Review | The Skeletons of Scarborough House (The Chapelwick Mysteries 1) by Kitty French

A fun, funny, sparkling book! An absolute treat from start to finish. 4/5 stars.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for an e-copy of this book.

The blurb:

** This book was previously published as Melody Bittersweet and the Girls’ Ghostbusting Agency **

Scarborough House is haunted, and it’s not doing much for Donovan Scarborough’s investment portfolio. No one wants to buy a place with levitating crockery, or (the wrong kind of) rhythmic pounding throughout the night.

Luckily, Melody “I-See-Dead-People” Bittersweet has just launched her own ghostbusting agency with best friend Marina, geeky, keen Arthur, and a one-eared pug called Lestat. They’re quick to take the case, even if it has already sort of (definitely) been given to Leo Dark, Melody’s rakish, despicable ex.

Melody soon discovers the resident phantoms are three brothers, one who was murdered at twenty, while the others lived to old age. But did the family exile the right person, or did the true killer get away with it?

Donovan Scarborough doesn’t care who solves the case. Whoever gets rid of the ghosts gets paid. Can Melody and her new crew untangle the mystery, and bring the brothers peace, before Leo? Or will his distracting sexiness and Melody’s bonkers family cause the agency to fall at its first hurdle?

My take:

After a week of literary fiction and psychological thrillers, this book was a much-needed breath of fresh air. The characters are terrific, as long as you don’t mind quirky. If quirky sets you teeth on edge, this definitely isn’t one for you.

The best thing about the book is how genuinely funny it is. I’m not ashamed to say that while reading I laughed out loud several times, spent a long time smiling and actually snorted once. I mean, there’s a comedy dog. You can’t go wrong with a comedy dog, even Shakespeare knew that.

The murder mystery at the centre of the plot is perhaps a little thin (we’re short on suspects, so it’s not exactly hard to guess who the baddy is) but that didn’t matter in the slightest because I just enjoyed being along for the ride with the Ghosthunting gang.

And, as someone with a sweet tooth, I particularly enjoyed hearing about Marina’s grandmother’s Italian baking 🙂

I look forward to reading more of Melody and her friends’ adventures in the future.

Overall: if you’re looking for some lighthearted escapism, this fun, funny book with its loveable characters is for you!