The Skeletons of Scarborough House: An Absolutely Hilarious Cozy Mystery

AudioBook Review Stars: Overall 4 Narration 3 Story 5 First introduction to this author and I adore her voice and quirky sense of humor. Melody Bittersweet, like her mother and grandmother before her, can see and communicate with ghosts. Her twenty-seventh birthday is full of revelations, if not a new love, and she’s decided that her talents should be useful to someone, somewhere. Thus the start of her new life with the push from her BFF, an intern brought to her by a spirit who can’t move on until his son finds himself, and a pug named Lestat. First case – an encounter with her ex, Leo Dark, in Scarborough House with a television crew and the intention to exorcise the ghosts and bump his ratings. But, others want Melody to investigate the house to help the three brothers, one of whom was murdered a century ago, no culprit to be found. When you add in the sparks between she and Leo to be the first to actually move the spirits along heat up, there is even more fuel on the fires here as there is a reporter, Fletcher, determined to uncover them both (but mostly Melody) as a fraud. Worst part – he’s got Melody thinking more of her feelings for the two men, as she bonds with the murdered brother and the wrongly accused murderer, with insight that neither Leo nor Fletcher has. She’s able to stay a couple of paces ahead of those who would exorcise the restless spirits, or try to disprove her skills, she’s able to sort the mystery and find an affinity for Fletcher, even as things seem to be hopeless. Full of laughter, heart and a touch of sweetness as Melody actually listens to the stories shared from those beyond, perhaps a first for them all, the story flies by in a never-ending series of moments to love. Narration for this story is provided by Cat Gould who manages to bring Melody to life, with all of her insecurities, embarrassing moments with family (those are hysterical) and occasional moments of precise dissection of a moment, feeling or clue. The changes in tone and inflection carry nicely to highlight the moments, and while her depiction of male voices isn’t the best I’ve heard, the interactions are lovely and the emotional content, as well as distinction between them is clear. A lovely start to a new series – this put the fun back into cozies for me with the unique premise, humor and touch of romance. I received an AudioBook copy of the title from Tantor Audio for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.