annieb123
Written on Dec 5, 2021
Déjà Boo is the 6th Chantilly Adair paranormal cozy by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson. Released 16th Nov 2021 by Severn River Publishing, it's 178 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.
This is a very (very) light paranormal cozy with a protagonist who can see and interact with ghosts. The ghosts she encounters are just as interested and engaged with living as they were before they died. Additionally, there's an unexplained dark shadow flitting around threateningly throughout.
Much of the plot turns on Chantilly's insistence on investigating the claims of the not-so-dearly departed (who can lie and mislead as well in the afterlife as they did before), putting herself in danger and threatening her boyfriend's professional reputation and job, since he's an actual professional officer of the law and it's not doing him any favors to have a girlfriend who is continually communing with the spirit world and putting herself in danger.
The plotting is straightforward and action driven. The dialogue is a bit over the top but not egregiously so for a light cozy. It's a squeaky clean fast read which readers who enjoy paranormal cozies will find diverting. Also worth noting, it's set in the southern USA and I found the vernacular (and sweet tea, and all the "bless your heart"-ing) a bit much. Readers who love southern fried cozies will not mind.
Three and a half stars. Easy and fast read.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.