The Ghost of Christmas Past (Fox)
(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)
A year ago, around Christmas, I downloaded A Very Beechwood Christmas by Danielle Garrett. Oddly, it wasn't because I wanted to get into the holiday mood, but because I was looking for books with gnomes in them. But it fit the spirit of the season.
So this year, I decided to try that again, and I downloaded a handful of short novels and stories with the criteria free kindle Christmas -romance. Sadly, that exclusion was necessary. The first several pages looked like things from the Hallmark channel, even though some had vampires, elves or ghosts in them. Not the kind of mood that I was looking for.
Anyway, I will be posting another thread containing a list of the shorter Christmas books and stories that I stumbled across and read. However, this one (and likely one or two others) were long enough and enjoyable enough that they should merit a separate entry, as Ms. Garrett's book did back in January. Thi is the first of them.
The cover of The Ghost of Christmas Past states that it is Book 8.5 in the series. That .5 is important because it tells you that it's a side adventure from the main series. That also makes it a good place to dip in and get a sense of the series. I would gather that some of the story will be spoilers for the first book but probably nothing major. No worse than starting a show in season 3 and then thinking about catching the reruns on cable. (Note: I haven't thought that far ahead!)
So what is this about?
Verity Long is a ghost hunter and she's aided by a ghost named Frankie, who is Prohibition-era gangster who is bound to an urn Verity has. He can enable her to see ghosts and be in contact with the spiritual world. It helps her solve mysteries, fix problems or rescue animals. That last one is importnat to her and also the reason that she has a pet skunk named Lucy.
There are two competing stories here than collide in both realms. Verity's boyfriend is the brother of her ex-fiance. His mother isn't a likable person and definitely doesn't like Verity. She sends her a basket of pears, along with the bill for them, so she can bring it as a hostess gift to the Wyndell family dinner. She gets into an argument with Virginia (the mom) and decides to stay home and skip the party. Next, the ghost of Donna Lankin shows up -- she is responsible for Verity's rescuing Lucy -- and she sends Verity off to save a sow in need of rescuing. Turns out that "sow" could mean pig or bear. In this case, it's a bear and three cubs, sleeping in an old mill, in danger of being struck by a heavy hook that's going to fall from its pulley as the ancient rope frays. And naturally, this mill in on the Wyndell property.
While there she encounters a ghost of the past, but she'll soon meet one of the present, and an ancient powerful one rooted to the land who shows her the future. So you have A Christmas Carol going, but there's also a bit of It's a Wonderful Life because the choice to save Christmas for the Wyndells is up to her, but she's not really the Scrooge here.
Naturally, the day is saved and the old matron, rather than being told off, gets to come around and not be so crusty that she drives a wedge through the entire family.
A quick read, entertaining light fare. Would I get more of them? Not really my thing, but I could think about one or two. Then again, I probably said the same about the Beechwood Witch.
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