A Problem of Ghosts

By: Miranda Mayer

Narrated by: Yvette Keller

Lives turned upside down by the unexplained arrest of their parents, the Evlan sisters were packed up and sent to live with their eccentric great aunt Ammette on the Isle of Mahalav. In the confusion of their hasty removal, their aunt neglected to inform the girls of the small detail that the elegant Fallswell Hall, their future home, was haunted by hordes of ghosts.

In the scheme of things, this is a detail that the girls should be able to take in stride; however, one ghost in particular seems bent on harming the eldest girl, Dae. To confront this issue, Dae seeks the assistance of the handsome Ghoster Amdreus Drouwd to help capture this problem spirit. Dae could not predict that in pursuing this violent, hateful ghost, that they would unravel a carefully woven web of lies and entanglements. Figuring out the how and the why, however, could prove to be too great a truth for this gentle, sweet girl to bear.

©2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 Miranda Mayer (P)2021 Miranda Mayer

Fun journey in a world of ghosts

My daughter and I listened to A Problem of Ghosts on a road trip and we really enjoyed exploring this world of ghosts. The narrator, Yvette Keller, brought the characters alive and kept the suspense building. Great story for a trip. Each time we stopped along the way we looked forward to getting back to it.

Regency Romance with an Overture of Spirits

A beautifully wrought blend of regency romance with just the right amount of spookiness for an October listen. I loved every minute!
I was worried, at first, that I would be distracted by the fact that I've heard this narrator read other books...but I totally forgot about that in this captivatingly read narrative.

Interesting but not completely satisfying

The theme, worldbuilding and plot of this book were interesting and fall under my reading interests, fantasy, romance and historical. And I liked what seemed to me like an original take on ghosts (I won’t say anymore that might be considered spoilers). But it’s probably safe to say that it reminded me of Jane Austen and Mary Shelley. However, while I find the stories in this series intriguing, so far I'm not fond of the characters and writing style. In the first book of the Red Slipper series, the Wizard King, the male and female protagonists relationship felt uncomfortable to me because of the virtuous female redeeming an abusive male trope, but at least they were compelling individually and together. In this second book, A Problem of Ghosts, I didn’t really get a good feel for the protagonists and other characters seemed not very fleshed out. Also, in this book, other than a few hints at the beginning that this was supposed to be in a fantasy Regency era, I didn’t feel like it was in the period for the rest of the book. Both books were also too serious and gloomy in tone for my liking. In any case, I did like the ending of this second book a lot, which I thought was unique and satisfying. Also, I enjoyed the audio narration very much. To me, since majority of most books are the narration part, and not the dialogue, it’s really important that this element is pleasant to listen to. This narrator’s storytelling voice is soothing, but dramatic when needed, as well as entertaining/engaging and moves the action along at a good pace. And her changes in voices for each character was convincing and helped add life to the story. Since this is a genre I generally like, I may give the third book (it has a promising premise) a chance if it's released in audiobook with the same narrator.