Mallory makes her living as haunted house guide. The ghost is real and the stories she tells her paying customers are real, though she might be guilty of a bit of embellishment and faked theatrics. And the souvenirs she sells are very much not real, despite the high price she charges for them. There’s also the small matter of trespassing, but that seems a very minor risk. Until, of course, one of her customers turns out to be the very Count who owns the house she makes her living from. Yet instead of pressing charges, he offers her a job: banish a murderous ghost before it takes its next victim. It’s a lucrative job offer, but there’s one problem. Mallory can see ghosts, but she doesn’t actually have the magic required to banish them. Can she pull off the biggest con yet?
This book is full of mystery. Why did Count Bastien Saphir kill three wives? How did his fourth wife escape? Why are their ghosts still trapped in the living realm? Why don’t Mallory or her sister have their mother’s magic? Is the new Count Saphir as innocent as he appears? I had great fun reading this book and slowly unravelling the mysteries as I went. I particularly enjoyed the details of the rings, which are a perfect example of how good Marissa Meyer is at laying the foundations for each mystery. She gives early hints that don’t make sense until later and manipulates her reader to ask the right questions at the right time – usually just before her characters start asking the same ones!
Escape to the Bookshelf 