Death at Peony House
Krista Walsh
Paranormal Suspense
Sorceress and journalist Daphne Heartstone heads to Peony House, the city’s abandoned hospital, in search of a headline, but what she discovers is a dead body and a clue to a hundred-and-fifty-year-old cold case. Detective Hunter Avery, the man Daphne loved and lost, warns her away from the case, but the ghosts of Peony House have demanded her help, and her job is on the line if she doesn’t have a story on her editor’s desk for Saturday’s edition. Daphne has worked hard to escape her past of dark magic and blind ambition, but as she walks the balance between light and dark, she’ll learn how many promises she’s willing to break to protect the people she loves.
Uncaged Review: This is the first in a series and in the wide arc, it’s about 6 people of different magical abilities, that pooled together and escaped a magical sealed room alive. This first book starts us out with sorceress Daphne, and we learn of her descent into a dark world, and clawing her way out to change her life to the better. As a journalist, she discovers a murder of a young man, a runaway that lives on the streets trying to find a place to rest in the old Peony House, a house that was a hospital and is now abandoned – or so people think. When Daphne realizes the place is swarming with ghosts in anguish, she tries to find a way to help them – without managing to go into the dark side again and to try not to get in the way of the police, especially Hunter Avery, her former flame.
This book has just about everything I like in a book. The suspense, the twists and turns, the action, and even a smidgeon of romance, this book hits all the marks for me. The odd cast of characters are spot on and well developed and the originality is on cue. This book borders on paranormal, occult and horror – but not severely in any direction – and it’s a great page turner. Reviewed by Cyrene
