A Shimmer in the Night

Not sure why the author made this a 2.5 rather than just the 3rd book in the series, since it's just about as long and is a different story. This is from both Preston and Benji's POVs detailing what they've been up to since leaving Whisperwood - while James and William have been doing their ghost hunting - as well as giving a lot of information about Benji's background and family life.

It takes place both during their time at Whisperwood, and shows how they ultimately met as well as their friendship with Oscar, as well as the subsequent months where Benji's mother has died and he meets his father for the first time. We learn of Benji's Chinese background (in the first book it's noted by James that he has “some Asian descent” but I found it unclear if that could mean Indian or east Asian in the 1800s vernacular) and of his mother and father's relationship. We also learn that both Preston and Benji have feelings past friendship for one another which also wasn't clear from the first book.

I find both Preston and Benji much more interesting with better developed voice than William so I enjoyed this much more than the 2nd book in the series and even a bit more then the 1st, which adds to why I find it odd this is considered more a novella in the series than a book in it's own right. I look forward to the next book which takes Preston and Benji overseas and more involved with the spiritual world Preston's aunt and their friends are already immersed in.