The House on Tradd Street by Karen   White

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Paranormal
Content: Strong language, A couple spend the night together off page.

Practical Melanie Middleton hates to admit she can see ghosts. But she's going to have to accept it. An old man she recently met has died, leaving her his historic Tradd Street home, complete with housekeeper, dog, and a family of ghosts anxious to tell her their secrets.

Enter Jack Trenholm, a gorgeous writer obsessed with unsolved mysteries. He has reason to believe that diamonds from the Confederate Treasury are hidden in the house. So he turns the charm on with Melanie, only to discover he's the smitten one...

It turns out Jack's search has caught the attention of a malevolent ghost. Now, Jack and Melanie must unravel a mystery of passion, heartbreak, and even murder.

I've thought about reading this book for years, and looking for a new mystery series to read, I decided I was finally interested enough to give it a try. Right from the start I disliked the main character Melanie. Why was this woman selling real estate, and old real estate at that, to begin with? She had no appreciation for it. Also how does a woman get to be 40 years old and still be so clueless about men? Melanie overall was kind of an idiot.

Then there was Jack who I couldn't stand in the beginning. He came off as rude, overbearing, and controlling at first, with the way he grabbed her arm and wouldn't let her leave when she got upset with him. Then he insisted on ordering what he wanted her to eat at the restaurant. Plus he kept calling her Mellie; a name that she asked him not to call her. This stuff happened right after he met her for the first time which made it worse. Fortunately, Jack improved a lot over the course of the book. I ended up hoping he and Melanie would eventually get together. Unfortunately Melanie didn't improve. Sure, her attitude changed about the old houses, and we got some insight into why she felt that way, but many other annoying things stayed the same.

As far as the mystery went, it felt kind of paint by numbers. Most of it was predictable, and most of the time it felt like the characters were led from clue to clue, instead of actually using their brains. What made me interested in this book in the first place, was the paranormal aspect of it. I like stories with creepy ghosts. Unfortunately these ghosts weren't as creepy as I had hoped they would be, but they were still the best part of the book, and interesting enough to keep me reading. I also liked the Charleston setting and could easily picture it since I've been there.

This book is kind of a weird paranormal cozy mystery mashup that reads like chick-lit. It wasn't all bad, but it wasn't great either. I still liked it enough to give it 3 stars, and will give book two a try.