Tuesday Mooney Wore Black

On the surface this is a quirky story about an eccentric billionaire, a cast of flawed characters, and a treasure hunt. Just below the surface is a beautiful meditation on loss, grief and the need to belong.
I loved it!
Thank you to netgalley and Harper Collins for an advance copy of this book

Wow what a fantastic read.
I didn't expect to get so involved with this book but it drew me in right from the start.
The name Tuesday Mooney did confuse me at times in the book, but what a character, funny,witty and a little bit aloof at times but you just grow to love her.
Tuesday works for a company that finds wealthy people to invest a charity and gets involved with the mysterious Nathaniel Arches,but is he what he seems and can Tuesday figure everything out before it all goes wrong?

Think RP1 but with ghosts! A fast paced adventure with fantastic characters and a fantastic multi-layered plot. There's murder, mystery, a treasure hunt and most of all there is friendship. Some important life lessons wrapped up in a great story.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, and was hooked from the very first page.

.This is not a laid back half asleep kind of easy read. I felt that I had to stay fully focused so as not to miss any of the little descriptive gems that this book is full of. This probably meant that it took me longer to finish the book than usual, no late night endless page turning, but what a joy to read such a well written book.
The characters, though somewhat unconventional, were brought to life with layer upon layer added as you progressed through the book.
Some books are like meringues, light and lacking substance, this book is like a rich fruit cake.

This is my unbiased and genuine review of an advanced review copy I received

I didn't expect to love 'Tuesday Mooney Wore Black', but it hit me out of nowhere. It's a quirky tale of treasure hunting, love, loss and finding your place in the world. I absolutely loved the games inside games and the puzzles scattered through the book, even including some just for the readers. The air of mystery and melancholy runs through the whole book and the nods back to the nineties, the music and Poe influences were like enjoying a whole box of chocolates. Unusual with strong characters and an interesting plot.

Thank you to Harper Collins and Kate Racculia for the ARC of Tuesday Mooney Wore Black. How much did I love this story? Quirky, unique, and choc full of twists and turns and ghostly elements. Entwined in all this fun is the serious subject of processing grief and there are some touching moments, beautifully observed. I also loved the relationships between the characters. A wonderful read. 5 super stars

Apart from the fact I was not enamoured by the title of this novel, I adored this wildly entertaining read from Kate Racculia, that teems and overflows with literary and cultural references to horror, the gothic, the spooky, ghosts, haunted houses, and witches whilst touching on the serious issues of loss and grief, set in Boston. 33 year old goth, the acerbic Tuesday Mooney is the sister Wednesday Addams never had, a self contained loner with her cat, with just one friend, the gay banker, Poindexter, aka 'Dex'. In her head, the ghost of her best friend, 16 year old friend, Abby Hobbes, who disappeared in Salem, is constantly engaging with her. It was with Abby that Tuesday went on night time forays with candles, revelling in their identity as witches, practicing spells, using ouija boards and so much more. When Abby went missing, Tuesday was left broken and guilt ridden, but her interest in horror, ghosts and death has remained, although she has been left with an inbuilt fear of becoming close to others, and an inability to trust.

The offbeat Tuesday was brought up by her unconventional parents with the radical dogma that permeated her childhood, that the 4th pig lived off the grid, which is why the wolf never bothered him. Which is why it is slightly ironic that it is online where Tuesday feels most at home, using her gift for finding out things, much like a PI, working at the Boston General Hospital, she profiles and researches rich Bostonians for the fundraisers to be able to push the right buttons to secure donations for the hospital. Which is how she comes to be volunteering at the The Four Seasons Hotel Auction, where the eccentric billionaire, Vincent Pryce (who else???), renowned collector of the weird and the haunted, dies in dramatic fashion. However, Pryce has not finished with the living world, in a obituary written by himself he instigates a city wide treasure hunt with clues inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. However, beware, nothing is as it seems as Tuesday and her cohorts, Dex, the rich Nathaniel Arches whom she finds herself strangely drawn to, and the young Dorry, harbouring her own loss, tutored by Tuesday, are to discover.

Racculia writes a scintillatingly vibrant story of adventure, the supernatural, family, love, friendship, of the blackest of villainy, death and life altering challenges that beguiles with its colour, vitality and charm. The highlights for me are its quirkiest characters, Tuesday, of course, Dex, drag queen extraordinaire with his love of karaoke and Madonna, Dorry who so wants Amelia Earhart's haunted goggles, believing that she will once again be able to see her mother again, and Edgar, hurting with all that he is keeping secret and so many others. This may not be a book for all readers, but it was for me, I loved it, and its core theme and focus on the life you live, it just might be what you are looking for too. Highly recommended. Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.

I received this as an advance copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Tuesday lives in Boston, she is a hospital researcher looking for potential financial donors and lives on Google and other search engines.
She finds herself at a benefit at which a wealthy Boston philanthropist unexpectedly drops dead.
The story tells of a challenge he has set - open to all but with a particular focus for people from his part.
The book tells of Tuesday, her relationships, their lives together and apart. There is a supernatural element, we learn of tragedies and dramas in the pasts of the main characters as get follow the trail of clues and evidence to find the solution. The characters are appealing, there are goodies and baddies. The story is written in the present day and is up to the minute and relevant.
The ending of the book is unexpected, the story well devised and I thoroughly enjoyed it even though it is not a book I would normally have selected. Highly recommended.

The opening chapters of this book completely gripped me. An insanely wealthy and equally eccentric business man drops dead at a charity auction and sets in motion the most intriguing treasure hunt open to anyone who wants to play the game. Tuesday Mooney is working at the auction and with her background in research, a tragedy of her own that haunts her, a life long love of puzzles and a best friend that eggs her on to join in the game it is inevitable that she falls hook line and sinker for Vince Pryce's treasure hunt. It is a delightful mystery within a mystery within another mystery. There is a great cast of characters, a mysterious feud between two wealthy families, a missing teenager, some delightful nods to Poe and a wonderful ode to retaining a sense of joy and sharing that joy with the world. Whilst the tone of the book is generally light and cheerful, there is also an undercurrent of characters dealing with grief, learning to let go and accepting yourself. All in all, it's just a wonderful read and I loved it.

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book but for some reason I found it took me longer to read than usual. It was very easy to put down and pick back up again a few hours later and get straight back into the story. I think I enjoyed it more for taking my time with it. I actually wanted to be in the book taking part in the hunt.

There’s a lot of grief in this book. Grief that is underlying from years before and I liked that. I like that the story shows different aspects of grief and that it does surface years after a loss. It never goes away. I found it quite a beautiful story underneath the treasure hunt.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

I really enjoyed this roller coaster read. The plot is fast moving and engaging, not to mention very witty at times. A wonderful story about love and life that is quite emotional at times, with some wonderful characters (a lot of characters. I whizzed through this brilliant book and loved every page of it :)

What an enjoyable read. Utterly bonkers but fun. I love Tuesday and Dex they are a friend match that was just meant to be.

I really hope Tuesday appears in another book.

What a wonderful, captivating story, full of nearly magic (is it all in Tuesday's mind, or is it real..),. deeply traumatized characters, each one unique in their reaction to their losses and traumas, each one so easy to sympathise with and love. There was nobody I found two-dimensional not even baddy Nathaniel , who was also the only one I disliked. A three-in-the-morning book. Recommended.

In my mind's eye Tuesday is a goth girl without the goth, an intelligent quick-witted Wednesday Adams with plenty of snark. She is also a young woman who is haunted by the past, especially by the unknown variable in the equation she calls her life. The disappearance of her best friend when they were both teenagers has left her vulnerable and damaged.

Fortunately the fact she has a constant open dialogue with said friend is what keeps her sane and on the straight and narrow. Talking to her ghost or what she interprets as the ghost is also what keeps Tuesday ticking while she is dealing with the grief.

Her life and relationships are redefined when she is drawn into a mystery devised by a recently deceased billionaire. The money she could win is an interesting enticement, but it turns out there is more to the hunt than she expected.

I enjoyed the way Racculia made it more than just a mystery. It's about loyalty, friendship, mental health, loneliness, murder, dysfunctional families and above all a good old fashioned treasure hunt. It's a mystery thriller with sort of an Eleanor Oliphant meets a Dan Brown mystery with a literary vibe. The Poe-esque flair melds perfectly with Tuesday's eccentric attitude and yet oddly charming personality.

I admit I am left with questions though, perhaps enough to warrant the author bringing Mooney back. What happened to her friend - I need to know.

I enjoyed this book so much! The characters were great, the plot so different - I will recommend it to my friends wholeheartedly..

This is a completely mad book. I did wonder at first how I was going to find it but it draws the reader in to a totally weird world where nothing is quite what it seems. A great mixture of fantasy, mystery, intrigue, combined with witchcraft and ghosts in a totally bizarre way. In some ways it is difficult to describe but the characters, especially Tuesday, are just brilliant and with so many twists and turns that the reader just cannot see where the story is going. Can be a little confusing in places, but, concentrate and stick with it to be rewarded with an entertaining fun bonkers book with many facets.

I loved this book so much. Heartbroken, sad, joy, wonder, bewilderment and many other emotions were swirling around me as I read it. I honestly had no idea what to expect and was blown away by the writing and the string storyline. Will happily recommend and share to others. Now go read all of Kate’s other books....

I was sent a copy of Tuesday Mooney Wore Black by Kate Racculia to read and review by NetGalley.
This is a very readable novel with quirky characters that you would like to get to know personally, and an intriguing storyline. Following the death of eccentric billionaire Vincent Pryce a game in the form of a treasure hunt is set in motion, the combined prize for the players being a share of his fortune. We learn more about the nicely drawn cast while the story takes its many twists and turns. This is a true melting pot of a tale that I heartily recommend!

I was gripped from the beginning and the story drew me in and kept my attention. A mystery within a mystery made for great reading. It was beautifully written and both fast paced and action packed. A really great read which I didn't want to end.

First off I’d like to say thank you to Harper Collins for inviting me to read and review this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. For me, this book had a bit of everything, adventure, action, intrigue, suspicion, a sprinkling of romance, and even a murder. I loved all the characters. They were extremely well written and fully formed, and even though they were all so different, they blended perfectly with each other to form this gripping story.

Tuesday is a wonderful character, sure of herself, smart, and always thinking and analysing. Her role was perfect. Dorrie her next door neighbor is a character I really felt for. Her grief and need to be accepted is wonderfully portrayed. Dex is everything I’d want in a friend and his part in the story, especially in the end parts was brilliant. I loved that he found himself too. We also have Archie, a very intriguing character, that you never really know what to expect with.

The story builds and builds with so many elements all combined into a game created by Vince Pryce, an elderly gentleman, who dies near the start of the book and leaves behind clues and money with a promise of treasure for those who play and complete his game.

There is so much to love in this book and I really didn’t want it to end. I was captured and drawn in, playing the game myself, trying to decipher the clues along with Tuesday and Dorrie. I was rooting for Archie and hoping that Nat got what he deserved. He was a nasty character and the author did a wonderful job of showing this. The supernatural elements were the icing on the top of the cake and Tuesday friendship with Abbie and her tormented grief brought everything together.

The end of the game was spectacular, and the writing was so vivid I felt like I was standing in one of the twelve spaces with a towering pedestal above me.

This is a story that will stay with me for a while and one I will be recommending to quite a few of my friends. It is very easy to give Tuesday Mooney a 5 star review and I look forward to reading the next story she stars in. .

I was really looking forward to reading this book as it sounded like something I would really enjoy. I did - very much so. Tuesday Mooney, a kind of gothic girl who works as a researcher. Trying not to get into spoiler territory, Tuesday finds herself playing a game set in motion by the death of an incredibly rich Edgar Allan Poe fan.

Considering we spend a tiny amount of time in the book getting to know this gentleman, I found I really liked him! I loved the twists and turns of this story, it kept me wanting to turn the pages, I didn’t expect any of what happened, and I loved all of the characters.

I think that there are more books with Tuesday Mooney in then, I’ll definitely be checking them out!

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of Kate Racculia’s ‘Tuesday Mooney Wore Black’ in exchange for an honest review. It was published in the U.K. on 1 October. I quickly bought its ebook edition.

What a fun book this was. Tuesday Mooney is such a wonderful character. She is a loner, dresses in black and is thought of as a grown up “Wednesday Addams, one day of the week earlier”. Totally my kind of woman. Oh and she talks to ghosts...

Tuesday works for a hospital as a researcher to profile potential donors for their fundraising department. At a charity event elderly eccentric Bostonian billionaire, Vincent Pryce, is suddenly taken ill and dies. In his published obituary he announces that he has elected to leave an undisclosed amount of his vast fortune to the winner(s) of a citywide treasure hunt. The clues are inspired by his literary hero: Edgar Allan Poe. Tuesday loves puzzles and soon she and a ragtag group come together to solve the mystery.

This short summary only touches the surface of this amazing novel. It was full to the brim with Gothic and horror references along with lashings of popular culture. I loved it. It was playful and charming yet also dealt with more serious issues such as loss and grief, loneliness and the importance of friendship.

A brilliant, multi-levelled novel with plenty of action; a diverse, quirky group of characters, plus a great deal of humour and warmth. I have already been enthusiastically recommending it to my friends.

I expect that I will reread it and plan to purchase the audiobook edition, released under its USA title, ‘Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts’.

Highly recommended.

Unusual captivating “supernatural “ mystery novel

Tuesday is a researcher who becomes involved in a complicated game/quest around Boston, devised by a billionaire. Many others become involved including other very rich individuals and her friends. The book concentrates on the characters, their inter-actions and feelings, their pasts and consequently there is a fair amount of introspection and soul-searching. Trust is not easily earned and the book contains a variety of incidents. I can recommend it as an unusual and satisfying read.

I think I fell a little bit in love with Tuesday. Great characters, great story - couldn’t put it down.

Really enjoyed the way this book was written. Gripping, complex and made me want to like Tuesday. It demonstrates how complex the human mind is and how we can take back control of our lives.

Tuesday Mooney is a thirty three year old researcher, whose best friend, Dex, is a banker with an interest in karaoke and a penchant for dressing as Madonna. Tuesday grew up in Salem, where her best friend, Abby, vanished, when they were sixteen and this event has haunted her, in more ways than one. Tuesday works at Boston General Hospital, where she spends her time trying to locate wealthy donors. At a charity auction, she immediately recognises Nathanial Arches, from an extremely wealthy, and influential, family. Like her, the Arches are haunted by a disappearance – that of their father.

At the auction, eccentric billionaire, Vincent Pryce, dies – with Dex at his table and Tuesday and Arches in attendance. Pryce may be gone, but he is determined not to be forgotten. He leaves behind a city wide treasure hunt, which Tuesday becomes involved in – along with the characters already mentioned, and her lovely young neighbour, Dorry Bones. I have a feeling that this novel will divide readers. However, in my opinion, this was a wonderfully enjoyable romp – peopled with a great cast of characters. It does have a serious side, though, despite the fun storyline and the author never loses touch with her characters, or her readers, while keeping the action going. One of my favourite reads this year.

This was such fun to read - a Scooby-Do-style treasure-hunting adventure for grown-ups, with a charming cast of characters and a crazy, fast-paced plot that kept me turning pages right 'til the end. Loved it!

I adored this witty, quirky read. Flawlessly written, with memorable characters, it can be enjoyed on many levels. I rarely read a book twice, but will make an exception for this to make sure I haven't missed anything.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Tuesday Mooney wore black because she was a bit of a goth. Well she was born and brought up in Salem. What a girl. She lost her best friend in their teenage years and her parents are very "I told you " type of people. She escapes to Boston, gets a job and does very well until she searches in the wrong place. She is caught up in a game and the story develops. A very gripping book, full of adventure, fun and danger. A very solid storyline and a very enjoyable book to read

I bloody loved this. It's funny, laught out loud funny. It's a bit dark, but in all the right places. It's fast paced and a real page turner. The characters are fantastically written adn incredibly complex. You can't help but get invested in the outcome and I found myself willing them along. It's full of mystery and intrigue and I can't believe I read it so fast.

I really enjoyed this quirky tale with its host of entertaining and rather endearing characters, a treasure hunt, a feud, and a missing best friend. The opening chapter is a real teaser when, in 2006, the mysterious Mr Usher buys the huge and terribly neglected Tillerman house. Who he is and what his motives are for making the purchase remain to be seen.

Fast forward to 2012 and at a charity auction, an eccentric millionaire drops dead and in doing so triggers his pre-arranged treasure hunt which is open to anyone who wishes to play. Tuesday Mooney, a self-contained loner who thinks she hears ghosts and her only real friend Dex, an exuberant, musical theatre loving gay man were both at the event and become two of the contestants. As they solve and follow the clues they are joined by youngster Dorry, whom Tuesday tutors, and her friend Ned and host of other characters including brothers Nathaniel and Archie who have more than a few secrets. During the hunt the main characters also begin to learn about themselves and how they handle life, love and loss.

The real joy of this tale of mystery, ghosts, friendship and wickedness is without doubt the characters. Tuesday who still mourning the loss of her friend from her teenage years, Dex who really doesn’t know how to live as his true self, Dorry who has lost her mother and desperately hopes she might see her again and Archie whose secrets are a terrible burden.

The novel is full of humour and is told with such warmth and kindness. It was like snuggling up in your favourite old sweater on a cold day. Its core theme is really, be who you are and live your life as you want to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Witty from the outset, a game with dark rules and dark answers that will have you burning through pages to see what's coming next, who you can trust and an answer to the myriad riddles along the way. One of my top reads of 2019

Loved this book. A quirky and fun read, with a mystery thrown in. Lots of surprises along the way.

I liked how it was told from various points of view, and there was such a range of characters.

Tuesday Mooney Wore Black is one of my novels of the year. It is so kind and wise and a quantum leap from Kate Racculia's other novels, fine though they are. I loved the characters in this book so much, and how they interrelated. There is a central mystery in this book: a treasure hunt of sorts, but there are other layers of mystery beyond that which elevate the story. The villain in this book is absolutely awful, and you really want him to get his comeuppance. I really treasure this book. Five stars.

I did not think I would enjoy this at first but what a story! This is truly twisted in an absolutely gripping way and worth every moment spent reading it!

When I first saw this book I thought it was called Tuesday [comma] Mooney Wore Black, and I was thinking Irish funerals, Colm Tóibín, James Joyce. Well, the comma turned out not to be there and Tuesday Mooney is the name of the protagonist. I'm glad I still took it on though as what we have here is an intelligent mystery story mixed with reflections on life and how it could be lived. There is a funeral, but not one anything like I've ever been to.

Filled with quirky but believable characters, Tuesday Mooney Wore Black seems like it's going to be a ghost story but has a greater psychological depth. The main characters - Tuesday, Dorry, Dex, Archie - each have regrets and secrets and in addition to solving the mystery of eccentric millionaire Vincent Pryce's grand game, they all in some way come to terms with their hurt. Tuesday learns to trust her friend, Dex, after years of being a loner and Dex learns to be perhaps not quite so needy in future. Archie learns to be his true self and Dorry realises she must relinquish her impossible desire to see her mother again.

This is a clever, funny, sad, and altogether engaging story. Dive in.

Tuesday Rooney Wore Black is as quirky as its title suggests. Kate Racculia has invented a stellar cast of characters in a story that embodies the power of friendship alongside a great deal of soul-searching. Tuesday is certainly larger than life and her job as a prospect researcher for Boston General Hospital means that she has a tenacious spirit and a tremendous eye for detail. Tuesday has an equally larger than life friend in Dex and, at his suggestion, they initially team up to compete in a treasure hunt quite unlike any other. This is pacy read with a cracking storyline and several well drawn characters. There’s a lot to like: ghosts, magic, haunted houses and lots of humour. And there’s darkness too with murder, mental health issues and grief. I absolutely loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC.

Great book, funny and great story. Loved the characters Tuesday was great
Loved trying to work things out to

A well written book full of twists and turns, great characterisation and a story that will engage you from the start.
Quirky, fast paced and packed with action, what's not to like ?

A gréât mix of romance suspense and detective stories all mixed into a hilarious ride round Boston. From the first chapter I was hooked!

A gift of a book and perfect for snuggling up with as the nights draw in. A clever plot made perfect by characters you want to meet for yourself. A treasure-hunt where the treasure is the discovery that love and friendship can be found in the most unlikely of places and in the strangest of ways.

I loved this book. It crept up on me, the way a good friendship does, and drew me gently along to a warm and happy close - despite certain sudden upsets along the way. Wry, well-observed and beautifully written.

This is a mystery novel with a lavish sprinkling of humour and spooky-ness thrown in. It’s really enjoyable.

Tuesday Mooney works in a hospital. She researches individuals, rich people, in order to enable the hospital to campaign, set up events targeting them as potential donors. She’s good at it, Tuesday loves a puzzle. That’s why she spends time taking part in quizzes with her ex-colleague and good friend Dev.

It’s at one such event that Vincent Pryce, one of the billionaires attending, drops dead. He was looking towards Tuesday and the man – Nathaniel Arches – she was talking to when it happened. Dev had just been chatting with him and his wife. He thought that Vince and Tuesday would get along so well.

Dev’s a lot of fun and he’s the one that tells Tuesday about the treasure hunt. A rather strange obituary for Vincent has stated that a number of the treasure hunters will find, ‘win’, part of his fortune! Dev knows Tuesday won’t be able to resist the idea of working out the clues.

Then the wealthy Nathaniel Arches, Archie – the man she was talking to at the event, contacts Tuesday to ‘partner’ up so they, along with a young neighbour of Tuesdays, start to solve the clues. And so it begins!

This book has humour, mystery, charm and yet is able to gently address various difficult relationship issues whilst still getting the issue across very well. More than this it is also about healing and building better relationships.

I really liked this book – the characters Tuesday, Dev etc., are very endearing. The plot is fun and yet is very tense in places. It moves along at a really good pace and has that bit of difference that makes the book worth reading. I look forward to reading more about Tuesday, Dev and the others and would recommend this book to anyone.

Thanks

I received an email from from Rachel Quin at HarperCollins – ‘I wanted to share an exclusive invite to read Tuesday Mooney Wore Black, the witty and riveting UK debut by Kate Racculia‘. Whilst, due to personal reasons, I wasn’t sure when I would be able to put up a post I was thrilled to receive an eBook* for review for which I would like to thank Rachel and HarperCollins.

(* I have also purchased a copy.)

i loved Tuesday - Goth extraordinaire - her kindness and a complex past add up to making her utterly attractive and smart - her escapades in researching rich donors leads her down a trail that even her best friend Dex might not have recommended - even as he eggs her on. a terrific character in a fully worked out novel of detection - i loved it and i hope there will be more. full of intriguing and amusing character, the 'dark' veneer is underscored with humour (like Vincent Pryce ... who dies flamboyantly, as he lived, and who is trigger of the treasure hunt ... highly recommended. really great find.

I was invited to review this book by the publisher through NetGalley, and I was completely taken with the title and the description so was delighted to get into the story. It came at the perfect time as well – October is a month of classic horror films for me and my husband. And some not-so-classic horror films (I wouldn’t recommend Hammer’s Vampire Circus, aside from the surprising debut of Lalla Ward as a shapeshifting vampire acrobat). This year we were working out way through the collection of Vincent Price and Richard Corman’s Poe adaptations: The Masque of the Red Death, The Fall of the House of Usherand The Ravenall featured. We also enjoyed Theatre of Blood, a later Vincent Price film with Diana Rigg. (The Ravenwas my favourite.)

Basically, I was completely in the mood for a slightly campy, slightly goth story. So when the eccentric dead billionaire turns out to be called Vincent Pryce, and his treasure hunt is themed around Poe, gothic stories, and a taste for the gleefully macabre I realised that HarperCollins had somehow intuited my plans for the spooky season and delivered the perfect companion book to me alongside my cinematographic plans. This book isn’t quite a mystery book, and it isn’t quite a ghost story, and it isn’t quite a romance, and it isn’t quite a comedy. It instead blends the best part of all of these genres to create this wonderfully bold, warm, and funny book about death and grief and all the different ways humans experience and cope with these things, wrapped up in some delightful puzzles with a gothic twist.

I loved the characters in this book. They were all unique and well defined, but they had excellent chemistry and worked well together. Despite being, as stated, a book themed around death and gothic trimmings, it wasn’t maudlin. It was gleeful and energetic and a whole lot of fun. Thursday is a great character, constantly assessing those around her, refusing to conform and outwitting everyone who writes her off as weird and not worth it. Dex is also wonderful – I particularly liked that as observers of his internal voice, and how he appeared through the eyes of his closest friend, we seemed to get a different impression of him from the one everyone else saw. At the start of the novel his boyfriend reveals he sees Dex as smooth, put-together, cutthroat and everything Dex hates about the world he works in. Dex instead sees himself as a diva, a performer, trapped inside the suit of a financier. It’s a brilliant bit of writing, you get the constant baffled frustration from Dex, and the occasional surprise of seeing him through the eyes of someone who doesn’t know him intimately to see whyhe keeps being seen like that.



Everyone in this book knows themselves and embraces themselves, or are coached to recognise their true character and potential through the treasure hunt. I’m almost sorry that Vincent dies so early on in the book because he’s a fantastic character I’d love to spend more time with and get to know. Philosophical and whimsical, with a taste for the gothic aesthetic. He sounds like so much fun.

That’s the other thing about this book – everything is so easy to picture. It’s vividly colourful, much like the old horror films I’ve been watching, actually. The colour palettes in those were so intensely saturated, where now there’s a tendency to go dark, greyscale, and faded. These old films are bright and bold, and that tracks through this book as well. The descriptions, the characters, the nuance – it’s loud and proud and does everything at 100% saturation. I really found it thoroughly joyful and a wonderful read.

Perhaps my only niggle with it is something which says more about me than the book. Tuesday keeps taking her shoes off, and there are quite a few words dedicated to her bare feet. Bare feet in carpet, how they look, how they feel on the floor. For me – look, feet are weird. They’re necessary but I find them odd. I mostly pretend they don’t exist and carry on happily. As I mentioned, however, this book is very bold in its descriptions, so the passages about feet felt a little like poking a raw nerve for me. I would happily read that entire book with all the passages about feet removed. But as I said, this is a very personal and minor narrative quirk which bothed me based on my own hangups rather than any actual flaw with the writing or narrative.

I’m unclear whether this is the first in a series or not – it feels like it could be, but at the same time it also feels as though everything in it is wrapped up pleasingly. It’s a fun book though, and one I don’t hesitate to recommend to anyone.

Briefly:

- A fun, genre-blending romp of a novel written in glorious technicolour. It’s bright and bold, with a fantastic cast of characters.
- Even though it’s a novel about death and mystery, it’s a joyful and very light in its tone. It’s perhaps more Scooby Doo than Agatha Christie, but that’s what makes it really rather wonderful. It also works for any time of year I think, I just fortuitously found it at the perfect time for me to understand all the film references in it.
- I think the feet passages probably total less than 500 words. Literally take out all the feet bits and it’s a perfect book.
- In some countries, this book is sold with the title Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts.

Rating: 5/5 – even with the feet I can’t begrudge it the full five stars because it’s really lovely.

This book was good on so many levels. The title character I found really interesting. Quirky but with a great back story and well defined character. The story itself was interesting and engaging. I was satisfied with the ending. I don't know what else I can say here except that I not only didn't want to put it down but I didn't want to finish it!