The details…
- Title: Ghost Trio
- Authors: Phyllis Irwin & Lillian Faderman
- Publisher: Bywater Books
- Publication date: April 5, 2022
- Available formats:
- File size: 2716 KB
- Print length: 276
- ISBN: 978-1-61294-229-2
- Genre: paranormal romantic thriller
- Themes: long-term relationships, grief, music, friendship, good vs evil, justice
The blurb from the publisher…
A grieving pianist visits the site of her true love’s death hoping to find answers that will help her to move on, but what she finds leaves her with more questions than answers.
Lee Howe, a professional pianist, comes to Southern California from New York on a mournful mission: She believes that if she can see the site where her beloved Devorah met her death, she will begin to accept that she must move on with her own life.
Devorah Manikian had been rehearsing for a starring role in Carmen and was living in Eggerscliffe, a 1920s-style pseudo-castle belonging to the wealthy and eccentric impresario, Annajean Eggers. Devorah was gone only a few weeks before Lee was notified that she was dead—tragically killed in a tower fire at Eggerscliffe.
But as Lee stands alone on a deserted patch of beach just below the castle, she hears Devorah singing. Is it the cocktail of tranquilizers, sleeping pills, anti-depressants, and anti-anxiety drugs Lee has been taking since learning of Devorah’s death that makes her hallucinate her beloved’s voice—or is Devorah being kept a prisoner somewhere in Eggerscliffe?
My thoughts…
This is a great mystery/romance for one to lose themselves in for a few hours. Centered around a love that seems to transcend time and space, it captures one’s heart and squeezes it like only a heartfelt romance truly can. It’s well-written, well-constructed and filled with engaging characters. Full of twists and turns, this unusual romance is sure to keep readers guessing till the very end.
Though there is a lot of action in this tale, it is very much a character driven story. Irwin and Faderman do a nice job creating Lee, the story’s protagonist. She is a flawed, believable and sympathetic character. Readers feel her grief in their bones and they connect with her. When Lee develops suspicions about Devorah’s death, readers become very invested in her little investigation. They hope for a positive outcome and justice to be served.
Devorah is a unique character. When she enters this story she’s dead. Because of this, readers learn about her desires and fears second-hand through Lee’s memories and recountings. Readers like Lee, and because they do, they accept Devorah. They grow to care about her and her untimely death. Subsequently, they get behind the mystery that surrounds her death and hope for the impossible—for Devorah to return to Lee, even as impossible as that may seem. Irwin and Faderman flex their creative juices here and send readers on a wild and mysterious ride, one they won’t soon forget. The journey proves to be completely captivating and quite engrossing.
The antagonist, Annajean Eggers, is also exceptionally well-developed. She’s diabolical and very creepy. One almost has the urge to yell, “No! Run!” when other characters enter a scene with her. Her presence in this captivating drama is craftily designed; she’s meant to heighten the chills that trickle down the spine. Most importantly though, she’s meant to challenge Lee and push the mystery in this paranormal romance, making it a real edge-of-your-seat read.
Final remarks..
This is an engaging read, start to finish. Irwin and Faderman give readers a mysterious and suspenseful tale that’s fresh and original. Lee’s devotion to Devorah is deep and abiding; it drives this story forward in interesting ways. Readers’ curiosity is piqued with the many unanswered questions surrounding Devorah’s death and they want resolution for Lee. Because they crave it almost as much as she does, they find Ghost Trio hard to put down.
Strengths…
- Engaging
- Entertaining
- Suspenseful
- Mysterious
- Well-written
- Interesting characters
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A little bit about the authors…
Phyllis Irwin, a professor of music emerita, is the author of two college music textbooks and the co-author of a music education textbook. (As a teenager, she wrote short adventure stories in which she flew an airplane to rescue beautiful damsels in distress—never published of course.) At 92, she is still performing publicly as a pianist.
Lillian Faderman is a writer of lesbian history books such as Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present, Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America, and To Believe in Women: What Lesbians Have Done for America—A History. Her memoir, Naked in the Promised Land, was reissued by Bloomsbury in 2020.
Phyllis and Lillian have been together for fifty years, though they were married in 2008.
Connect with the authors…
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