ARC Review: Better Homes and Hauntings by Molly Harper

Nina Linden is sailing to an island to work on the long abandoned Whitney mansion called Crane’s Nest, in a make or break mode for her landscaping business, Demeter Designs. Demeter is the Goddess of the Harvest and there are quite a few Greek mythology references sprinkled throughout the story. Tales of women stuck in loveless marriages and women who sought revenge. The question is which category would the late Catherine Whitney be placed? Her late husband, Gerald, built the glorious mansion more than one hundred years ago. Rumor has it Gerald murdered the cheating Catherine and now she haunts the house. Her descendant, Deacon, wants to reclaim the house and his family’s legacy. They have known nothing but disappointment and hardship since Gerald’s death. Are the Whitneys cursed? Deacon’s cousin, Dotty, thinks so and is planning to write a book. Cindy Ellis owns a cleaning service and joins Nina in Deacon’s quest to restore the home. His best friend, Jake, dated Cindy briefly, but doesn’t remember her. This small group, joined by construction and cleaning crews, will make Crane’s Nest shine again. Unless the ghosts interfere or try to kill someone. Nina and Deacon have dreams about the night Catherine died. Someone strangled her and dumped her body into the sea. The original architect, Jack Donovan, disappeared around the same time as the murder. Were he and Catherine planning to run away and were caught by the jealous Gerald? Speaking of jealous, Nina’s old business partner and present stalker, Rick, has found his way to the island. His plan is to destroy whatever he can of Nina’s reputation and steal this contract from her. He hears voices urging to find long lost jewelry and kill Nina. Everyone is having scary visions and frightening visits from the ghosts. Time to find out the truth about Catherine’s murder and stop the madness. Hopefully the ghosts will fill them in or leave journals for them to find. In the midst of the chaos, Nina and Deacon fall in love.

Nina and Deacon are the quiet nerdy types. Dotty points out it’s like watching an experiment where the most antisocial people meet in the wild. They both need the calm and comfort the other offers. Jake and Cindy pair up too. Jake forgetting all about her, then not understanding why she doesn’t like him makes for some funny scenes.

The author had me at the Scooby Doo references. I could see the bus breaking down in front of an abandoned mansion and the kids going in to investigate. The dialogue between the women is hilarious, especially when they discuss men. They tend to hit them in the head with whatever is available like clipboards or pillows to make a point. It works every time.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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