Carol Westron’s This Game of Ghosts introduces characters so real they leap off the page.
Honey Alder lost more than her teenaged son when he died seven years ago. She lost her marriage, her self-confidence, and became anxious and depressed.
With those things finally under control, she’s teaching again and helping her teenaged daughter care for her infant son, Ben. Honey’s not as fond of Ross, Ben’s father, who’s around far too often for her tastes, but she admits he’s good with Ben.
Honey’s also started to see a new man, Terry, a social worker. It’s Easter weekend and they are to spend it at a folk festival seeing her favorite band and meeting several of Terry’s friends. And then her ex, Matt, shows up at her house and tells her he’s seen a ghost.
Soon Matt’s ghost is appearing in more places, causing accidents, too. Honey knows that Matt doesn’t lie. It’s simply not in his makeup. So what is she to make of his insistence that this old woman keeps appearing? Is he cracking up, or is he being haunted by a past he can’t recall? Or worse, is someone gaslighting him?
Terry’s friends turn out to be a mixed bag, too, with most highly unlikeable. Terry’s also become possessive in light of Matt staying at Honey’s house after an accident. That’s when Honey realizes she doesn’t really like Terry, and the attention he’d paid her was what she’d longed for.
Honey will have to call on all of her new-found strength to figure out what’s really happening to Matt, while trying to fend Terry off. People are complicated, but Honey needs to see through them and the various masks they are wearing in order to save Matt, and ultimately, herself.
A wholly satisfying read from the author Mystery People calls “A born storyteller.”
Auntiemwrites Crime-Mystery Author M K Graff 