Ghost story puts the meh in mehlevolence
The Case of the Green-Dressed Ghost by Lucy Banks Amberjack Publishing Mystery & Thrillers, General Fiction (Adult) Pub Date 07 Mar 2017
Review
The Case of the Green Dressed Ghost gets kudos for charm and character development. But while Lucy Banks’s characters are vibrant, the novel’s plot is simplistic. In accordance with his mother’s final wishes, Kester, a practically minded academic seeks out Dr. Ribero. Much to his surprise, his father runs a business devoted to removing unwanted spirits. Kester has never believed in the supernatural, so the situation definitely takes him out of his comfort zone. The company is facing a particularly difficult task - removing a malevolent spirit from a painting, and Kester just might be the key to their success.
The story behind the painting’s spirit is an interesting one, but the rest is standard ghostbusters fare. It is neither particularly humorous nor particularly tense. It falls in the middle - the area of death, the completely unexceptional. Kester is a unique lead, unassuming and just a bit cowardly, but easy to like. Characterizations, however good, don't make up for the lackluster plot.
3 / 5
The Case of the Green Dressed Ghost is available for preorder and will be released March 7, 2017.
I received a copy of The Case of the Green Dressed Ghost from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
-- Crittermom
Description
Kester Lanner didn’t know what he was getting into when he followed his mother’s dying request to contact the mysterious Dr. Ribero. Kester's youthful surety of the world is shaken as he learns the secrets his mother took great care to keep. Meeting Dr. Ribero reveals a side of his mother he never even guessed existed, for Ribero is his long lost father, and soon Kester is thrown headlong into the family business: catching supernatural spirits. A logically-minded academic type, Kester is frightened by the sudden plunge into an unknown and dangerous world. He's intrigued, despite his fears, as he reads an old diary that tells the chilling tale of the portrait of a beautiful woman, which is the home of an old and malevolent spirit. She’s a cunning spirit, and she just might be more than Dr. Ribero’s agency can handle. Kester soon becomes enmeshed in a struggle with a ghost so powerful and haunting, that his first real case with the family business might just be his last. Dr. Ribero's Agency of the Supernatural: The Case of the Green-Dressed Ghost is a contemporary twist on the Victorian Gothic novel, with a dash of humour to lighten the eerie, sinister tone of this modern day ghost story.
