The Girl on Legare Street

I already gave The House on Tradd Street a 5* review and continue with this one. I found it delightful, charming and contained just enough side-plots without overwhelming the original story. Truly a wonderful series if you have any interest in the "the spirit world. Melanie is a well-developed character and Jack, as well as Melanie's parents, and every other character, are all well-defined. Each of them has a role in Melanie's life and it is easy to see how they all fit into the puzzle. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to continuing the series with The Strangers on Montagu Street, which I will read over the next two days. Not only an easy-to-read series, but a delightful one as well.

Unfortunately, I am not gifted at writing reviews. If we could sit down face to face, I could tell you all of the things that made me enjoy this book, but for now, I would just like to say that Karen White is now one of my favorite authors. The House on Tradd Street was so entertaining that I spent months anticipating the second in this series. Needless to say, I downloaded The Girl on Legare Street to my Kindle the first day it became available, and have gone through it like a box of See's truffles! This series has it all- old mansions, ghosts, a little humor, and a little romance. I couldn't ask for anything more.

I have been a fan of Karen White's for years, and I think this is one of her best. The main characters are unforgettable, the story is both funny and suspenseful, and the dialogue is read-out-loud great. In writing about Melanie, her prodigal mother, and their interesting family history, she combines a poignant personal story with a really spine-tingling ghost story full with intriguing historical details about Charleston. Can't wait for the next book in this terrific series.

There are many reviews that tell lots about the story. My short review is this.....if you enjoyed the House on Tradd Street you will also enjoy the latest adventure, The Girl on Legare Street. If you are new to this series you will enjoy it! Since there are some references in Legare Street to the first in the series it is probably to your benefit to start with The House on Tradd Street. Also, there are other books written by Karen White that are great. I highly recommend all of them! Also, if you have the opportunity to go to one of her book signings--GO---we really had a good time meeting her. She is funny and friendly!

"The Girl on Legare Street", by Karen White, is a well-written, well-paced, paranormal, mystery romance. Melanie Prioleau is from an old historical family in Charleston. Her father, retired Colonel Middleton, is an ex-alcoholic, and her mother, famous opera singer Ginnette, abandoned them both when Melanie was 7. Melanie, now age 39 and single, hides her abandonment in work, making her a very successful real estate agent. The Prioleau women can see and communicate with ghosts. Now her mother is moving back to Charleston and re-purchasing the old family home on Legare Street. There is a mysterious spirit which haunts both as they solve the mystery and come to terms with their mother -daughter relationship and with the men in their lives. White is a superb writer, mixing in elements of human nature, the paranormal, and history to make this an involved story. Several themes are interwoven in the background, a little history of Charleston and the art of historical home restoration. I am always a big fan of authors whose story allows me to incidentally learn. The characters are believable but not the main focus of the story. This is a multi-generational murder mystery. "The Girl" is the second book in this series, the first being "The House on Tradd Street". I did not know of the first book until after reading this one, and this one stands complete. However, if I had the chance, I would have read "The House" first. This emotional book held my attention from the first page to the surprising ending. It is not a quick read due to the details of the mystery, but one that captivated my attention and kept me guessing from beginning to end. This is a great read.

In her new novel The Girl on Legare Street Karen White brings us back to Charleston to revisit the wonderful characters we first met in The House on Tradd Street and have the pleasure of meeting a few more. Where we find Melanie Middleton reunited with her mother who abandoned her when she was six, but if she thinks that's her biggest problem she's whistling Dixie. Karen's love for the south, especially Charleston and it's wonderful historic homes really shines through in this her second of four books in her House on Tradd Street series. It's a haunting tale of fear and fearlessness of loss and love and redemption. Her story line/plot is not unique to anyone who's ever walked through an old building and felt the temperature drop or saw a hint of something that couldn't be explained, but she makes it uniquely her own with her twist of a classic ghost story. Her characters are endearing and funny and quirky and she knows them so intimately that you can feel the anal attentive qualities of Melanie and the sexual tension between her and her co-star, co-conspirator Jack Trenholm sexy author and amateur historic sleuth, you can feel the apprehension and tension she feels toward her mother and her feeling of abandonment. Her supporting characters are equally interesting from her best friend Sophie to her recovering alcoholic father, to her ghostly apparitions and all the rest. And they are all constantly breathing life into her story. Her amazing descriptive dialogue paints her words into pictures in our minds as she tells her tale. She will make you laugh and cry, empathize and sympathize with the various characters. She gives us the continuing non-relationship that our heroine Melanie and our hero Jack are too afraid to pursue and the sexual tension between them just about kills me. Knowing there are two more installments before completion makes me impatient for the next one, to not only see what lies ahead with the ghosts and hauntings, but also finding out what's in store for Melanie and Jack. So be prepared to expel many emotions through this exciting and sometimes terrifying wonderful new novel. Be prepared to laugh and cry, hold your breath, bite your nails, to be haunted and sit on the edge of your seat as you turn the pages. And most of all be prepared to fall in love with the grand olde dame of the south, Charleston and with Karen's wonderful characters in her new book "The Girl on Legare Street". A must read for 2009. As mentioned this is the second book in a series, but holds up very well as a stand-a-lone read.