An Intimate Ghost : A Jane Lawless Mystery

Rating:
Summary: I had trouble following it
Review: I had to force myself to finish this book. And that's a real shame; I started this story as a die-hard fan of the Jane Lawless series.

Bad things happen to greedy, selfish people here. Frankly, by the time the initial "mystery" from Chapter 1 was explained/revealed it was really too late for me.
I'm truly hoping that part of the problem was an aberration.

The flashbacks detracted from the story. I would have preferred Jimmy's story to have been presented as one prologue than as several short pieces inserted at random throughout. If they were intended as transition mechanisms, that failed. They took me out of the present-day action so much that the return was jolting.

That's about as specific as I can get without giving away the story to those who haven't read it.

The previous volumes have each been self-contained with no recurring characters, aside from Jane's family and friends. However, I came away with loose ends from this book. Either they need to be addressed (by reference) early on in the next one, or Ms. Hart needs to get her pacing back.

Rating:
Summary: INTIMATE GHOST deserves a Lambda Award consideration.
Review: In Evergreen High School in Minneapolis, student Cullen Hegg pulls out a gun in the middle of a history class but his teacher Alden Clifford manages to talk the sophomore into letting the rest of the students leave. When it's just the two of them, Alden tries to talk Cullen out of using the gun but the despondent boy kills himself. The teacher is lauded by the media, the faculty and the other students from preventing even more bloodshed, but Alden doesn't think of himself as a hero and avoids publicity.

Several months later Jane Lawless, owner of the Lyme House Restaurant and Pub, caters the wedding ceremony of Alden's son Nick and Lauren Bautel.. However, someone placed hallucinogens into the food leading to Nick diving into an empty swimming pool and winding up in Intensive care. Jane identifies the culprit who flavored the food finally makes contact with him. Jane agrees to meet him at the hotel where he is hiding out. When she arrives, he is already dead and the murderer got away which means Jane is going to have to approach the problem from a different angle without getting herself killed.

Ellen Hart has written a very complex and fascinating amateur sleuth novel that has many sub-plots that tie back seamlessly to original theme. Through the use of flashbacks, readers gradually realize how the crimes of three decades ago are the catalyst for the dangerous felonies that are happening today. The heroine gradually pieces together the motivations for the death of her employee and the sprinkling of drugs in the food at the wedding buffet. INTIMATE GHOST deserves a Lambda Award consideration.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Worthy of Both the Edgar and Agatha Awards
Review: In this 12th installment of the Jane Lawless mystery series, the opening prologue begins with a gripping kidnapping that takes place on Halloween in 1972. The circumstances of that prologue don't connect up for some time, but the shadow of the kidnapping hangs over the events that follow. In the present day, Jane Lawless is called to the location of a wedding her staff is catering. The guests are behaving oddly, and it quickly becomes clear that they've been poisoned with something hallucinogenic. The police come, and the wedding guests are rushed to the hospital, but not before the Nick, the bridegroom, is badly injured diving into an empty swimming pool. Jane is frantic. Not only is she upset that people have been injured after eating her catered food, but she also fears lawsuits. Who would do such a terrible thing? She can't believe her workers would have anything to do with it. Why has she been targeted?

Alden Clifford, the groom's father, is a high school teacher, and he comes to the forefront as it becomes apparent that the attack might be connected to him and not about Jane at all. Six months earlier he had tried to prevent a school shooting, and the boy with the gun eventually shot and killed himself. Allegations about Alden's relationship with the boy come out, and Jane begins to wonder if this has made Alden the intended target. Nothing is immediately resolved, and Jane and The Lyme House are under police investigation. Jane turns to her best friend, Cordelia, but Cordelia has her own problems: namely a toddler dumped upon her doorstep by her sister. The little niece and Cordelia offer some great comic moments, and Cordelia, all by herself, is always funny. She refuses to ride in Jane's new Mini Cooper, calling it the "Daisy Duck-mobile." Instead she has bought herself a green Hummer, a useful purchase which becomes clear later in the novel.

With an intricately interwoven plot, Hart rolls out perfectly timed scenes and details. The tension builds as the injury and death count increases. The author has never been better and does a marvelous job weaving in a compelling back story with the events of the present. She draws the reader in to this complex structure and doesn't let go until the final denouement some three hundred pages later. It's a gripping and compelling story. By the time the reader reaches the end, an intimate ghost has truly made its haunting presence known. (...)