Ghosted by Mark McCrum - Book Review

Publication Date: 30th October 28, 2023

Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery 

3.5 Stars 

One Liner: Okayish; nothing new 

Adam Albury is shocked to find himself attending his funeral. He is even more surprised when his death was ruled a suicide. While the ghost Adam had no memory of what happened, he knew for sure that he would never take his own life. This could only mean one thing – he was murdered. 

Adam decides to take advantage of his ghost state to solve his death. Soon, he realizes that quite a few people, including his family members, have reasons to bump him off. But who is the killer, and why? Can Adam find it before his ghostly time ends? 

The story comes in Adam’s third-person POV with random first-person rants and three chapters from others’ third-person POVs. 

My Thoughts: 

My primary reason for picking this book is to tick off a reading challenge prompt – a book from a ghost’s POV. And this, being a cozy mystery, was a nice addition. 

Well, Adam is a wealthy architect in his late fifties and has/ had a colorful life. He has more than his share of faults, which does make him a bit realistic and quite annoying. Dude is quite judgmental, too, though we can see where he gets it from. 

The concept of ghosts and interactions with humans doesn’t have much reasoning as it is more of a trial and error for Adam. After all, this is the first time he is a ghost. Nevertheless, most people he interacts with seem to quite easily accept his ghostly presence. There’s some doubt, naturally, but not that much. 

His dysfunctional family keeps things interesting. Each of them has a definite personality, making it easier to track who is who. I do like Adam’s relationship with his children, Matilda and Leo. His love for them resonates in his words. 

However, the writing is slow and borderline uninteresting. Adam can really ramble on, and I zoned out a few times before deciding to speed-read the book. That turned out to be the best way to stay focused. 

With such a cool premise, I expected more chills. This one is more on the comic side, but it’s not humorous either. Hard to describe, tbh. The best I can say is that it tries to be funny but doesn’t succeed. At least, not for me. 

The mystery is decent and easy enough to guess. There could be a parallel track, or maybe it is a part of the main mystery. Not saying to avoid spoilers. The reveal comes in lengthy, multi-page-long dialogues. The first part is boring, but the second reveal is cool. I like how it is done. Suits the character perfectly. 

There’s a last chapter to round up the threads, though some are left open (which cannot be helped). However, it settles the mystery, which is the primary requirement. 

To summarize, Ghosted is a slow-paced, cozy mystery with a ghost or more. It has its moments but delivers only an average reading experience. Don’t take my word for it, though. Give it a shot if the premise appeals to you. 

Thank you, Bloodhound Books, for the eARC.