Medium – Book
About the Book – Shady Grove is a fiddle player who has, with the help of her father’s fiddle, inherited his gift to call ghosts from their rests. Playing the fiddle is dangerous though, and she is hunted by the ‘Shadow Man’ who hunts her in her nightmares and starts to haunt her in the daytime as well. However, when her brother is arrested for murder, Shady must use the fiddle to summon the ghost of the only man who can tell her what really happened – the murder victim. However, it soon becomes clear that there are more mysteries than just the one that Shady thought she was solving, and that she is in danger of losing her soul.
My Rating – 5/5
My Thoughts – This has to be one of the best debut novels I have ever read. It was given as part of the Book Box Club and whilst sometimes the books they give can be a bit hit and miss, this one really was a hit. My husband (who is a fiddle player) actually read this one before me and waxed lyrical about it, so I was keen to see what it was about – and was not disappointed. The plot is excellent, and moves quickly – I read this book in about three days, and it completely gripped me. I really liked that there were multiple layers to the mystery – although one of the mysteries was quite straightforward to ‘solve’, there were other intertwined mysteries around Shady’s family which I was no where near close to guessing. The setting of a Deep South, Florida swamp area was not one I had read many books set in before, but I quickly fell in love (despite the rattlesnakes!)
Shady is a brilliant main character – she is likeable, funny and you really do care about her and what she is doing. She has a couple of love interests, and there is a good bit of LGBTQ+ representation in the book. Of the other characters, I really liked Cedar, who was one of Shady’s love interests, her best friend Orlando and her Aunt Ena. Whilst most of the characters were well-rounded and developed, I thought these three stood out – especially Cedar, who I have a bit of a soft spot for. This book is sort-of a horror book, sort of a murder mystery and sort-of a YA romance, but the mix of genres gives it real depth. Highly recommended!
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