If I could sum up this book in one word, it would be “meh”. 

It’s unfortunately hard to follow - chapters rotate between narrators and first and third person. Somehow all of the characters felt like the same person, and it didn’t help that the investigation involved multiple family trees to keep mental tabs on (in addition to family members being removed, and people changing their names multiple times while also having various nicknames). The audiobook was a nightmare to try to follow along to because of this, but I’d imagine following a physical book would also be annoying and you’d likely spend time flipping backwards to try to remember who is who.

On top of that, the storytelling felt like it was trying too hard to be deep and meaningful, but just ended up feeling bland and unmemorable. 

I did think the ghosts being haunted by the living thing was a unique twist I hadn’t seen before; I wouldn’t mind seeing that concept used in another novel. The idea that ghosts can be afraid of someone dying and haunting them eternally was an interesting thought that could definitely be fleshed out more in a different tale.

I do have to tip my hat to the way they handled the darkest concepts of child s*xual abuse, drug addiction, cancer, and domestic violence without going into detail or getting graphic, something many books in this genre struggle with. The setting is given, but the reader connects the dots on the events without being given the gorey details.

I really liked this book! Since it's the end of the year and I'm trying to find stuff to read so I can finish my reading challenge, my eyes landed on this one that I'd gotten a little bit ago, but had never picked it up. I saw that it was a murder mystery, and my interest was immediately peaked. I was a little skeptical because (with all due respect, own your very unique last name, BUT IF IT TAKES UP THE ENTIRE COVER PAGE, DON'T PUT IT ON THERE.)...yeah, I have nothing more to say about that. But the story concept seemed VERY interesting, and right up my alley, so I decided to give it a go.

AND OH MY GOSH. WOW. This book is REALLY good.

The story itself is SO well-crafted, with the shifting perspectives of Laura and Jean, but then we also get perspectives FROM THE GHOSTS THEMSELVES, and that's VERY creative and insightful. It's also very interesting to follow Laura through her constant cancer treatments, since it makes you really feel for her and even relate to her a lot as a character, and it helps to understand her motivation in uncovering the case. Jean's not as relatable, but she's well-enough to follow

, despite the fact that she cheats on her husband. JUST BREAK UP WITH HIM.

. The many pieces fitting together in the case are MAGNIFICENT, and I feel a great deal of pride in the fact that I got nearly everything right, EXCEPT THE ACTUAL IDENTITY OF THE KILLER.

WHEN I TELL YOU THIS MAN GOES BY FIFTEEN DIFFERENT NAMES. (It's actually 7, BUT STILL. 7 DIFFERENT NAMES FOR ONE PERSON.)

I don't really like how they went about revealing it through the family tree, since it's confusing, but the ghost POVs offer a lot of insight towards the guy that I can pardon it. 

This book was honestly just a fun time. It was a nice read, not my favorite, but still pretty good.