The Ghost Who Wasn’t is the third book in the Haunting Danielle series by Anna J. McIntyre, writing under the pseudonym Bobbi Holmes. It’s still early enough in the series that I believe you could read it without having read the earlier books and still have a good grasp on who is who, but there are some nuances to the characters that aren’t apparent unless you know the history, If you’re looking for some light, fun reading, this series so far has been very good for that.

A local heiress went missing and was found in the California desert. Her greedy Uncle, who now owns the family business jointly with her, has her checked out of the hospital so the family can take care of her instead. Danielle’s best friend, Lily, also mysteriously disappears. When her car is found, the disfigured body nearby is assumed to be Lily’s. This would seem to be the case when Lily’s ghost turns up at Marlow House, knowing Danielle can speak to the dead. However, when Lily steps in front of a large mirror, she can see her reflection, something ghosts normally can’t do.

Danielle is alone in Marlow House at the end of the summer season. She’s thinking of taking a break from hosting guests until a couple coming north from California for their honeymoon begs her to let them stay. She relents only to learn they are treasure hunters who are convinced there are more jewels hidden in the house. The resident ghost of Marlow House, Walt Marlow, who died ninety years before, keeps an eye on them for Danielle. The only problem is that the alleged newlywed husband seems to have some psychic abilities as well and picks up on his presence.

This was a good cosy mystery. I was wondering how the author was going to keep the series going with Danielle’s abilities being revealed more and more. She handles it well. Lily learned in the last book that Danielle could see and talk to ghosts. It’s only natural that she would reach out to her best friend when she is found dead…. or is she? I liked that Lily could finally see Walt and talk to him as well. It made it more interesting that someone besides Danielle could talk to Walt.

To make matters worse, the ghost of the young heiress turns up. She definitely seems to be a ghost, despite her body being cared for by her Uncle nearby. The police again suspect Danielle of murder because she seems to know too much about the heiress. This has the feeling of becoming overdone as it seems to happen in every book, but by the end of this one, Danielle knows she has one ally in the department. Joe Morelli (and it’s hard to get past that name as an avid reader of the Stephanie Plum series) and his partner Brian are investigating Danielle, again. Brian really seems to be a jerk, and Joe is intimidated by him again and again into treating Danielle as a suspect. I don’t think Joe actually believes she did anything in either this book or the previous one, but the pressure on him by his partner created a wedge between him and Danielle after it looked like a promising relationship. The more I learned about Joe, the bigger the jerk he comes off as, though. It was easier to excuse his behavior in The Ghost Who Loved Diamonds. With his actions in The Ghost Who Wasn’t, he comes off more as a controlling misogynist.

My one complaint is that Danielle seems too nice at times, with no backbone. She seems to let people run roughshod over her again and again. She has the money she inherited from her aunt and her cousin now, so she can afford a high-powered lawyer. Yet, she doesn’t take the obvious solution and ends up arguing with the police again and again. Also, Lily’s parents’ actions following her “death” are unrealistic. I know it’s to steer the story in a certain direction,

The series may seem pretty unrealistic in ways, but it’s a light, fun read. The audiobook was once again narrated by Romy Nordlinger. I’ve grown to like her voice more over the course of these books. I think she has Danielle’s voice down pat. There’s enough of a difference between the characters that I could identify who was talking based on her voice, although I think one or two of the new characters in The Ghost Who Wasn’t sounded more like characters from earlier in the series. That’s the peril voice actors have with long series with so many different characters.

Every now and then, I find I need a light, fun series in between some of the more gripping and serious books I read. Despite being a murder mystery, The Ghost Who Wasn’t is that type of read. It’s fun, especially when the so-called “psychic” gets things just a tad wrong. The characters are fun, and only the two police officers are rather one-dimensional. I love listening to this series while I’m doing something else, as I don’t have to concentrate too hard on the story.

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