A Harvest of Bones

It's Halloween in Chiqetaw, Washington and the dead are starting to walk; while Emerald and her boyfriend Joe are clearing out the lot next door to her, they unleash a 50 year old ghost, her cat, and the mystery surrounding her death. At this time Samantha, Emerald's cat disappears into thin air, and will-o'-the-whisps (fae spirit globes) show up and want Emerald to find something. What she finds is the skeleton of a woman buried in the yew tree and begins to unravel who it was. The body is that of a maid that worked for the family that lived there 50 years ago, the Finch's. Her name is Brigit and she's come from Ireland to start a new live in America. According to her journal, she became pregnant and was afraid of her employer's finding out, mainly because the father of the child was their son. Shortly there after she vanished and is never heard from again. Her cat died at the same time and now both are haunting Emerald trying to get her to help them find each other and bring what happened to light. Brigit's cat, Mab looks almost identical to Emerald's cat Sam and the two cats have switched places, if Emerald can't help in time, the switch will be permanent and Sam will be stuck in the land of the dead forever. I loved this book, knowing the story of how it was written is what made me get it. Apparently two of Ms. Galenorn's cats got out one day, and while one came back in a day, the other was missing for the better part of a week. During this time, she needed to send in the next outline for another book, but couldn't concentrate. After around four days of searching and calling for her cat, one of her neighbors brought by a carrier and asked if it was her cat inside. It was and while the cat was very scared and a bit thin, she was very happy to have the kitty back. After making sure the kitty was okay, she began to put together the outline for this book.

This is the third book in the Chintz 'n China series and the characters are full of heart. From the ghosts (both human and feline) to the main character, Emerald, to her teenage daughter. Joe (Emerald's younger EMT boyfriend) has purchased the empty lot next door and Emerald takes a vacation to help him clear it out. When they uncover the foundation to a former mansion and some some ghosts and faries, they start investigating the history of the property. They have to solve a fifty year old mystery to clear the lot of the psychic briars and then remove the corporeal ones. This may be the best one of the series so far, and I can't wait to read the fourth.

I just finished reading 'A Harvest of Bones' and thoroughly enjoyed it. My immediate reaction was to find out what other books the author has written around the characters. It's a good storyline - one that will keep you coming back to finish. You want to find out what happens next - How will Murray handle her new love? What's going on with the kids? Are Joe and Em going to get married? Is Joe going to become more involved in the paranormal? What about the rest of Em's friends? It's a cozy, fun read. Find out for yourself to see if you agree.

Dare I say that the fourth book in the Chintz 'n China Mystery is the best one to date? Yes, I do! Not only does the writing flow more easily this time around, but so does the mystery. It reminds me a bit of the second book, Legend of the Jade Dragon, in that both of them are completely immersed in the mystery and that all the really "bad" things that happen are somehow tied to the mystery itself. Not to mention that one of my favorite characters, White Deer, is back in this one! The storyline: Em finds a secret room in the lot next door. Her cat is missing right about the time that a woman ghost and her ghost cat start appearing. (Those are basically the bare bones of the story, no pun intended.) The Good: Most of the story is actually concerned with what happened in the lot next door. Once again, the author is good at making her characters seem real to the reader, which is always a plus. While my "bad" section below will be much longer, I want to point out that overall, this novel is very strong in both plot and characterization. I was very much into to the story and it kept me reading! The Bad: I can't really think of anything in particular. Dividing the novel into more chapters might have made it read faster, but that wasn't really a problem with this one since it had a storyline that kept the reader interested. The only other "bad" thing (not really bad, but annoying lets say) is that Em comes from a long line of witches (or folk magic practitioners). While a bit cliche that her Nanna's a witch who passed her this 500-year-old dagger and a journal of German/English spells, I swallowed it. But now we learn that Emerald (and, of course, her grandmother) were both born on Halloween. How cliche can we get? Also, is Joe like the most perfect man in the world? Good looking, young, understanding, loving, caring, and so on and on. I know the author is probably trying to make her character Em happy, but come on, no one's *that* perfect! Also (this is not really a spoiler, since it didn't happen) I think a better ending would have been Em and her kids doing a little something to honor those that have passed on (with, of course, Brigit's picture included). This was talked about earlier in the book but it never really happened. Overall, I enjoyed this novel very much. I know it doesn't seem like it from what I just said, but I just wanted to point out little annoyances that, well, annoyed me! The fifth book is titled 'One Hex of a Wedding' and is due out August 2006. -Ater

Emerald O Brien, the owner of the Chintz `n China Tea Room in Chiqetaw, Washington is a woman at peace with herself. She is well liked by the residents, who accept the fact that she has the Sight, has two beautiful children and is madly in love with Joe, a man ten years younger than her. To convince her he wants to be with her till death, he buys the lot adjoining Em's so it will be one large property. While they are clearing the outdoor area, they uncover a room hidden below layers of dirt. Unknowingly, they opened a portal that allows Willow the Wisps, fae creatures who bring death with them, to enter the realm. They find in a yew tree the body of a girl, Brigit who used to live in that room and her cat that traveled into the spirit world with Brigit's. Em's and Brigit's cat changed places and Em's feline is a ghost in the spirit realm while Brigit's is only visible in the mortal world as a spirit. They must perform an exorcism to cleanse the land that Joe bought and find out why Brigit has not moved on to the next plane (with her cat) if Em and her family are to have any peace. They also want their cat returned to them so Em uses her grandmother's spells in the hopes that this will happen. A HARVEST OF BONES is a highly original paranormal mystery with a touch of romance, the perfect book to snuggle under the covers with on a cold winter's night. The heroine and her friends take on ghosts, spirits, dragons and creatures from the otherworld as an everyday natural event because Em is a magnet for psychic phenomena. Yasmine Galenorn is a great mystery writer who uses paranormal elements to add a little of the exotic to her storytelling. Harriet Klausner