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Puccini's Ghosts
CWA Silver Dagger Award winner Morag Joss peers into the soul of a wounded family in this haunting, harrowing masterpiece of psychological suspense. With equal parts subtlety and menace, Joss takes us on a dizzying journey toward a collision between fantasy and reality—and an astounding moment of revelation that shatters illusions, hopes, and lives forever.
The year is 1960. The place is a Scottish seaside town utterly devoid of culture and charm. Here, Lila lives as the third player in her parents’ dramatically embittered marriage. Until her flamboyant, irrepressible uncle George shows up from London and her family decides to squander a windfall on the most preposterous of a civic production of the Puccini opera Turandot.
Lila knows nothing of opera and little of her uncle or the dashing young man he hires to sing the role of Calaf. But Lila does know passion. Because it’s coursing through her veins—and rushing blindly, wildly all around her. Now a girl on the verge of womanhood is about to blunder into a grown-up world where secrets are kept and exposed, hopes soar and wither, and where crimes petty and great exact the most chilling punishments of all.
Masterfully paced and spellbinding till its final, haunting scene, Puccini’s Ghosts is a piercing look into the fierce darkness that lurks behind seemingly ordinary lives.
The year is 1960. The place is a Scottish seaside town utterly devoid of culture and charm. Here, Lila lives as the third player in her parents’ dramatically embittered marriage. Until her flamboyant, irrepressible uncle George shows up from London and her family decides to squander a windfall on the most preposterous of a civic production of the Puccini opera Turandot.
Lila knows nothing of opera and little of her uncle or the dashing young man he hires to sing the role of Calaf. But Lila does know passion. Because it’s coursing through her veins—and rushing blindly, wildly all around her. Now a girl on the verge of womanhood is about to blunder into a grown-up world where secrets are kept and exposed, hopes soar and wither, and where crimes petty and great exact the most chilling punishments of all.
Masterfully paced and spellbinding till its final, haunting scene, Puccini’s Ghosts is a piercing look into the fierce darkness that lurks behind seemingly ordinary lives.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
13 people are currently reading
189 people want to read
About the author
Morag Joss
20 books66 followersShe is the author of six novels, including the Sara Selkirk series, and the Silver Dagger winning Half Broken Things. She began writing in 1996 after a short story of hers was runner-up in a national competition sponsored by Good Housekeeping magazine. A visit to the Roman Baths with crime writer P.D. James germinated the plot of her first novel, Funeral Music, the first in the Sara Selkirk series, which gained a Dilys Award nomination for the year's best mystery published in the USA.
Series:
* Sarah Selkirk Mystery
Awards:
Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger
◊ 2003: Half-Broken Things
Series:
* Sarah Selkirk Mystery
Awards:
Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger
◊ 2003: Half-Broken Things
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
July 26, 2016
Lila DuCann is an opera singer who returns to her hometown of Burnhead to complete the last rites of her dead father.
While sorting out papers and stuff in her childhood home, Lila's mind flashes back to the summer of 1960 when she was fifteen.
Through alternate uses of the first and the third pronouns, to distinguish the flashbacks, we come to know that she has lived with boisterously-bickering parents. Her father is a mumbling-fumbling failed lawyer, her mother is a woman who grudges her husband for dreams of being an opera singer and grudges her husband for nipping her glorious opera singing career in the bud. Her only solace is playing endless repetitions of the opera Turandot.
Burnhead is a place with no charm, no adventure and lots of wet, muddy rain and nosy people.
Due to an unintentional comical misunderstanding, Lila leads everyone to believe that her family is staging a production of Turandot.
Slowly Lila's family is caught up in this preposterous idea that they can actually produce the play, strengthened by Uncle George's impulsive statement that he will stage a play. Lila has worshipped Uncle George, an insane music teacher in London, all her life. He recruits the townspeople in the play, casts Lila's mother as the female lead and Lila as a slave character.
Meanwhile Joe, Uncle George's assistant and on whom Lila develops a crush, comes down to the town to play as the lead singer.
Her obsession with Joe turns so fierce that she has no idea how her mind will destroy every hope, every dream and every moment of their present and carry echoes of that destruction far into the future.
In this book, there is a lot of suspense, much more than in 'Half-broken-Things' and yet it is very easy to find out what exactly it is that Lila discovered, that made her act so cruelly.
While sorting out papers and stuff in her childhood home, Lila's mind flashes back to the summer of 1960 when she was fifteen.
Through alternate uses of the first and the third pronouns, to distinguish the flashbacks, we come to know that she has lived with boisterously-bickering parents. Her father is a mumbling-fumbling failed lawyer, her mother is a woman who grudges her husband for dreams of being an opera singer and grudges her husband for nipping her glorious opera singing career in the bud. Her only solace is playing endless repetitions of the opera Turandot.
Burnhead is a place with no charm, no adventure and lots of wet, muddy rain and nosy people.
Due to an unintentional comical misunderstanding, Lila leads everyone to believe that her family is staging a production of Turandot.
Slowly Lila's family is caught up in this preposterous idea that they can actually produce the play, strengthened by Uncle George's impulsive statement that he will stage a play. Lila has worshipped Uncle George, an insane music teacher in London, all her life. He recruits the townspeople in the play, casts Lila's mother as the female lead and Lila as a slave character.
Meanwhile Joe, Uncle George's assistant and on whom Lila develops a crush, comes down to the town to play as the lead singer.
Her obsession with Joe turns so fierce that she has no idea how her mind will destroy every hope, every dream and every moment of their present and carry echoes of that destruction far into the future.
In this book, there is a lot of suspense, much more than in 'Half-broken-Things' and yet it is very easy to find out what exactly it is that Lila discovered, that made her act so cruelly.
July 16, 2016
There was something I simply loved about this book. I do admit that I'm writing this review long after reading the novel, so my memory of it isn't so sharp; but I do recall feeling so sad and yet so happy with almost every aspect of this book. The two time periods, the madness of the narrator, the family dynamics and the overall feel of the world in which the characters lived - it all came together and carefully forged a new favourite book.
I do admit that, initially, I didn't care for the book. Before reading it, I actually intentionally pushed it to the back of my list because the blurb didn't excite me, and I was worried I'd be wasting my time with it. Opera isn't my thing at all, and since the blurb claimed that it would play a large part in the book, I rather wanted to stay away. But after finally forcing myself to read it, I could never look back - it gripped me from the first page, and stayed with me long after finishing. This book truly is a gem, and I'm currently debating whether to read it again now, or wait a few years and experience it "from fresh" again.
I do admit that, initially, I didn't care for the book. Before reading it, I actually intentionally pushed it to the back of my list because the blurb didn't excite me, and I was worried I'd be wasting my time with it. Opera isn't my thing at all, and since the blurb claimed that it would play a large part in the book, I rather wanted to stay away. But after finally forcing myself to read it, I could never look back - it gripped me from the first page, and stayed with me long after finishing. This book truly is a gem, and I'm currently debating whether to read it again now, or wait a few years and experience it "from fresh" again.
January 28, 2021
I read one of Morag Joss’s novels a few years ago—a psychological thriller that I absolutely adored. So at first I was disappointed that this novel was more of a plain literary novel. It’s the story of a teenager in a small town in Scotland, her boredom and frustration, snd her unappealing family.
It was slow-going. Not much in terms of plot, mostly unlikable characters. And long. But at some point I fell into its world and it switched on for me. There is excellent line-writing, and it puts you in a weird mind-space—which I consider to be a rare accomplishment.
It was slow-going. Not much in terms of plot, mostly unlikable characters. And long. But at some point I fell into its world and it switched on for me. There is excellent line-writing, and it puts you in a weird mind-space—which I consider to be a rare accomplishment.
February 2, 2025
3.75 ⭐️
I found this book to be strangely moving. Set in two different timelines but woven together beautifully, we watched the unravelling of a family through the small town production of an opera which brought many people together but ultimately tore them all apart.
I found the setting and the dynamics between the characters to be very interesting and unusual, and although almost every character in this story was fairly unlikeable, you had sympathy for them in some way or another and it was very compelling to continue reading.
I didn't think I would enjoy this as much as I did, and I really wasn't expecting the surprise ending that occurred although looking back at it now the clues were there. I'm so glad I picked this up as it is quite memorable and I really enjoyed the writing style of the author.
I found this book to be strangely moving. Set in two different timelines but woven together beautifully, we watched the unravelling of a family through the small town production of an opera which brought many people together but ultimately tore them all apart.
I found the setting and the dynamics between the characters to be very interesting and unusual, and although almost every character in this story was fairly unlikeable, you had sympathy for them in some way or another and it was very compelling to continue reading.
I didn't think I would enjoy this as much as I did, and I really wasn't expecting the surprise ending that occurred although looking back at it now the clues were there. I'm so glad I picked this up as it is quite memorable and I really enjoyed the writing style of the author.
January 20, 2008
Morag Joss intrigues me. Her books (at least the two I've read) are billed as suspense, despite the fact that they're mostly character-driven. There's well-paced plot, of course, but not much that you'd expect to find in a typical thriller.
Which may be why I've liked them both so much.
Her main characters are flawed, but in ways that make them more like us than we might want to admit. You know that things aren't going to turn out all right; it's just a matter of when and where. So you go searching for those details.
She's written some more traditional "mysteries" -- maybe I'll go look for those next. I couldn't know (or care) less about Puccini or about opera, but I cared a lot about this one production, in this one place and time. That's a pretty hefty recommendation.
Which may be why I've liked them both so much.
Her main characters are flawed, but in ways that make them more like us than we might want to admit. You know that things aren't going to turn out all right; it's just a matter of when and where. So you go searching for those details.
She's written some more traditional "mysteries" -- maybe I'll go look for those next. I couldn't know (or care) less about Puccini or about opera, but I cared a lot about this one production, in this one place and time. That's a pretty hefty recommendation.
June 17, 2020
I absolutely loved Half Broken Things, but this one fell a bit flat for me. It was really 2 1/2 stars, but I decided to round up instead of down.
I had trouble caring about any of the characters, as I found most of them to be unlikable. I also think the book was overly long. I was bored with all the teenage first love angst. A little of that goes a long way. I also got tired of all the page after page of preparation for the opera.
I hate giving bad reviews to authors that I like and respect. I hope the next one I read by Joss will suit me better.
I had trouble caring about any of the characters, as I found most of them to be unlikable. I also think the book was overly long. I was bored with all the teenage first love angst. A little of that goes a long way. I also got tired of all the page after page of preparation for the opera.
I hate giving bad reviews to authors that I like and respect. I hope the next one I read by Joss will suit me better.
November 20, 2017
Enjoyed this. A faded opera star returns to her home town to bury her father. It switches between current day and her childhood or more specifically a very short time frame in her childhood. It's sad but worth a read.
July 1, 2017
Really 3.5. I like this author, but I felt this book was too long. You have to wait quite a while for the creepy ending.
January 23, 2020
Not as satisfying as Funeral Music, which first got me hooked on this author’s writing.
November 19, 2025
so depressing
May 21, 2011
NOTE: I DIDN'T CHOOSE THIS BOOK, BUT RATHER GOT ASKED TO REVIEW IT BY MY EDITOR WHEN I WAS WRITING FOR MY UNIVERSITY NEWSPAPER QUITE A FEW YEARS AGO NOW.
This haunting novel tells the story of Lila’s fifteenth summer. Free from school, Lila’s summer looks unremarkable, with only her mother’s hysterics and frequent playing of Puccini’s Turandot to break the monotony of life in small town Burnhead, on the west coast of Scotland. Everything changes, however, when her Uncle George, a music teacher from London, arrives. Sensing that something needs to happen, he decides a stage an amateur production of Turandot, a difficult show even for experienced opera companies.
Turandot is an opera of passion, love, death, and sacrifice, and as Lila is drawn into the production, she finds herself becoming lost somewhere between opera and life. This is the summer when Lila first sings, and first falls in love. Self-absorbed and longing for escape, Lila barely notices the production for the chaos it is becoming, swept up in her plans for a future that cannot be.
When Lila Du Cann the retired opera singer returns home to Burnhead to bury her father she is confronted again by the memories of that fateful summer. Relieving her memories she reveals to us the story of that summer in 1960, and the madness of Turandot.
This novel is creatively and beautifully told, with amazing imagery which truly enables the reader to take part in the story. However I found that while, the story itself did draw me in and kept me reading, I did not actually enjoying the book. It was well written and an excellent read, but not an enjoyable one. I am not able to place my finger on exactly what it is that I did not enjoy about this book, I think perhaps it was a combinations of story itself, and the themes and issues dealt with; the unhappiness, longing and claustrophobic love of the Duncan family is something I am not familiar with and could not quite understand.
I personally found this book difficult to relate to and a little too dark and grim for my taste. However, I am sure there are many who this book would appeal to, and who would be able to connect with it. It explores the relationships of this family with what can only be called insight, and gently exposes the characters for what and who they are. It is certainly not a light hearted book, but deals verily and deftly with a grimmer side of human nature. All in all, it is a good read, but an odd read.
This haunting novel tells the story of Lila’s fifteenth summer. Free from school, Lila’s summer looks unremarkable, with only her mother’s hysterics and frequent playing of Puccini’s Turandot to break the monotony of life in small town Burnhead, on the west coast of Scotland. Everything changes, however, when her Uncle George, a music teacher from London, arrives. Sensing that something needs to happen, he decides a stage an amateur production of Turandot, a difficult show even for experienced opera companies.
Turandot is an opera of passion, love, death, and sacrifice, and as Lila is drawn into the production, she finds herself becoming lost somewhere between opera and life. This is the summer when Lila first sings, and first falls in love. Self-absorbed and longing for escape, Lila barely notices the production for the chaos it is becoming, swept up in her plans for a future that cannot be.
When Lila Du Cann the retired opera singer returns home to Burnhead to bury her father she is confronted again by the memories of that fateful summer. Relieving her memories she reveals to us the story of that summer in 1960, and the madness of Turandot.
This novel is creatively and beautifully told, with amazing imagery which truly enables the reader to take part in the story. However I found that while, the story itself did draw me in and kept me reading, I did not actually enjoying the book. It was well written and an excellent read, but not an enjoyable one. I am not able to place my finger on exactly what it is that I did not enjoy about this book, I think perhaps it was a combinations of story itself, and the themes and issues dealt with; the unhappiness, longing and claustrophobic love of the Duncan family is something I am not familiar with and could not quite understand.
I personally found this book difficult to relate to and a little too dark and grim for my taste. However, I am sure there are many who this book would appeal to, and who would be able to connect with it. It explores the relationships of this family with what can only be called insight, and gently exposes the characters for what and who they are. It is certainly not a light hearted book, but deals verily and deftly with a grimmer side of human nature. All in all, it is a good read, but an odd read.
May 31, 2013
The book was quite slow, so I got bored with it and put it down, and now, after months of it resting unfinished in my shelf, I've opened it to see what fateful thing happens to Lila's opera and family.
When I left it unfinished, I thought I didn't like the book, but now, after months, that I have revisited it, I see the point wherein I appreciate this novel. (though it might be bec I already forgot how bored I was with this before [don't get me wrong, I love historical and dark dramas, so...])
Profound and poetic. Though I felt that the lives they live are quite dark and overly emotional, I have to affirm that these kinds of setups in living can highly affect the life of a child, that may take away the innocence of a little. I grieve for the characters because talented and smart as they may be, they have failed to live the lives they have dreamed of, and even failed to live the failures they fell into. This novel is yet another narration that tells us that whatever we do, we can hardly find atonement and resolution from the things that happened in the past.
When I left it unfinished, I thought I didn't like the book, but now, after months, that I have revisited it, I see the point wherein I appreciate this novel. (though it might be bec I already forgot how bored I was with this before [don't get me wrong, I love historical and dark dramas, so...])
Profound and poetic. Though I felt that the lives they live are quite dark and overly emotional, I have to affirm that these kinds of setups in living can highly affect the life of a child, that may take away the innocence of a little. I grieve for the characters because talented and smart as they may be, they have failed to live the lives they have dreamed of, and even failed to live the failures they fell into. This novel is yet another narration that tells us that whatever we do, we can hardly find atonement and resolution from the things that happened in the past.
October 23, 2011
Morag Joss is one of my favorite authors but her novels are dark, with little included to lighten them even the slightest, and this novel is no exception. It is about a family and their attempt to put on an opera (Puccini's unfinished 'Turandot'), the first of its kind in the remote town of Burnhead in Scotland. Every character has secrets and the sense of foreboding starts in the first chapter and doesn't stop until the end, when the harshest secrets are revealed in the worst possible ways. Except for the father, Raymond, and to some extent, the narrator (our main character, Lila), no one is really a sympathetic person, at least not until the end, when you realize most of the characters are just sad and pathetic, not hateful. Very well written but VERY depressing.
August 23, 2025
Note: My full review is here.
That was exactly as bad as I remembered. This book didn’t do any favors to women or professional musicians, and it definitely didn’t do anything for the LGBTQ+ community, and I can’t even say if this was Joss’s intention. I genuinely have no idea where Joss herself stands on any of these things when the women are such over-the-top unlikable divas and the “real” musicians, to say nothing of the gay characters, are almost satirical stereotypes. For some reason I still refuse to unhaul it, but I also won't be rereading it anytime soon.
That was exactly as bad as I remembered. This book didn’t do any favors to women or professional musicians, and it definitely didn’t do anything for the LGBTQ+ community, and I can’t even say if this was Joss’s intention. I genuinely have no idea where Joss herself stands on any of these things when the women are such over-the-top unlikable divas and the “real” musicians, to say nothing of the gay characters, are almost satirical stereotypes. For some reason I still refuse to unhaul it, but I also won't be rereading it anytime soon.
January 28, 2008
i found this book to be very well written and i think the author did a great job of evoking a creepy, sad and dysfunctional mood. usually that works for me, but i couldn't wait for the book to end. i think the only reason i finished it was to find out what horrible thing befell the family, b/c it was clear something did. there was such buildup, i suppose the ending couldn't help but be a disappointment. also, i found the style to be mostly introspective, and that became wearying after awhile.
October 31, 2009
I found this book on the free book exchange cart at of our school. It was the last day of school before summer vacation and I was looking for something to read. I had never heard of this author before but the blub on the back made it sound interesting so I picked it up. WHAT A FIND! Terrific writer, interesting story, deep psychological insights, including mother and daughter stuff that I, for one, never grow tired of. It makes me wonder why I've never heard anyone talking about this author.
March 23, 2009
It's different from the other Morag Joss books, she usually writes crime novels set in Bath. I liked this a lot though. It went backwards & forwards in time, the main story was set in 1960 when Lila was 15 & believed herself in love for the first time, the rest is in the present when Lila (now in her fifties) has to arrange her father's funeral. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes Kate Atkinson novels & other novels about dysfuctional families.
July 17, 2008
I was really disappointed with this book. When I read the summary, my excitement soared because the book was about opera (one of my passions) and the mysteries of life. Each chapter alternated between the past and the present- at times they were blurred. The plot was slow and not as capativating as I'd hoped. It wasn't a bad book, just not one I'd recommend.
January 12, 2009
I liked this book quite a bit. The author handles plot very well and she did a good job of creating tension by moving back and forth in time. I think too much hinged on a revelation that wasn't much of a revelation, and a few things that felt important were left unexplained. It was very well written, but the ending was a little flat. The majority of the book was good, though.
November 3, 2023
So awful and so depressing that I didn’t even finish it. It’s extremely rare for me not to finish a book so that says something. I glanced at ending before returning it and looks like it could have been an interesting story if you weren’t forced to endure torture just to get it. I’m not that masochistic.
November 18, 2007
This was a really good book. I thought I would love it because I am a Puccini fan, and I did love it, but I liked her Half Broken Things better. This had some things that seemed a touch contrived. But it is a still a good read about unfullfilled dreams and what the mind does to alter reality.
November 18, 2008
This book was horrendously slow. I couldn't wait for it to end. I couldn't really get into the book at all. The flashbacks between the past and the present were blurred. This definitely ranked low for me.
August 10, 2008
I might have enjoyed this story a little more if I were a fan of Puccini's operas, but I found this book to be very long and boring.
I have read other historical novels and historical romances like "I, Mona Lisa" and have really enjoyed them, but this book didn't cut it for me.
I have read other historical novels and historical romances like "I, Mona Lisa" and have really enjoyed them, but this book didn't cut it for me.
October 25, 2014
It is rare for me to like a book where I do not like any of the characters (even if I'm not meant to like them). But while I didn't like the characters in Puccini's Ghosts, there was a melancholy that carried me through and compelled me to keep turning the pages.
March 5, 2016
Did not keep my interest, although I did finish it. Would not usually finish a book I disliked, but I kept plugging along with this one. I do not recommend it, did not like it, and only read it because I loved something else she wrote.
June 3, 2009
Slow start but the middle got better and caught my curiosity. A bit of a predictible ending. Everyone's family is messed up but this reminded me of what a dreamworld we live in and create when we are teens and how much what happens in that period of time shapes the person we become.
July 18, 2011
A weird book... switches between present-day and flashbacks with no warning, confusing to follow when reading with many breaks. Interesting to me because it featured some things about opera, but I probably wouldn't recommend it.
July 11, 2012
This is the second Morag Joss book I have read and it will be my last. Her style is very wordy and depressing. Not necessarily a criticism, but not enjoyable for me. I had difficulty identifying with or feeling sympathy for any of the characters.
June 19, 2013
I love Morag Joss's writing style. The descriptive passages are beautiful and I love the way she writes her characters' thoughts. But I found most of the characters in this story wholly unlikeable; the most affection I felt for them was pity. All in all, I just feel depressed now.
January 2, 2014
I found it a little confusing, especially in the beginning. The author went back and forth between past and present, which sometimes was hard to follow. I liked it OK but not nearly as much as Half Broken Things by the same author.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews