Weird Sisters of Wynter's Hill

English language

Published April 23, 2019 by Independently Published.

ISBN:: 9781794242869

No rating (1 review)

Jim Malhaven is a lonely hack reporter stringing along on assignments no one else wants at the local paper until he gets the scoop of his life. There's a mysterious wraith haunting the local cemetery, and it's up to him to get to the bottom of the ghostly goings-on.

Along the way, he'll cross paths with a trio of weird sisters, uncover a sinister conspiracy, have more than one brush with death, and meet a gal with honey-blonde hair and a killer smile. Is she that certain someone he's been looking for all his life, or is there a villain hiding behind that lovely face? This twisty tale will leave you guessing until the final shocking revelation.

This is Book One in the Malhaven Mystery Series, light noir novels with a cozy mystery feel and a touch of the paranormal that pay loving tribute to the wise guy detectives of …

Jim Malhaven is a lonely hack reporter stringing along on assignments no one else wants at the local paper until he gets the scoop of his life. There's a mysterious wraith haunting the local cemetery, and it's up to him to get to the bottom of the ghostly goings-on.

Along the way, he'll cross paths with a trio of weird sisters, uncover a sinister conspiracy, have more than one brush with death, and meet a gal with honey-blonde hair and a killer smile. Is she that certain someone he's been looking for all his life, or is there a villain hiding behind that lovely face? This twisty tale will leave you guessing until the final shocking revelation.

This is Book One in the Malhaven Mystery Series, light noir novels with a cozy mystery feel and a touch of the paranormal that pay loving tribute to the wise guy detectives of the 40s and 50s.

(This book was previously published under the title The Weird Sisters of Wynter's Hill. Content warnings: suicide, implied child abuse, drug use, child loss)

1 edition

MH Thaung reviewed Weird Sisters of Wynter's Hill by Helen Whistberry

Well-plotted hardboiled mystery that never gets too dark

No rating

In this 50s-style story, reporter Jim Malhaven is initially after a scoop (of course). So he investigates a haunted cemetery and rapidly ends up tangled in more trouble than even he realises.

I found this a very easy book to read, with a good pace and an enjoyable voice. We expect a cynical gumshoe, and that's exactly what we get. For my tastes, I found the wisecracking inner reflections a teeny bit overdone, tempting me to skim in places. But that's a very minor point. The clues and plot fitted together nicely (even events which seemed contrived had their reasons for happening and made sense after the fact), and the cast of characters was great fun.

For all the noir setting, there was a pretty light-hearted tone, which I liked a lot. The author ably demonstrates that you don't need grimness and in-your-face violence to achieve that hard-boiled feel.