If Walls Could Talk by Juliet Blackwell

#1 Haunted Home Renovation
Copyright: 2010
Publisher: Obsidian
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 316
Author's Website
My rating: 4/5


This is the first in a new series by Juliet Blackwell.  I was anxious to try this one because 1)I have enjoyed both of the books published so far in her witchcraft series and 2)this one deals with the paranormal as well.

This series takes place in and around San Francisco.  Mel is divorced and living with her Dad while she controls the family business.  This was supposed to be temporary, she was just stepping in after her Mom passed away and her Father let the business slide.  However two years later Mel finds herself still running the business. She would like to escape to Paris to  live in solitude, but that doesn't seem like it's going to happen for awhile.

Turner Construction remodels or renovates old homes, historic homes.  They try to merge modern convenience with the original look of the homes.    One of Mel's friends, Matt, is trying to flip a historical home and has asked her for help.  She stopped in the morning after he hosts a demolition party to find him passed out on the couch.  Upon further investigation they find his partner, Kenneth, upstairs.  Kenneth is missing a hand and has been shot in the belly with a nail gun.  Kenneth dies at the hospital but re-appears for Mel.  Uh-oh...as if things for Mel couldn't get any worse, she is now seeing ghosts.

Mel doesn't believe Matt killed Kenneth, although the police do.  Some things just don't add up.  Especially after she finds a diary and a map to a gem field in the walls of the house.     Graham, a blast from the Mel's past, shows up to investigate what happened at the construction site and he doesn't think things are as they seem either.

I thought this was a great start to a new series by this author.  I really enjoyed Mel and several of the other characters too.   Mel seems to have been through a lot so far, and while she can't exactly do what she wants, she does enjoy running the construction business and renovating these old homes.   While she does snoop into Kenneth's death, she still gets other stuff done, things that need to be done. For me, I think that makes the story just a bit more real (even though I know it's fiction..but you know what I mean). She's still continuing with everyday life, she isn't JUST investigating.

As you all well know, I do love some paranormal in my books. This one fits the bill since Mel see's Kevin and realizes that she can detect ghosts.  It's fun to see how Kevin's ghost and the others play out in this story.

I highly recommend this book and I have high hopes that this will be a great series.




 Thanks to Penguin for providing this book for review.