Fun and clever are the best ways to describe Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia.
Tuesday is a 30-something researcher for a large Boston hospital; her job is to find potential high dollar donors. She’s a loner. Her only friends are Dex and Abby, her childhood best friend, who disappeared when they girls were 16.
Abby’s body was never found; through the years she pleads with Mooney to find her killer. Bold font serves as Abby’s voice, but only Tuesday (and the reader) know it. She never reveals the presence of Abby’s ghost. This is the parallel story to the engaging narrative involving the aptly named Vincent Pryce.
Yes, it’s far-fetched, but lean into it.
Although Pryce, a kind, eccentric billionaire, dies at a hospital fundraising event early in the novel, his presence is always close. His death makes the news, but what really creates the headlines is his bequest to the city: a treasure hunt for some of his fortune with numerous clues, including several references to Edgar Allan Poe.
Soon Tuesday’s circle expands to include Dorry, her teenage neighbor, and Edgar Allan Arches Jr., aka Archie, youngest son of the wealthy Arches family. Tuesday puts her researching expertise to work solving the clues – along with hundreds of other Bostonians. Of course there’s a villain added to the mix.
The result is a double mystery: how did Archie’s father die and who will find the hidden cache? There’s also a bit of romance and a lot of humor.
Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts
Four bookmarks
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019
359 pages
The Blue Page Special 