I spend a long time on that title, and there was literally no way to make it sound less bad.
Of course, Lucas thinks the problem with dead people is that he can see them, and he possibly has a point.
I wouldn't have much of a series if he didn't though, so... tough luck, kiddo.
Anyway, I guess this leads me nicely into my first point about what The Problem Of Dead People (the book, stop looking at me like that) is, and that is, a paranormal murder mystery.
In fact, it's five paranormal murder mysteries in one, but I'll be talking more about how that came about later in the month.
A paranormal mystery is basically anything with both paranormal and mystery elements in.
Aren't you glad I cleared that up?!
Yeah, all right, I should probably explain a little further.
Well, as you've probably guessed, Lucas Rathbone, who is the amateur sleuth in The Problem With Dead People, can see and speak to ghosts. He's never bothered to work out whether this means he's a psychic or a medium, because learning the difference would mean he cares, and he doesn't.
Except, he does. Very much. He just wishes he didn't.
Because Lucas isn't in a magical community somewhere that he can talk freely about his "gift".
Oh no, that'd be too simple.
Lucas lives in a small village in 1920s England where everyone knows everyone, and nothing is private. The fact he's mostly managed to keep his unwanted abilities (mostly) secret for the twenty-four years he's been alive is nothing short of a miracle.
And because of the historical setting, I've chosen quite an old-fashioned vibe for the series.
It's basically Miss Marple meets Sixth Sense.
Well, if Miss Marple were a grumpy young newspaper reporter who hates solving murders, and mostly gets involved because his girlfriend tells him to, anyway.
And Sixth Sense wasn't really spooky, because the spirits are actually just really, really unreliable witnesses only one person can see.
Yeah, that's not very useful, is it?
However, if anyone can come up with a better description, I'd love to hear it, as it'll make my life magnitudes easier!
And as previously mentioned, the book is split into five sections, called:
- Death and Deception
- Death of a Songbird
- Killed By Kindness
- Conned To Death
- and Angel of Murder
HOWEVER, surprise! There's a sixth storyline running in the background of all of these stories, which ties them all together and leads into book 2 (Sins of the Father).
If you can work out what's going on with this background story before the end of The Problem With Dead People, you're doing better than any of the other readers I've spoken to.
Because they aaaaaall think they've got it worked out, and then, they get to Sins, and...
Anyhoo, that's enough from me about what The Problem With Dead People is (that sounds so wrong), because I'm going to go into everything else you might want to know over the course of the month, and this was only supposed to be a quick post to give you a brief overview.
So anyway, in summary, The Problem With Dead People is:
- A historical mystery with a paranormal twist
- Actually five mysteries in one, with a series story arc introduced in the background
- Agatha Christie meets Sixth Sense
- A bloody good read (even if I say so myself - actually, it's not just me who says that, as you'll see when I get to sharing reviews) that'll keep you guessing all the way to the end, and beyond.
Simple, right?
And that post title held so little promise...
Next, I'm going to talk a little about what The Problem With Dead People isn't, so come back tomorrow for that :)
And if you haven't already, make sure you sign up for updates on the main blog page, so you don't miss anything!
Tanks for reading, see you tomorrow :)
Love, Saff x
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