Haunting and Homicide, Ava Burke’s new cozy mystery, introduces a tour guide who sees ghosts—and helps one solve his own murder.
Tallulah “Lou” Thatcher runs a ghost tour company in New Orleans. Though she just started, her tours are gaining in popularity thanks to her knack for finding paranormal activity on late-night strolls through the Big Easy. Lou’s had the ability to see and speak to ghosts her whole life, but rival tour guide Adam Brandt is convinced that she’s faking her supernatural encounters and launches a campaign to shut down her tours for good. But when Lou stumbles upon Adam’s lifeless body, she promises his confused and angry ghost that she’ll help solve his murder. She needs to act quickly: Their feud was well known, and the murder weapon may have come from her shop, so the police zero in on Lou as a suspect. Can she work with Adam and the other neighborhood ghosts to solve his murder before she’s arrested? Or worse, targeted by his killer?
Haunting and Homicide takes readers on a delightful and atmospheric tour of New Orleans. Lou’s ghostly friends are unique and very funny, while her tours incorporate actual local history. The real-life details and paranormal elements combined make for a memorable and exciting premise for a cozy mystery series.
Lou herself is a high point of the novel: She’s smart, hardworking, loyal and extremely well-adjusted to her supernatural reality. Her relationships with the secondary characters really make the story come to life—expect heartfelt scenes with her grandmother and her younger half-brother, Bryce. And Lou has chemistry with two potential suitors, one of whom happens to be her childhood crush and best friend’s brother.
Haunting and Homicide is an entertaining introduction to Lou’s complicated and enjoyably spooky life as a sleuth in New Orleans.
