Welcome to Hawkwood Hollow, where the dead outnumber the living!
Maura left her paranormal life behind, years ago. Her ghost-hunting gift has given her nothing but trouble, and she's decided she's better off living outside of the magical world with her trusty sidekick Mart.
But after she gets fired from her job at the morgue - turns out the living don't generally appreciate it when the dead try to micromanage their own funerals - she receives a message from a teen blogger in need of her assistance in getting rid of a troublesome spirit. Broke enough to give ghost-hunting one last shot, she decides to take on the case.
The slight problem?
Hawkwood Hollow contains more ghosts than living people, and they know something isn't quite right about their visitor.
Determined to leave as soon as the ghost is dealt with, Maura lands herself in hot water when she clashes with a local paranormal detective and finds herself suspecting the trouble-making spirit was murdered.
Maura's not one to give up without a fight, but it'll take all her skills to outwit the detective and send the ghost packing - preferably without anyone realizing the source of her unique skills.
She'll show them a ghost-hunting witch like her might be just what Hawkwood Hollow needs.
Elle Adams lives in the middle of England, where she spends most of her time reading an ever-growing mountain of books, planning her next adventure, or writing. Elle's books are humorous mysteries with a paranormal twist and tons of magical mayhem.
She also writes urban and contemporary fantasy novels as Emma L. Adams.
This was so much fun! I loved the premise and the setting. The story moved at a fast pace with wonderful characters. There’s just the right amount of paranormal; I’m a big fan of the ghost reaper aspect but not so much the witchcraft but there wasn’t too much ritual in this one. I can’t wait to continue with the series.
Amennyire érdekesnek találtam az ötletet (egy szellemeket látó boszorkány nyomozó) annyira nagy csalódás lett. Lehet hogy a többi rész jobb és ez inkább csak bevezető volt a történetbe és a szereplőkbe de sajnos nekem nem jött be annyira ezért 3/5⭐️
As much as I found the idea (a witch detective who sees ghosts) interesting, it turned out to be a big disappointment. Maybe the other parts are better and this was just an introduction to the story and the characters, but unfortunately I didn't like it that much, that's why 3/5⭐️
Every character, place and situation in this first Reaper Witch adventure have consolidated my love for Elle Adams' writing. There is something truly captivating in her style and in her ideas that makes her work stand out in this genre, putting every new book among my must read. Highly recommended!
Maura is half witch, half reaper. Accompanied everywhere by her dead twin brother, she works hard to keep them out of trouble. Something that doesn’t always work… When a job to banish a ghost comes along, Maura isn’t in a position to refuse, and that is how she and Mart end up in haunted Hawkwood Hollow. Ostensibly there to banish the ghost of an old lady who refuses to leave her home, Maura finds Hawkwood Hollow to be a place with many deep mysteries, and trying to figure out if the woman died in an accident or was murdered, leads her on a path that might just be dangerous!
This is an enjoyable paranormal cosy mystery, with a magical heroine and her ghostly brother. The other characters in the magical town have their own abilities, but I’m not about to spoil them for you! It’s an interesting setting, a mysterious small town somewhere in England, and with some intriguing characters. The story was well told, the mystery well done: and nicely wrapped up by the end of the tale, despite the book setting up more mysteries to come.
If you enjoy cosy mysteries of the paranormal kind, then this series by Elle Adams is a pleasant and entertaining read.
I've read a few books by Emma Adams and when I saw she wrote cozies under a pen name I was curious to try one of them out. This series was the one that seemed most interesting to me, so I grabbed the box set of the first 3 books in audio.
A Wild Ghost Chase is the first book in the Reaper Witch series and I liked the spooky vibe it had, without becoming too creepy of scary. It doesn't read like a typical paranormal cozy mystery, but I thought that worked here and made it feel fresh. It does have that first book vibe with everything getting established and it took me some time to get a feel for everything. While it's not a long book, I did felt a bit slow in parts, but it still kept my attention.
I liked how much the actual ghosts and talking with them is part of the mystery. Mora also uses her witchy powers at times and there are also mentions of other supernaturals. The mystery felt a bit slow to progress at times with not as much progress happening in some parts. I liked some of the reveals and twists later in the book when the mystery moves forward. The conclusion was well done and wrapped things up well both for the mystery and what's next for Mora.
I liked reading about Mora, there's a bit about her past and who she is, but I hope to get a better understanding of her in the next book. I liked her determination to resolve the ghost issue and how she handled things. I thought it was interesting how she's half reaper and half witch. And both her reaper and witch powers are part of the story. I liked her friendship with Carey and how they interact. As well as seeing how she interacts with her twin Mart who is a ghost, although he mostly seems to function as comic relief so far, I hope there's more of him in the next book.
The narrator for this book worked well for me. I liked the different voices she did and her style seemed to fit the book well. I enjoyed listening to this book and I already have the next 2 books in audio too, so I'll be listening to those as well. The only thing that didn't work for me was how she did the voices if someone was screaming as the individual characters voice seemed to get lost and it just sounded odd. It just was jarring to me every time someone screamed. I did appreciate how she didn't actually change her volume of her voice, so there are no unexpected loud or low sounds, her volume was very consistent throughout.
To summarize: A Wild Ghost Chase is the first book in this cozy paranormal mystery series that follows Mora who is half reaper and half witch. This book has a nice spooky feel with focus on ghost hunting and talking to ghosts without being too scary or creepy. It did have that first book feel where the world and characters need to get established. The story and mystery felt a bit slow to progress at times, but the ending was quite interesting and had some nice twists and reveals and the plot got wrapped up well. I liked Mora well enough as main character and I liked how she was determined to resolve the ghost issue before leaving town, I look forward to learning more about her in future books. The narrator worked well for this book and I enjoyed listening to this book.
A Wild Ghost Chase: Reaper Witch Chronological order is not necessary but recommended.
In A Nutshell: The protagonist, Maura, a half-reaper, half-witch, is hired to banish a ghost at Hawkwood Hollow only to find that the ghost may have been murdered. She quickly finds herself in a predicament when she clashes with a local paranormal detective.
The Protagonists:
Maura reads like a determined, resourceful character with some unique skills as a half-reaper and half-witch, which she uses to her advantage when dealing with ghosts and solving mysteries. However, her desire to conceal her skills seems like a hackneyed theme. I would like to see her embrace them.
The Plot: After getting fired from her job at the morgue, Maura receives a message from a teen blogger seeking help with a troublesome spirit. Broke, she is willing to give ghost-hunting a shot. As Maura investigates, she clashes with a local paranormal detective and begins to suspect that the mischievous spirit was murdered. Determined not to give up, she uses all her skills to outwit the detective and deal with the ghost—preferably without revealing the source of her unique abilities.
Why Read It?:
After getting fired from her job at the morgue, Maura receives a message from a teen blogger seeking help with a troublesome spirit. Broke, she is willing to give ghost-hunting a shot. As Maura investigates, she clashes with a local paranormal detective and begins to suspect that the mischievous spirit was murdered. Determined not to give up, she uses all her skills to outwit the detective and deal with the ghost—preferably without revealing the source of her unique abilities.
After getting fired from her job at the morgue, Maura receives a message from a teen blogger seeking help with a troublesome spirit. Broke, she is willing to give ghost-hunting a shot. As Maura investigates, she clashes with a local paranormal detective and begins to suspect that the mischievous spirit was murdered. Determined not to give up, she uses all her skills to outwit the detective and deal with the ghost—preferably without revealing the source of her unique abilities.
If you’re ready for a ghostly escapade with a dash of magic, this book is definitely worth picking up!
Book Rating
Sexual Content: U Language: U Violent: U Would I read the next one or re-read it ?: Yes
My rating system (* = star) 0* Could not finish this book (waste of time) 1* Finished the book but didn't like it. 2* Finished the book it was okay. 3* A good read worth your time. 4* An excellent read often with a novel concept or unusual plot. 5* A magnificent read. A prominent example of the genre.
I found this series by searching for fiction books about ghosts. I thought this one sounded interesting and decided to give it a try.
It starts out pretty bleak. Maura is an unhappy young woman who struggles to find steady employment and pay her rent. She lives in a little apartment with the ghost of her dead twin brother Mart. Their mother is a witch and their father is a reaper. Maura and Mart were apprentice reapers when something went badly wrong and Mart died. As a result Maura abandoned her apprenticeship and has been trying to support herself with work in the normal world. This has not worked well because Maura can see and hear ghosts, and ghosts keep interfering.
Desperate for money to pay her rent, Maura agrees to take a ghost removal job in a little town called Hawkswood Hollow. Nothing about the job turns out how Maura expects. She's been hired by a teenaged girl named Carrie who lives with her mother in the only inn in town. Carrie has a ghost hunting blog, but she can't actually see ghosts herself. She's been working on ghost-seeing goggles and other bits of technology to help her create interesting posts for her blog, but none of it really does what it's supposed to yet.
Although most of the residents don't know it, Hawkwood Hollow is full of ghosts. This baffles Maura because there should be a reaper in charge of the area whose job it was to help send ghosts on to the afterlife. Maura doesn't understand why the local reaper hasn't taken care of business, but she'd prefer to keep her distance from him. She doesn't need him reporting her to the reaper's council as a rogue reaper. Not to mention that he could reap Mart's soul and separate the twins.
When Carrie takes Maura in the middle of the night to the house with the ghost she hired Maura to take care of, Maura finds that the house is falling apart. Maura and Carrie are caught in the house by the Chief of Police, Drew Gardener. He is a wolf shifter, and cannot see ghosts. He thinks Maura is some kind of troublemaker taking advantage of Carrie for money. He tries to get Maura to leave town.
The ghost is difficult, and so is the leader of the local witch coven, Mina. Maura has to figure out who is telling the truth and who is lying.
Carrie's mother Allie runs the inn where Maura is staying, and is very kind. For the first time in a long time Maura feels welcomed and accepted despite being a reaper-witch.
By the end, Maura feels hopeful about having found a new home. She takes a job working at the inn, which gives her a home and an income.
I listened to the audiobook version, read by Sarah Kempton. 5 hrs 9 min. She does a very good job of differentiating voices, which helps me keep characters straight.
I have read Elle Adam's Library Witch series and found it highly entertaining and very thrilling. She is very, very creative and I admire her exceptional talent in bringing out novel varieties of witches, which make her books more exciting, highly enjoyable and with exceptional twists that could keep you guessing.
Maura is a ex-Reaper and has just lost her job at the morgue when she receives a mail from Carey Forbes of Hawkwood Hollow to get rid of a troublesome ghost at a house once belonging to Mrs. Renner. Her ghost twin brother Mart urges her to accept the job.
She leaves immediately and reaches Hawkwood Hollow, only to find a town full of ghosts who can sense her presence. Carey takes her to the haunted house so that she could also record the ghost hunting for her blog. Carey is wearing special goggles that could see ghosts and record them through the in-built camera. Carey tells Maura that she (Mrs. Renner) died in this house . Mrs. Renner is terrorizing the construction workers trying to rebuild her crumbling house.
Suddenly, a gust of wind takes her by surprise with the ghost of Mrs. Renner asking them to leave the house. She stumbles into a a hot Detective Drew Gardner who finds her to be nosy and warns her to leave the town. But Maura is determined to banish the ghost of Mrs. Renner. On a rare moment when she's alone at the haunted house, Mrs. Renner tells her that it was a murder and not an accident and points finger at Dolores, her friend turned foe.
In a twisted turn of events, Dolores is also found dead. Can Maura solve the case without another body being added to the list? Will Maura send away Mrs. Renner's ghost to the other side as a reaper? The book is too exciting and there's an amazing twist that completely blew me away. Wow! I highly recommend it for paranormal cozy mystery lovers.
After breaking the rules as a Reaper, Maura has turned her back on her paranormal life to live among non-magical people. However, her ability to see and communicate with ghosts continues to plague her. Now she’s been sacked from her job in a morgue and wondering how she’ll pay the rent. Maura is contacted by a teenage ghost blogger who asks her to come to Hawkwood Hollow to lay a particularly nasty ghost to rest. Maura accepts the job, but what she finds in Hawkwood Hollow is unexpected. There are far too many random spirits hanging around, even for a magical town, and she learns that the local Reaper has quit his job and is no longer crossing souls over. Teenage ghost-hunter wannabe, Carey, shows Maura the dilapidated old mansion where the surly spirit refuses to leave. What should be a simple case for a Reaper witch is complicated by a detective who doesn’t want Maura there, a belligerent heir, and her own twin brother, Mart, whose ghost is still attached to her. Maura is determined to get to the bottom of things, if only for Carey’s sake and to show Detective Drew that she knows what she’s doing.
This was a little bit fluffy and a little bit creepy. The ghost of old Mrs Renner was a nasty piece of work, as was her very much alive grandson, Henry Renner. Maura keeps being thwarted by the detective each time she tries to enter the house to communicate with Mrs Renner, and the old harridan is determined to stay put. Maura and Carey were portrayed well, but other characters could have used some fleshing out. The story was almost exclusively Maura’s investigation with some backstory thrown in.
Not all that substantial, but enjoyable. It deserves 3.5 stars, but since I can’t award halfsies, I’ll bump it up to a four.
Maura doesn't have it easy. She's half witch half reaper.. which makes her almost unique.. and was working with her twin brother Matt reaping when he was split from his soul. Unable to bear being parted she bound his spirit to herself breaking the rules of reaping and leaving herself jobless and on the run from their family.
She's tried everything, her last job has failed and she's struggling to pay the rent so when an email arrives offering to pay her to help with a ghost she's going to reluctantly check it out. What she finds is the paranormal town of Hawkwood Hollow awash with spirits, a reaper refusing to reap, an angry ghost and floundering detective. She's welcomed with warmth by Carey and her mother and somehow it seems that she doesn't want to leave.. has she found herself, and Matt, a new home? Can she find out what killed Mrs Renner and lay her ghost to rest before anyone else gets hurt?
It's escapism, bit quirky bit clichéd but it's entertaining enough to keep your mind occupied away from the stress of reality.
Maura, half witch - half reaper, doesn't seem to fit anywhere. Not with the non-magical and not with the magical communities. She gets in trouble no matter where she goes. And there's always the question of her twin brother, Mart, the ghost she carries around with her. So she can't seem to hold a job. But she's been asked to handle a ghost who's out of control, so she might be able to pay the rent this month after all. She checks into the inn to stay with Allie and her daughter, Carey, who is trying to write a blog about ghost hunting but can't see ghosts. Both of them are witches. There's also the detective, but just what kind of detective is he? There seems to be more to this handsome man than just what shows up front. He seems quite interested in Maura as well. Mrs. Renner and Mrs. Malone are the two battling old ladies, but one's a ghost with a very bad attitude, and the other has an alibi. Could it be the workers? The grandson? The retired reaper? Or could it have been an accident? Recommended.
Loved the tone, loved the story! And it didn’t take me long to chuckle out loud at Mart, the ghost sidekick, Maura’s late twin brother. He likes the haunting part of being a ghost, LOL. Great story, with lots of suspenseful moments and twists and turns. And humor.
The narrator, she did really well, although I had to get used to her British accent, I’m Dutch so that’s only natural, it’s not my native language. But she did the different voices well and spoke clearly. And somehow she was completely the right fit for Maura. She did sometimes stop at the wrong moment, mid sentence, so the flow in narrating could be a bit better, but I will be listening to more books in this series!
Maura’s ability to see ghosts makes it hard for her to keep a non-magical job, but the magical world of witches and reapers has ousted her. So when a stranger asks her to banish a ghost, she flies to Hawkwood Hollow as fast as her broomstick can carry her. Unfortunately, her new employer neglected to tell her a few things…
Complications abound in Hawkwood Hollow: teenaged bloggers, uncooperative ghosts, angry but handsome human investigators, and the slight problem that Maura doesn’t actually have permission to enter the haunted house. But Maura is determined to find the truth behind the spirit’s death and discover why the ghosts outnumber the living in this town. This is a fun, light-hearted ghost story with whimsical characters and a main character you’ll root for.
I absolutely loved this story. It made such a change to read a cozy paranormal mystery set in the UK, rather than America. It made such a change to hear uk slang and expressions during the story. Its also a really good ghost chase paranormal mystery.
Maura is an intriguing leading lady, and despite the paranormal attributes, very real & relatable. I adored her interaction with Casey the teenage would be ghost hunter, it was such a sweet relationship. I also loved Mart, her ghost twin brother, the sarcasm is high with this one and so adorable.
Hawkwoods Hallow is a fascinating place with more ghosts wandering around than living, and not all of them are nice. And I will def be back to read more in this series.
Entertaining supernatural reaper cozy mystery series. A great cast of characters and an entertaining story line. A young woman who is half witch and half reaper is exiled from her coven of witches and leaves the reaper business when her twin brother is killed on a reaper mission. Sometime later she is hiding out in human towns doing Mundane and jobs and ghost hunting to get money to live by. A young witch in a supernatural town hires her to come get rid of a violent ghost. Read along and follow the adventure and see what happens. A very entertaining story and a promising new series. Check it out
I really enjoyed this first book in this series. I found it interesting that Maura was a witch and a reaper with a ghost attached to her. Maura is a ghost hunter/reaper/witch without a job until her ghost, her twin brother, finds a job for her getting rid of a ghost. Maura accepts the job thinking it would be easy and quick, which it is not. Maura finds a place with plenty of ghosts and a reaper who is not doing his job. Lots of questions and ghosts who do not want to leave makes for an interesting read. To find out how the story unwinds you will need to read to find out how it ends and to meet the characters in town.
"A Wild Ghost Chase" makes an intriguing premiere to the Reaper Witch series. Maura is a likeable character and a bit of a disaster in the human world, primarily due to her ghostly brother's hijinks. Desperation may have driven her back to the paranormal world, but it's easy to see that Hawkwood Hollow is precisely where she should be. The world-building and the mystery are first-rate, and there's plenty of ghostly mayhem and humor to hold interest. I look forward to learning what happened between the twins and the Reapers, the coven, and their family.
Maura is half witch half reaper and a bit of an oddity in the magical community. She's been trying to make it in the non-magical world, with her ghostly brother, Mart, by her side, but it hasn't been going well. She gets called into a job to banish a pesky ghost, that doesn't want to leave, and the job is more than she bargained for.
I love Elle Adams' Library Witch mysteries, and since I'm up to date with those, I picked this one up on audio and really enjoyed it!!! I love Maura and Mart [I got a small cameo of them in the Library Witch mysteries]. A good mystery that I didn't predict the end of, and definitely planning to continue with the series.
This one was also the first in the series and I also knew about her from other books by Elle Adams. She was easier to get to know but I am not sure where she will go but we will soon see when I read her next book. I think I read some of the other series sooner than I should have because I know a bit about her, more than I should. The funny thing is on the side of the book is says A Wild Goose Chase so I got a messed up book. lol might be worth something one day but I doubt it. Don't get me wrong I did like the book but not as much as some of the others . I hope to get this series more to my liking as it goes along.
Maura’s life has become a series of unfulfilling jobs that she loses quickly. She and her twin brother Mart (a ghost), are trying to stay off the Reapers Council’s radar because he is bound to her (against all the rules). Suddenly summoned to a new magical town to do a ghost hunting brings her into contact with a hot detective, a young witch with a Ghost blog, and a fiercely strong and violent ghost. Can she figure out what is going on before she becomes the newest spirit in town?
Maura receives an email inviting her to another town to banish a ghost. Since she is broke and has no job prospects, she decides to go. She is half witch and half Reaper, someone who helps the souls of the dead move on to the afterlife. When she gets to the magical town she talks with the ghost and believes her until she does some sleuthing and learns otherwise. She has to use her Reaper powers to save the teenager who she has grown very fond of and herself. Very well done.
This is the first in a series of young adult novels in which the protagonist is a witch/Reaper. I downloaded it from Amazon ages ago. She's hired to get rid of the ghost of a person who was killed in her own house and seems to be quite angry. A Reaper is someone who escorts the spirits of the dead to the spirit world. The town where all this takes place is a magical town, where there are lots of ghosts because the resident Reaper hasn't been doing his job, and there are other creatures like goblins and trolls. There is enough of a plot and enough characters to make the story interesting and give the characters some depth without being overwhelming. I liked it.
An entertaining story but what makes it is a super narration by Sarah Kempton, a great voice, easy to listen to and with a decent range. Maura a out of work reaper witch arrives in Hawkwood Hollow a town with more ghosts than living to get rid of a troublesome spirit, things do not go as planned. A fun paranormal cozy mystery with a great lead character, her ghost brother, a gutsy teen blogger and a hunky detective. Really enjoyed this one and look forward to reading more.
Maura is part reaper, part witch. Turning her back on her witch side and then her reaper side after some undisclosed trouble with the reaper council. She is now trying to survive in the human world. Down on her luck and needing money to pay her rent she answers an ad from a small paranormal town needing a ghost banished. Little does she know the trouble she is about to encounter. Fast read cozy.
This story had a Ghost Hunter/Reaper Witch with a flying broomstick. Plus she had her own ghost to use as a spy. I thought that was an interesting twist.
What I loved the most about this little reaper witch Maura was she never missed a beat. She gave the exact snarky truth in reply to Detective Drew that was needed.
I really enjoyed this silly story. No it wasn’t an epic read, but I didn’t have to jump over unnecessary narrative. So, for me that’s an Excellent Read.!.
When she gets an email asking her to go to a town that she’s never heard of to help get rid of a ghost who is wrecking havoc in an old house. What she finds when she gets there it’s not what she thought was going on. The person who asked her to come as a teenager in the house that’s being haunted is being protected by a detective. None of it seems right so she stays to investigate.