‘Ground’ mixes love, paranormal
“Unhallowed Ground” by Heather Graham (MIRA Books, 362 pages, $7.99, paperback)
If you like mixing a bit of the creepy with a dash of sinister and spine-chilling reading with your romance, be sure to read Heather Graham’s latest paranormal novel, “Unhallowed Ground.”
The romance is a bit tepid for most of the book, with the focus on the suspense portion of the story. But Graham does insert enough passion and love to satisfy most romance readers.
Especially at Halloween.
Indeed, this is a perfect romance read for this time of year, with ghosts and a grisly tale entwined with the love story of Caleb and Sarah.
The story is charmingly set in St. Augustine, Fla. and Graham smartly relies on some of the old city’s lore and ghost stories for her backdrop, and to set the scene for a murder scheme that dates back to the Civil War. The mystery intrigues and surprises — whatever you do, DON’T read the end of the book first.
Private investigator Caleb comes to St. Augustine in search of a young girl who has been missing a year. His arrival coincides with the disappearance of another, younger girl — and the discovery of much older bones in Sarah’s new home.
Sarah is a historian, who recently returned to St. Augustine to work in a local museum owned by her best friend’s parents. She bought her centuries-old dream home and was in the midst of remodeling it into a bed and breakfast when another friend, a local contractor, discovered the bones hidden behind the walls.
Since the house was once a mortuary and the bones dated back to the Civil War, no one considered that find was related to the current cases of the missing girls.
Except Caleb.
If you remember this is a paranormal story, you won’t be bothered by the rather large coincidence in the book that helps tie it all together. In fact, you’ll like it. And you won’t be bothered by the visitor who pops in to help Caleb and Sarah on occasion.
Graham does a great job of blending just a bit of paranormal with very real and human evil. Again, Caleb’s courtship of Sarah could have been a bit more ... well, more. But he gets the job done.
XLezlie Patterson is a former columnist for The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C. Readers may send her e-mail at lpattersonsc.rr.com. To read more of her romance reviews go to http://lezlie-romance.blogspot.com.
2009, McClatchy-Tribune