoyed reading about protagonist Elise’s relationship with her deceased husband Michael (told in flashbacks), it was Elise’s friendship with Monica that I found to be exceptionally strong. This is a life-long friendship in which both women met as girls, grew up together, and stayed friends into adulthood. I really loved the changing dynamic of the two, as well as the way each woman remained completely herself.

I found the actual story of In the Blue Hour to be quite lovely. A bit on the cozy side of thrillers, with a strong spiritual element, I found the author worked Native American traditions into her story very plausibly. It never seemed like there was any tokenism or appropriation, but rather a deep reverence for and appreciation of all the traditions depicted – even the tarot reader.

In many ways, In the Blue Hour takes its cues from true gothic romance, resetting that trope in a contemporary setting, but however you classify it, it’s an interesting, compelling story with a rich tapestry of people and places.