With a title like ‘Cemeteries by Moonlight’ I was expecting a somewhat spooky, maybe even slightly scary story. And yes, I know that I scare easily, so if you like horror, you might not even notice anything particularly frightening. But this novella also gave me a lot more: from the unusual, quirky main characters to the equally uncommon secondary cast members, from the mix of romance and murder mystery to some very amusing interludes, and from the beautiful New Orleans settings to some very well presented information about the city and its inhabitants. Definitely worth a read, and if you’ve never been to New Orleans, I bet this book will make you want to go – or not, if you’re a little more squeamish than average, like me.

Drew is a mystery author in trouble – he has a deadline that is fast approaching but not a single word committed to the page. His aunt offers him her apartment in New Orleans, which Drew believes to be the perfect solution to his writer's block. Except there is one problem: said aunt forgot she already rents the place to a man called Finn who is a cemetery tour guide and works for a company that organizes a variety of slightly creepy tours for tourists. Drew doesn’t quite know what to do, but when Finn offers to let him stay in the guestroom, Drew decides to accept. It isn’t until Finn discovers a dead body in the crypt that is part of his tour that Drew begins to reconsider – maybe he should have gone back home after all.

The atmosphere of this novella is entertainingly disturbing from the very beginning. Drew references Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Birds, then a crow seems to be following him everywhere he goes. All of Finn’s friends from the tour company are slightly weird. The whole setting with all its stories about ghosts, pirates, and historical catastrophes made me look over my shoulders more than once while I was reading. Then the murder happens, people get really weird, and Drew has his hands full solving a real-life mystery, rather than writing about it for once. And while I was able to figure out part of who did it, I didn’t grasp the why until the reveal in the final chapters. Very well done!

If you like mysteries in somewhat creepy settings, if you want to see a mystery writer deal with a real murder, and if you’re looking for a suspenseful yet entertaining read with unusual characters and just a touch of romance, then you will probably like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )