Say It Isn't So, Joe by Kelly Young

This was such a fun book to read! Quirky ghosts, a murder mystery, and a splash of humour kept me well-entertained throughout. Kelly Young’s smooth writing style dropped me right into the scenes and brought the characters to life. The story flows along at a quick pace with plenty of action and suspense as the snarky main character, Carmen Rodriguez, exposes a killer.

An absolutely delightful cozy mystery, Say It Isn’t So, Joe, is the second installment of the Haunted and Harassed series. Having met Joe in the first book, A Ghost Named Joe, I was eager to read the next, and now I’m looking forward to more in the series. Joe is an exasperating, but loveable, old man ghost who seeks Carmen’s help to find the truth about the death of his ghost friend, Donna. As Carmen is the only one who can see Joe and Donna, they need her as a link between the world of the living and the deceased. 

When Carmen discovers she is a conduit for others to see her ghost friends, it allows her husband and her two funeral director friends to assist in finding Donna’s killer. With an array of interesting suspects, author Kelly Young kept me guessing till the end. I loved the interaction between Carmen and her husband, Bass, as well as their oddball relationship with the ghosts. And who wouldn’t love a ghost cat named Magic and a new kitten added to the mix? Cats, ghosts, funeral owner friends, and suspicious relatives set a spooky tone to the story, interspersed with lots of quips from Carmen that had me laughing as I tried to figure out who killed Donna.

If you’re looking for a well-written cozy paranormal mystery on the lighter side, I highly recommend this series. Say It Isn’t So, Joe is a great book for lounging outside on a sunny day or for a nice rainy afternoon read. And I loved that it’s written by a fellow Canadian author and set in Canada. Carmen, her husband Bass, and their third wheel, the ghost of old man Joe, are characters you will want to invite into your home.