Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Ghost of Lies
SERIES: Medium Trouble
AUTHOR: Alice Winters
NARRATOR: Greg Boudreaux
LENGTH: 11 hour and 22 minutes
RELEASE DATE: December 6, 2021
BLURB:
Hiro
Though I was born with the ability to see the dead, I struggled with it until my brother was killed and his ghost was left behind. Now, I’m determined to figure out who is responsible for his death… the problem is that Detective Maddox Booker, the one working the case, is a grumpy and stubborn man who wants nothing to do with me and definitely doesn’t believe in ghosts. It doesn’t help that I keep finding myself looking ridiculous in front of the detective, thanks to interfering ghosts who enjoy laughing at my expense. Still, the more I’m around Maddox, the more I realize that beneath that surly exterior is a kind and caring man who will do anything to help.
Maddox
When another man dies, I know we have a serial killer on our hands—the same murderer who has remained elusive for a year and a half. To add to my frustration, I keep running into Hiro at crime scenes only to hear him claim that he can talk to ghosts. The words of the dead could lead us to the serial killer and even tell us who is next, but ghosts? There’s no such thing as ghosts. Hiro is determined and charming, and no matter what I do, I can’t stop letting him get involved. He’s definitely snagged my attention, but when he nearly winds up dead, I know he’s getting closer to the truth—and if I don’t do something soon, he might be next.
Ghost of Lies is full of action, mystery, humor, and romance. Though more is planned for this couple, the mystery is solved and there is a happy ending.
REVIEW:
Hiro Moore sees dead people. LOL! Ok – not like that. But he can see and hear ghosts and he can even feel them if he really concentrates. He has discovered the bodies of victims of homicide too many times and he’s on the radar of Homicide Detective Maddox Booker. They don’t exactly see eye to eye, but when Hiro is able to help with investigations, Maddox grudgingly has to let him in. The way that Hiro manages to get himself assigned to the homicide detective is so bizarre and hilarious! It’s clear that Hiro is the real deal when he discovers murder weapons and can talk to the ghosts to determine who murdered them and hand that info over to the police and they can close cases. But Hiro is motivated by the murder of his brother Sean and he needs to hurry because now it seems that the murderer is continuing and he leaves a note that there are three more who need to die. Things are escalating and the timetable is getting short.
Hiro also has got some sort of energy that can be used against him to make the ghosts able to attack him if they want to do him harm. When a murder victim attacks him and Maddox is able to save him, everyone starts getting really nervous – including Hiro’s family. Hiro is being warned off the case because he’s getting too close. Maddox is afraid to leave him along without some protection, but then it becomes clear that human protection still may not save him. As the victim who apparently has set off the serial killer tries to stop Hiro and Maddox from solving the case, the potential suspects get closer and closer to both Hiro and Maddox and they aren’t sure who to trust – besides each other. There are a cadre of annoying but sometimes helpful ghosts who attempt to warn Hiro and Maddox. But most of the time they just annoy the heck out of Hiro 😉 At the end of the day though, the killer is revealed and all is explained which I did not see coming.
Whoa! This book kicks this series off with a bang! Hiro is an entertaining characters who has been through a lot. The way his history is revealed throughout the story happens organically which I think really helps the flow of the story. He’s been through so much and his family life is rather unusual – especially since he’s juggling his interaction with the many ghosts around him. Maddox is highly suspicious of Hiro – since he keeps finding him at crime scenes even though it’s pretty obvious he doesn’t have anything to do with the crimes. Because there aren’t any logical explanations, he’s definitely skeptical about Hiro’s somewhat shady stories. He can’t help but like the guy though and so he’s reluctant to just ignore him. And when it’s clear that he knows things and finds things that trained investigators haven’t, he becomes convinced. I loved how Hiro along with this ghostly companions are able to finally convince the skeptics that Hiro is not lying or making anything up. Ghostly companions provide a heck of a lot of comic relief in what is a pretty angst story of serial killers and repeaters ghosts that may or may not be interested in solving their own murders. The twisty-turns of the mystery and the identify of the serial killer were really well done! I hate it if I can solve the mystery in the first chapter. This one really kept me guessing. There are plenty of shifty possibilities and and a few red herrings that rally served the story well. The story is a nice balance of the mystery, the budding romance and the emotional closure for Hiro surrounding his brother’s murder which had set him off on this quest. There is a nice HFN ending and I can’t wait to see what happens next with this interesting couple.
Greg Boudreaux does a fabulous job performing this book. There are a LOT of characters – ghosts, non-ghosts, male, female – even cats and birds! I really enjoyed the entire book and felt the pain, anger and desperation of the many victims in the story. I also really loved Hiro’s humor and Maddox’s growly demeanor. They both obviously used these to cover their true feelings, but those came through as well. The protectiveness and the attraction and the tenderness even. Great job and I can’t wait for the next installment of this series. Highly recommended.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
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