Ghost House

“I’d never seen him look so lost.... But right now I had a bigger problem.” Meet Chloe Kennedy, observing her father at her mother’s funeral. Dad’s unsightly grief is a problem, no doubt, but Chloe’s “bigger problem” is that she’s just seen a ghost. She’s been seeing them all her life, and this one is doing nothing in particular. It’s symptomatic of Adornetto’s (Halo) heroines that this familiar personal nuisance commands all of Chloe’s attention. Later, whisked off to England by her grandmother to give her father a little space, Chloe continues to whine until a beautiful ghost in the woods catches her eye. He’s Alexander Reade, last alive circa 1860, and unlike other ghosts is willing to talk, far more graciously than Chloe’s obnoxious ripostes merit. Alex is not the only ghost behaving oddly, however, and the others aren’t nearly as friendly. The plot is slow to reveal why, but once the conflict finally emerges, a competent thriller-romance ensues—and concludes. A tacked-on cliffhanger for the next book sits awkwardly on a finished tale. Ages 14–up. (Sept.)