Cluttered Attic Secrets by Jan Christensen (Cozy Mystery, 10E/10E)

  June 2015, Createspace, 242 pages, Ebook, Review copy from NetGalley

Content: murder, spooky goings on, lots of tension, mystery, lots of humour

Summary from Jan's website

After receiving a midnight phone call, professional organizer Tina Shaw rushes to her best friend’s ancestral home to determine if Leslie really saw a ghost. Tina doesn’t see one in the cluttered Newport, Rhode Island, Victorian attic, but does hear strange noises. While she tries to reassure Leslie, they’re drawn outside when police and firefighters arrive. A murdered man has been found in Leslie’s side yard.

A note in his pocket reads My name is Joshua Young in childish printing. Leslie’s father’s name is Joshua Young, the men are about a decade apart in age, and the man was killed outside the house where Leslie’s father grew up. Tina must help her friend find the answers to who the murdered man really was and why he was killed. And to what’s making the noises in the attic.

While Tina is absorbed in helping her friend investigate, a quarrel with her boyfriend, Hank, begins when he demands she quit because it’s too dangerous. He has ties to the police, and when Tina suspects he’s holding back information from her, her Irish temper flares even more.

The secrets behind Joshua Young’s murder are bigger than Tina ever imagined. Can the murderer be stopped before killing again?

Nayu's thoughts

Murder, secret rooms, humour, an incredible book to be read in daylight! & yet another I can't stress how much I love it. It's a fun read, with Tina's voice and point of view being full of humour. I like how close knit she is with her friends, how they all help stake out the bizarre, potentially ghost-filled attic. There are loads of breath holding moments, ones which made me only read it during the day as I'd get too freaked out at night.

I admired Tina's strength of character, that even when she was afraid (which was some of the time) she persevered in her investigation, because she wanted to know the truth. I couldn't have stayed up in the attic, or below it, not even with her friends there. The timing and situation of the murder added to the 'eeep' factor (as in eeep this is so scary). I wanted to scream at Tina to turn away from the house and never go back. Thankfully she can't hear readers' thoughts so she didn't. The truth of the haunted attic is a neat plot twist, one which I'd never expected and thought was original. I'll definitely be looking out for more of Tina's adventures! One for the reread shelf. 

Find out more on Jan's website.  

Suggested read

Another cozy mystery which has baking and an Amish theme is Murder Freshly Baked by Vannetta Chapman (Amish fiction, Christian fiction, 10E/10E)