A Ghostly Light

Haunted Home Renovation Series, Book 7

By: Juliet Blackwell

Narrated by: Xe Sands

Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Dangerous tides ahead....

When her friend Alicia hires Turner Construction to renovate a historic lighthouse in the San Francisco Bay, Mel Turner can't wait to get her hands dirty. Alicia plans to transform the island property into a welcoming inn, and while Mel has never attempted a project so ambitious - or so tall - before, she's definitely up for the challenge.

But trouble soon arises when Alicia's abusive ex-husband shows up to threaten both her and Mel, and later turns up dead at the base of the lighthouse stairs. With no other suspects in sight, things start looking choppy for Alicia. Now, if Mel wants to clear her friend's name, she'll need the help of the lighthouse's resident ghosts to shine a light on the real culprit....

©2017 Julie Goodson-Lawes (P)2017 Tantor

Another Home Run by Blackwell & Sands

I love love love all of Juliet Blackwell's books. Bought this one the day it came out on Audible and forced myself to wait until the weekend to listen. Spectacular! Wonderful scenery, fabulous characters, and a twisty plot. And Xe Sands' brilliant interpretation brings it all together.

If you're new to the Mel Turner/Home Renovation series, start at the beginning and enjoy knowing there are more to come. If you've already read the books before, dive in!

Book 7 of HHR-Murder Mystery PLUS++++++

Juliet Blackwell you did it again.
Haunted Home Renovation--I've listened/read them all and this series is one of my favorite cozy mysteries.

BOOK 7----The island in San Francisco bay--and a old lighthouse to renovate-- is the perfect focal point in this ghosty murder mystery. Love the clues and the comradery of the Characters. Your stories alway focus around ghosts and Mel's ability to see and talk with them. But how you wrap you stories into layers, more then one story, but they all join in the solving of the mystery--amazing. I applaud you and can't wait for book 8.

I like the yin-yang love interest for Mel--and how their relation develops. Way to go Mel.

Xe Sands is one of my favorite narrators--in fact it was in the following Xe Sand's collection of books she narrated that lead me to you, Ms. Blackwell. And I am not disappointed.

In love!

I love Juliet Blackwell.
I love Xe Sands.
I love these two together.
The End.

I have grown to love Mel! Next one please!

XE has really come a long way in bringing Mel and all the other characters in this book to life. The stories are funny and feel real, even the ghosts. I am a believer.

Excellent

The story is wonderful, but I really want Mel to end up with Gram. But over all excellent book.

NOooooooo! 😀

This was a fun story. Same great characters a few more too. But at the ending I screamed as the final sentence was spoken. Aughhjjh WHEN IS THE NEXT BOOK? I can't wait 😄

Extraordinarily wonderful

Mel Turner, general contractor for Turner Construction, has been hired to renovate a lighthouse keeper’s home on an island in the strait joining San Pablo bay with San Francisco bay near San Quentin prison. Built in 1871, the Victorian home still exuded charm between rotted floor boards. The landmark needed extensive repairs being planned by the billionaire who bought the island with his assistant Alicia Withers to turn it into a small inn.

Everyone involved in renovating Lighthouse Island boarded a boat that would be their lifeline, since even cell service on the island was sketchy. After landing, Mel and Alicia head for the Light Keeper’s house. Suddenly Alicia looks as if she has seen a ghost. However, it is Alicia’s abusive ex-husband Thorn who has found her despite efforts to hide the tracks to her new identity. Alicia’s bodyguard arrives in time to escort Thorn to his yacht. Then the air grows cold, and Mel witnesses a woman climb the lighthouse tower and throw herself off the balcony. The woman is the ghost of the Lighthouse Keeper’s wife, Ida Vigilance. History tells us that she had a son named Franklin who loved to play pirate. One day when he was playing on the rocks, she’d been distracted, and Franklin disappeared, leaving Ida frantic. The Lighthouse Keeper had fallen down the stairs, injuring himself, so Ida searched alone for days until she became so despondent, she jumped to her death, and had continued these behaviors for the past hundred years.

Suddenly young Franklin appears in front of Mel, just as she hears a scream from the Lighthouse Tower.
As Mel arrives at the tower, a man came tumbling down the inner spiral staircase only to land at Mel’s feet with a knife protruding from his belly. Mel quells her vertigo and manages to go up a number of steps until she meets Alicia coming down. She swears she didn’t kill Thorn but says she hadn’t seen anyone else who could have.

Mel is able to text her friend, the homicide inspector at SFPD, and help arrives. Ultimately Alicia is charged with murder, and Mel must not only figure out what is happening at Lighthouse Island but also try to discover who really did kill Thorn. Her search takes her to unexpected places to meet truly extraordinary people. A possible doppelganger intrigues Mel, and she is assisted in learning about her with her boyfriend Landon’s help. Landon, whom we met in the last book when he arrived at the scene of his sister Chantelle’s murder, brings patience and calm to his relationship with Mel, even staying with her in her father’s house. That family life keeps Mel grounded in the present as she deals with the past.

As the remarkable narrator Xe Sands says the words, “The End,” I began to leak a few tears and hugged the book. The ending was extraordinarily wonderful – clever, simple, and romantic as well as intriguing. The clues that had been laid in plain sight through this adventure all pointed to this delicious ending, and I found it immensely satisfying.

Clever ending

Mel Turner is remodeling a lighthouse and bringing it back as a B & B and restaurant on an island located in San Francisco Bay. Of course, in the process she also is solving a murder and trying to figure out the back story of the two ghosts who already reside on the island. Although nearby boaters are upset because the construction area is now closed to the general public the police consider Alicia, Mels’s friend, the prime person of interest in the murder. Mel is looking for an answer to clear her friend’s name.

The lighthouse information and the use of the keeper’s logs in this story made it especially interesting. JB does great research.

This story keeps you guessing and, yet, the clues that are laid in plain sight throughout the adventure all point to the extraordinarily clever ending.

I've always enjoyed Juliet Blackwell's Witchcraft Mystery and the Haunted Home Renovation series and wish she would write more of both of them.

Love it!

I love this series. The last two books have had the BEST endings! The only downside is that now I want to listen to Treasure Island! Lol!

Best yet

I love this series. The story is always interesting and the characters are so well developed that I always feel like I'm visiting friends. I can't wait for the next one.