Death in D Minor Book Blog Tour, Review, and Giveaway #LoneStarLit

Gethsemane Brown is an amateur sleuth / musician / ghost whisperer. She’s out solving crimes, sometimes getting into hot water, and doing her best to rescue herself. She is a heroine without any romantic entanglements, which I seriously appreciated. I’m ok with some romance as a secondary plot in my mystery books, but I am more interested in the mystery. I’m happy to report that Ms. Gordon’s characters focus on solving the crimes.

One aspect of Gethsemane that I find very interesting is the fact that music is tied to so many aspects of her life. She hears Tchaikovsky when she’s in danger and conjures a ghost by playing a sea shanty. I’m now regretting all the time I spent in school not practicing my clarinet. Death in D Major is full of fun and well-developed secondary characters as well. I especially enjoyed the local pastor with the occult book collection and Gethsemane’s co-worker, math teacher Frankie.

I am impressed with Ms. Gordon’s writing style and world building. I learned that ghosts, at least in Ms. Gordon’s universe, are associated with certain smells. (I find this a very nifty character trait; it’s clearly my allergies preventing me from smelling any paranormal beings in my world!) The quaint small Irish setting is excellent, though, initially I was confused about the time period in which the book is set — classical music, modern setting, but seemed historical?  But then, the mention of cars and a lost cell phone set me straight.

I must admit to struggling with this book at the beginning. D Major is the second in the series and I haven’t read the first (shame on me!). I read the first paragraph a number of times, as it’s full of Irish town names that meant absolutely nothing to me. The central mystery also wasn’t apparent at first. Is this an art forgery/theft mystery? Murder mystery? What do ghosts have to do with anything? But after the first third of the book, all the aspects began to fit together, and I really began to enjoy reading D Major. As such, ideally, I recommend reading the first book before starting this one, but it does stand alone.

The plot is fast-paced and kept me interested and guessing throughout the book; it’s a solid mystery with a side of paranormal. Overall, I enjoyed Death in D Major and main character Gethsemane in particular. I’m excited to read more of this series!

I’d like to thank Lone Star Book Blog tours and the author for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.