CoffeeAndThorn reviewed The Ghosts of Thorwald Place by Helen Power
Review of 'The Ghosts of Thorwald Place' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This is a beautifully crafted and entertaining whodunnit, with the ghost of the victim as the frustrated detective - much compromised by being dead, spectrally tethered to the lift where she was killed, generally invisible and quite unable to communicate with the living. Her investigation is also encumbered by the plethora of suspects, living and dead, who inhabit the tiny confines that remain to her. Like an Agatha Christie house-party, it appears that this apartment block shelters all too many potential killers, each with dark and possibly fatal secrets.
She is not without assistance, however. She has a living breathing friend in the police, an in-law looking to avenge her, and one of her neighbours is a celebrity psychic with a ouija board. But what use are side-kicks when they neither see nor hear you and seem determined to follow the wrong leads?
The characters here are delicious, the premise …
This is a beautifully crafted and entertaining whodunnit, with the ghost of the victim as the frustrated detective - much compromised by being dead, spectrally tethered to the lift where she was killed, generally invisible and quite unable to communicate with the living. Her investigation is also encumbered by the plethora of suspects, living and dead, who inhabit the tiny confines that remain to her. Like an Agatha Christie house-party, it appears that this apartment block shelters all too many potential killers, each with dark and possibly fatal secrets.
She is not without assistance, however. She has a living breathing friend in the police, an in-law looking to avenge her, and one of her neighbours is a celebrity psychic with a ouija board. But what use are side-kicks when they neither see nor hear you and seem determined to follow the wrong leads?
The characters here are delicious, the premise inventive. For a book about a dead woman, with more than a few tragedies lurking in the shadows, it's surprisingly life affirming. In fact, this is a glorious novel. You’d have to be dead not to enjoy it.