I had the pleasure of meeting Kerry Blair at the LDStorymakers Conference last month. She was wonderful and kind and gracious even before I mentioned the fact that I’d just bought Ghost of a Chance, but hadn’t read it yet. She joked that if I didn’t like it, she’d be happy to refund the 50¢ she got as royalties. Her friend, Deb, also at our table, handed me two quarters and told me to say I loved it.

So yes, I have been compensated for this review. And yes, I did enjoy this book. I picked it up because . . . well, have you seen my latest projects? I’m just a little interested in Catholic things these days and part of this mystery is set in a crumbling Catholic mission.

But I’ll tell you right now—once you open this book, the Catholic angle isn’t what keeps you reading. The best thing about this book, hands down, is the voice. The protagonist, Samantha Shade, is absolutely hilarious—she’s witty, funny and as devoted to parentheticals as I am. While it always takes me a little while to get used to first-person narrators, since they’re not the default these days, once I was used to it (within the first chapter or so), I was hooked—and the book would not have been the same without it. When it comes down to it, whether you relate to that voice will determine whether you like the book.

This book also gets genuinely oh-crap-it’s-one-AM-and-I-need-sleep-but-I-can’t-stop-after-reading-that creepy. Yet it’s still very funny and very light in many ways because of the narrator.

Let’s see, the cons. I kind of felt like we lost the hero, Det. Thom Casey, for a while while he was off solving the crime and collecting the necessary info to save the day. And of course, a lot of it is over the top, but it’s played for humor and with the narration style, it all works. A very fun read!