Rainbow Reviews

BOOK BLURB:
Shortly after purchasing a building to be his next restoration project, Elliott Smith learns that, in addition to its other charms, it comes with the spirit of one Aaron Stiles, a former tenant who had died there of a heart attack four years before.

Aaron shows his presence by knocking on the doors of all the apartments at any time of day or night. A resident who knew Aaron while he was alive explains he is looking for his partner, Bill Somers, who left for work one day and never returned.

Curious to learn more of Aaron’s story, Elliott discovers, with the help of his spectral friend John, that Bill, for whom Aaron is still waiting, died under mysterious circumstances, probably on the day he disappeared.

Knowing that Aaron will not leave the building until he knows exactly what happened to Bill and why, Elliott sets off to solve the mystery. In the process, and much against his better judgment, he confesses to his lover Steve that he’s trying to solve a mystery for a ghost. After all, it was Steve who alerted him to the building in the first place, and whose painting of it clearly shows the image of a man gazing through an upstairs window.

BOOK REVIEW:
This is the second of the Elliott Smith Mysteries. Although this one can be read as a stand-alone, I'd recommend reading His Name is John first to gain some background on the characters and their relationships with each other.

"Dealing with, even accepting the concept of, John had been hard enough, and had seriously shaken the foundations of his concepts of an orderly, logical world. To think that other people might be involved, or worse, that he was responsible for involving them, in this inexplicable new aspect of his life was truly disconcerting." This encapsulates Elliott perfectly. He cares. He's kind, considerate, and intelligent. But Elliott isn't perfect. He'd be a boring subject if he were. Like the quote said, he has to struggle with the concept of John, a non-corporeal presence in his life. Adding yet more supernatural elements disturbs him very much. I do feel sorry for Elliott. He wants to be "just an ordinary guy," but the forces above won't let him, so he's forced to deal the best he can.

Elliott's reluctance to take things to the next level with his lover, Steve, was annoying but understandable. There's cautious, and there's not willing to commit. Elliott is in danger of giving off the latter vibe if he's not careful. I'm a hopeless romantic and I've got my fingers crossed that things between these two will solidify in later books.

"[Elliott] awoke in the morning feeling as though he’d spent the night staring into a washing machine in which thoughts of Aaron and Bill and Irv Wilson and Jim Babcock and suicide and possible murder sloshed back and forth in response to the agitator of his mind" Great quote this. It mirrored my own thoughts about who had done it. Grey has penned a complex mystery, I honestly had no clue as to who or how until very near the end. The usual basket of red herrings, plausible suspects and motives abounded. But as always, Grey plays fair with his readers, so those of a more investigative mind than I might be able to figure things out ahead of time. But for the rest of us, we can reread the book and exclaim "Oh, why didn't I pay more attention to that clue last time?" Yes, this book is definitely worth reading more than once.

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. However, some books were purchased by the reviewer and not provided for free. For information on how a particular title was obtained, please contact us at reviews@rainbow-reviews.com.