This book explores the history and uses of the country estates that were requisitioned by the British government for use during World War II. These uses ranged from training facilities for spies, invalid homes for injured servicemen, hospitals for pregnant women, and boarding facilities for children evacuated from London. Not only does it delve into the minutia of what the houses were used for but also what kinds of changes occurred to them (the houses that is). For some, they were never again used by their original owners. For others, the buildings much like the people themselves, were forever changed (or completely destroyed). The only thing missing from this book was an annotated bibliography (you know how much I love those) even though it is clear that Summers did her research. 8/10

19 year old Jose decides to drag his friend Harland to the wedding of an acquaintance of his mother. Jose and Harland clearly don't want to be at a wedding for someone they don't know at a hunting cabin in the middle of the woods, but make the best of it by taking advantage of the food and dance floor. However, before the guys can bust out their dance moves, an uninvited guest crashes the party and Harland decides to try out some hero action before all of the guests are put on the menu

The Uninvited Guest is a short thriller that has a lot of bite. Told from Harland's point of view, the story begins slow and has a lot of build up as well as a lot of information that seems useless to the reader; however, as it is a 19 year old recounting the story, this somehow makes perfect sense. As the halfway point of the story came and went, I was wondering where the climax of the story would be and then it suddenly hit full force in terrifying and gory detail keeping everything very tense until the end.

This is the second in a charming mystery series that I discovered last year during Halloween Bingo. The books center around Alison Kerby, a divorced single mother who owns/runs a guest house converted from a large, old Victorian House on the Jersey Shore. The house is also inhabited by Paul Harrison and Maxie Malone, two ghosts who were murdered in the house not long before Alison bought it. Alison, her 10 year old daughter, Melissa, and her mother can all see and communicate with Paul and Maxie. The events of the first book--Night of the Living Deed--revolved around discovering who killed Paul and Maxie.

The second book finds Alison hosting her first tour group of senior citizens, folks who signed on to visit the guest house in order to see spooky happenings. In order for Paul and Maxie to agree to provide said spooky happenings at certain times of the day, Alison agrees to help Paul investigate cases, even going so far as to get a PI's license.

Paul comes to Alison to ask her to help him investigate a case in which another ghost, Scott, believe he has killed someone.

Oh, and did I mention that Alison has also agreed to let the tv show "Down the Shore" (Guess which show that's alluding to!) film at her house?

All of this, and Amanda Ronconi's excellent narration, combine to create a highly entertaining and hilarious read.

I used this for the following square:

It's a good thing the square's description is this:

"any book that relates to bad luck, superstitions, including (but not limited to) black cats, ravens or crows, or the unlucky number 13, either in the title, series, book cover or page count."

Because while there is a black cat on the cover (which makes it eligible for the square), the kitty is only in one single scene in the whole book. Which makes me wonder why it's on the cover to begin with.

Additional squares this book would also fit:

Amateur Sleuth

Ghost Stories

Cozy Mystery

Murder Most Foul

While I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I'm disappointed that the cat was only in one scene.