Scan barcode
A review by moonpie
Haunted Ground by Erin Hart
2.0
Eh. "Haunted Ground" was okay. I very much enjoyed the two mysteries that were the focal points of the novel: an ancient beheading and a more recent missing-persons case. The timing was a little off, with all the solutions coming at once, wham bam, but the puzzles were interesting enough that I didn't notice that while I was reading; I just wanted to find out what happened.
My main dissatisfaction with the novel was that the romantic bits seemed awkward and pasted on. There were some explorations of a few characters' family lives, and those were okay, but... you know how "Law & Order" will sometimes try to shoehorn in the personal stuff, and it seems forced? It was like that. I would have preferred this book without the romance. There were also details in there (along the lines of "she held the carton up to her nose to see if the milk had turned") that I guess were supposed to help set the scene, but felt awkward.
On the plus side, Erin Hart has a knack for atmosphere. I don't know much about Ireland, so I can't say how authentic the setting was, but I enjoyed the place descriptions and use of local language.
I would give "Haunted Ground" two-and-a-half stars. It wasn't a waste of time, but it wasn't a keeper, either.
My main dissatisfaction with the novel was that the romantic bits seemed awkward and pasted on. There were some explorations of a few characters' family lives, and those were okay, but... you know how "Law & Order" will sometimes try to shoehorn in the personal stuff, and it seems forced? It was like that. I would have preferred this book without the romance. There were also details in there (along the lines of "she held the carton up to her nose to see if the milk had turned") that I guess were supposed to help set the scene, but felt awkward.
On the plus side, Erin Hart has a knack for atmosphere. I don't know much about Ireland, so I can't say how authentic the setting was, but I enjoyed the place descriptions and use of local language.
I would give "Haunted Ground" two-and-a-half stars. It wasn't a waste of time, but it wasn't a keeper, either.