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ishmael jones simon green haunted house widows hill ishmael and penny white witch house on widows previous works harrow house celebrity psychic member of the family penny belcourt partner penny severn house jones series jones books jones story organization team group
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Dormouse23
4.0 out of 5 stars Strong Entry in this Series
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2020
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I recently discovered Simon Green's Ishmael Jones series and have enjoyed it quite a bit. Briefly, Ishmael Jones and his partner Penny work for a mysterious Organization solving paranormal mysteries. Murder is always involved. The plotting of the murders is generally the weakest part of the books, and "House on Widow's Hill" is no exception to this rule; however, the characters and dialogue are great fun and the series as a whole has a slightly old-fashioned feel to it that I like. It's an update of the locked-room mystery genre.

The mystery behind the mystery (i.e., what the heck is going on in the house being investigated) is intriguing and there are some really chilling developments that the ghost-hunting team has to confront. Ishmael and Penny get more character development and I'm starting to wonder just how much the Organization knows about Ishmael's background... probably more than he thinks.

There are weaknesses in the series, as reviewers have noted in the past - but if you just go along for the ride I think you'll enjoy the books, and this one in particular is very good.
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Turret42
2.0 out of 5 stars Not on par with Mr. Green's previous works
Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2020
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I've long been a fan of Mr. Green's work, from Hawk & Fisher to the Nightside, the Ghost Finders, and now Ishmael Jones. His tales have always contained strong characters, devious villains, twisty plots, and dialogue redolent with snark and humor.

Sadly, the House on Widows Hill does not live up to the author's reputation. There really is not plot, only the bare thread of an idea -- the leading characters in a haunted house. The secondary characters are all flat, recycled bits of characters from previous works. One keeps expecting them to do something with their supposed abilities, yet their only true skill seems to be whining about how their skills are underappreciated. For a story about a group of people supposedly sent to investigate a haunting, there is no actual investigation -- the characters behave more like hostages, content to huddle in the corner and wait for rescue. Even Ishmael and Penny, who normally take nothing at face value and pry into everything, only decide to "have a look around" in the last thirty pages of the book.

Given the lack of plot, flat characters, and the grossly recycled dialogue (both from previous Ishmael Jones tales and other series), I'm left wondering if this offering was produced by an intern at the publishing house who was given free reign to cut and paste from Mr. Green's vast catalogue of previous works, rather than by Mr. Green.

The one good thing I can say about this book is there were no misspelled words. I would say the punctuation was also well done, but the book contained numerous sentence fragments treated as complete statements. I will think long and hard (and most definitely visit my local library) before purchasing any upcoming releases in this series.
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Haunted Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent SciFi and Humour
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2020
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This installment of the Ishmael Jones Mysteries relies heavily on Science Fiction rather than Horror as did some of the earlier novels. Going in, one expects supernatural horror, as Ishmael and partner Penny are tasked by a previously unknown member of the Organization (identified only as Whisper) to spend one night in a reputedly haunted Victorian house in Bath, England. Accompanying are a psychic,a journalist who is a member of the family owning the derelict property, and a local historian who is also a White Witch. As the story unfolds, we learn more about Ishmael Jones' background, and encounter some seriously Spooky moments and unexpecte56d events. This one is also noted for its humour: despite all the serious issues, I frequently chuckled, even laughed aloud [rare for me].
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James Pierson-Perry
2.0 out of 5 stars Recycled Fluff
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2020
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The newest entry in the Ishmael Jones series continues a depressing trend of very light plot, two dimensional characters, and lots of dialogue that seems lifted from previous works by the author. There is very little of the sharp wit, eccentric characters, or more intricate plots from previous series like the beloved Nightside or Shaman Bond. Repartee between Ishmael and his partner Penny reads like previous pairings (Eddie Drood and Molly, or the Ghost FInders). The present novel read like a short story idea that was padded out too much. Disappointing overall.
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phil
3.0 out of 5 stars Some nicely spooky weirdness with some annoying weirdness thrown in
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2020
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Possible spoilers----- Overall fairly good entry in the series, but with some strange decisions thrown in. Two characters fall instantly in love within ten minutes of meeting each other. Penny has a sudden meltdown with no preamble over her relationship with Ishmael about a subject that they are both already very familiar with. I thought for a while that maybe the house was messing with her mind, but it was just a childish tantrum. Everyone has been warned that the upstairs flooring is precarious, but they all just take this at face value. Including Ishmael. He doesn't even go to just the head of the stairs to check things out. So everyone sits in a single room out of a huge house for about 95% of the book. I prefer haunted house investigators to actually investigate the haunted house. On the plus side, there were a lot of witty lines that had me laughing out loud. And the overarching storyline of Ishmael's origins moves forward a bit.
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J. Michael Stanley
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting new take on mystery and macabre!
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2020
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I know that some people have said that this series isn't that great. But I completely disagree. A government organization that employs a monster to settle problems with monsters. And, if anything, the monster they employ is probably a better man than anyone else in the book. The chemistry between the two main characters is fun. Combine that with a mystery where almost anything can happen, and its an exciting read!
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UM
2.0 out of 5 stars Awful muddle
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2020
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I could not finish this book past the 70% mark because I was so bored by the characters going around in circles. I stopped caring about what happened to any of them at the 30% mark. Contrived dialogue and thin plot. Dont waste your money. I will not be reading the next one.
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Michael Bruchas
5.0 out of 5 stars Quick, enjoyable read!
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2020
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The Ishmael Jones books are always a little shorter than his other series.
I think that I might have missed one in the series.
This book will be passed on to my cousin, who is a fan of all of Green’s books.
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Russell Bushby
5.0 out of 5 stars Simon Green has reached the high standard we expect.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 3, 2020
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If you look at his earlier books, his style is deceptively simple, but his work is well worth reading
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