The Other Side of Midnight

I expected three things from this novel. 1) Ellie was likely to fall in love with one of the male characters in the novel, since two were taken it of course had to be James. 2) The killer would be someone no one in the investigation would have expected, typically it's also a complete surprise. 3) Ellie would find peace with her past and present, and after finding the truth about who killed her friend, she would also be at peace with who she was. All of this did occur in a beautiful way. I was left stunned to discover that the Scottland yard Inspector was Drew from the novel, An Inquiry into Love and Death. Nice to see what he was up to while he was working up the courage to propose to Jillian while she was at Oxford. I knew his name was familiar but I just couldn't place it until almost the end. The name Jillian should have been a big clue but I'm embarrassed to say that for me it wasn't. I was clueless until the end.

The Other Side of Midnight is a deviation from what Simone St James usually writes because it is more about mediums and psychics than it is about ghosts, and yet, there are some ghostly appearances in it. Some reviewers felt like this was not as good as some of her other novels, but I found it to be a very entertaining read. Admittedly, some of the characters were not as likeable as characters in her other novels, but I did like Ellie and I liked how she added Scotland Yard Inspector Drew Merriken from An Inquiry Into Love and Death into this story as well. I thoroughly enjoyed The Other Side of Midnight as much as all the other Simone St James novels I have already read. She is my new favorite author.

I wonder how the author came up with this story. Great yarn with totally original plot and characters. I couldn't put it down!

This is a fantastic novel that has a hint of the paranormal, a hint of romance and a ton of mystery! LOVED IT! I can’t wait to read more from this author!

I loved The Haunting of Maddy Clare— and this was every bit as good, in fact, I would say she is really hitting her stride here. She deftly brings to life the post war years in England, and her characters are compelling, her heroine resourceful and brave, but human. I loved the spooky supernatural side of the story—reminded me of Touch Not the Cat in the way she made you accept her world.