Let the Ghosts Speak ~ Review

Let the Ghosts Speak
By Bryan Davis

Justin Trotter seems like your average hard-working individual. But as we get into the book, we learn that he and his twin sister Justice were sent from England to France following the execution of their father and their mother's disappearance. The book appears to be a journal of Justin's life in Paris and addressed to his mother.

Justin has become friends with Marc Noël, a young man of means who insists that Justin join a party that his mother is hosting in a soon to be destroyed abandoned schoolhouse. Reluctantly Justin agrees, the deciding factor being his infatuation with Marc's sister Francine. It is an invitation Justin may regret for the rest of his life accepting.

Let the Ghosts Speak is a tad slow at the opening, but all too soon, the tone shifts as the party Justin is invited to becomes a meeting of the most interesting characters and is highlighted by murder. And due to an unfortunate chain of events, Justin finds himself the prime suspect. And the only individuals who believe in Justin's innocence are four beings who have come back from the grave.

Let the Ghosts Speak is one book that will keep you from putting it down. As the story progresses, the suspense continues to climb. Doubt is cast on several as to being the potential killer. But can Justin trust his own memories of events when he is speaking and listening to ghosts? Do they genuinely have his best interests at heart? Or are they figments of a mind teetering on the very edge of sanity?

Those who are familiar with Bryan Davis's previous works are in for something different from him. This is a standalone book that is easy to get into and has a clearly defined ending. There is not a dragon present in this work, and it has a contemplative thread through it that speaks to the reader as plainly as the ghosts talk to Justin. All too often, we are blind to what we don't want to see, we allow our heart and mind to not see the truths that others see clearly. Highly recommended enjoyable reading and, in my opinion, perhaps the author's best work to date, at least of the books I've read.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion - all thoughts expressed are my own.


About the Book:

Supernatural suspense set in 1860 Paris.

In nineteenth-century Paris, Justin Trotter, an immigrant from England, is making his way as a book translator while paying for his blind twin sister's care. One evening, Marc Noël, Justin's well-to-do friend and fellow thespian, invites him to a masquerade party at an abandoned schoolhouse. Justin hopes this will be an opportunity to get to know Marc's lovely though sharp-tongued sister, Francine.

At the event, Justin meets four ghostly strangers—two adults and two children—who warn him that the party guests are in danger and must leave at once. True to their prediction, a murder takes place, and Justin is the prime suspect. He escapes and becomes a fugitive, hiding in the Paris catacombs.

Mystery and intrigue swirl as the ghost of Joan of Arc and other martyrs guide Justin on a lonely journey to prove his innocence and protect his sister from an abusive caretaker. Who really committed the crime? Marc? Francine? A ghost? And does seeing these ghosts mean he is going insane? Maybe he really is the murderer after all.

There is only one way to find out, let the ghosts speak as they reveal the mysteries within Justin's mind.