Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts

WHAT'S TUESDAY MOONEY TALKS TO GHOSTS ABOUT?

When Tuesday Mooney isn't big on socializing—she seems to be a fantastic conversationalist, witty and smart—but she'd rather spend time on her own after work, with few exceptions. But even her best friend has to initiate conversations, she just doesn't do that kind of thing. Tuesday is a researcher for a hospital charity—she knows Boston's upper crust in ways few do. She has a well-documented dossier on them all and knows just how to get money out of them.

Tuesday has a neighbor, Dorry, who is an apprentice of sorts. Dorry's a younger teen who lost her mother recently in an automobile accident. Her father is doing his best, but he can't be everything she needs and provide for them. Dorry was fascinated by this woman in her building who wore black all the time and kept to herself. They run into each other one day and bond quickly. They soon have a weekly time together ("Tuesday Thursdays") and Tuesday tutors Dorry in school—and important things like 1980's-early 2000 music, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The X-Files.

At a charity event Tuesday's working at, a particular wealthy man—Vincent Pryce—dies shortly before Tuesday gets to meet him. Pryce rather enjoyed his coincidental name, and played into it. In addition to making gobs of money and doing a lot of charity work, he collected the macabre—particularly things associated with Edgar Allen Poe and that other Vincent. He was a bit of a showman and after his death, had arranged to announce sort of a giant scavenger hunt in the city—inviting individuals and teams to play along to be given the chance to become an heir.

Like many Bostonians, Tuesday and Dorry are intrigued. With some help from her neighbor, Tuesday pours her research strength into the project and leaps to an early lead—bringing along an old friend and a new ally (assuming she can trust him).

That's really all I can say at this point—other than to throw in, that like Samuel Westing before him, Vincent Pryce has a hidden agenda to his game. As we watch Tuesday, Dorry, and so many others compete, secrets are revealed. (that's a horribly inadequate way to say it, but I'm tripping over myself to avoid spoiling anything)

CONVERSING WITH SPECTERS?

So how literal is this title? Does our titular protagonist chat with the spirits of the departed? Maybe.

The book will eventually take a position on the issue, but it's going to take its time on it, letting the reader ponder that a bit. Now there are times when I want a book to be crystal clear—supernatural things happen, supernatural beings go around doing things. Or—supernatural things are mumbo jumbo. But every now and then I like a book that deals with the ambiguity well—Tuesday might be talking to ghosts, Tuesday might have a healthy and active imagination, Tuesday might be dealing with trauma. It might be all three and more.

Tuesday's neighbor, Dorry has no idea about Tuesday and ghosts. But almost more than anything, Dorry wants to see and interact with the ghost of her mother. At one point, she discovers that among Pryce's collection of oddities are a pair of glasses that can enable the wearer to see ghosts. This becomes her motivation for participating in the game—sure, money would be nice for college and to help her father—but those glasses...

HOW'S THE NARRATION?

Lauren Fortgang was delightful. There was just something about the way she handled the narrative portions that made this a blast to listen to. Her character work—especially with Tuesday and Dorry—was great, too. There's a certain sense of fun and play to the text, and she brought that out in a way that was particularly effective.

I enjoyed Fortgang's work on the Dahlia Moss audiobooks, and I was glad to listen to her again—I think she did better here, for what it's worth.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT TUESDAY MOONEY TALKS TO GHOSTS?

I had so much fun listening to this—while doing so, things at work didn't allow me as much time to listen as I'm accustomed to, so there was a bit of agony involved as the suspense built.

I barely described the characters, and had to leave off so many. But I just don't have the space. Pryce's widow, for example, is a wonderful character who should get her own novella to star in. Tuesday's new ally is a mystery in himself—and won't stop surprising you until the book is over. I could keep going here, but I won't. I would love to have a long conversation with Racculia to talk about character design, more than most authors I've read recently. I'd love to know how she goes about it.

I'm not sure about the pacing of the whole thing, and I think there could've been one or two more moves in the game. But those issues really only occurred to me after I was done—in the moment, I was too busy enjoying myself to notice.

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts was a lot of fun to read, filled with characters I want to spend more time with—I really don't need a story, maybe just see them sitting around a table talking about what's going on in their lives. The novel is rarely what you think it is going to be—and not just at the beginning. I really enjoyed it.