I picked up a copy of Krista Walsh‘s Death at Peony House as an Amazon freebie last year.
A murder. A cold case. An empty hospital full of ghosts.
Not quite the headline Daphne had in mind.
A sorceress by nature and a journalist by trade, Daphne has no problem with the strange and unusual. But when she goes to Peony House on the trail of a potential story, she finds herself caught up in a 150-year-old mystery.
A mystery that’s still taking victims.
With Detective Hunter Avery leading the case, a man she’s hurt too many times in the past, Daphne knows she should leave things well enough alone. But the ghosts of Peony House have demanded her help and more than her job is on the line if she doesn’t get answers soon.
She’s worked hard to escape her past of dark magic and blind ambition, but as she walks the balance between light and dark, she’ll learn how many promises she’s willing to break to protect the people she loves.
This had a rough start. It is pretty info-dumpy and so heavily dependent on the events of a prequel that I resent the prequel, not simply being labeled book one, so I knew I needed to read it. (As opposed to it being a take-it-or-leave-it bonus, which is generally how I see prequels.) However, by about 25%, it smoothed out, and I quite enjoyed the rest of the book.
I liked the characters: the heroine who is trying to be a better person, the teenage sidekick, and the interesting side characters. The villain is pretty obvious, but I enjoyed watching Daphne figure it out. There’s a very light dusting of second-chance romance and writing that is easily readable.
I’d be more than willing to read more of Walsh’s writing. However, I was disappointed to discover that each book in the series focuses on a different person (each introduced in the prequel) rather than continuing to follow the main characters from this book.
Other Reviews:
Kampung Kreepy: Book Review Death at Peopny House