Review: The Body in 3B

Fiction, Paranormal Cozy Mystery

2**

Blurb: n the heart of downtown Seattle, a quirky building is home to a cast of eccentric residents, both living and not. When Meg Dawson moves back to the Morrisey after quitting her career as an artist, she thinks she’s found a safe haven. But when she discovers a murdered resident, Meg realizes that her sanctuary may not be as secure as she thought. It quickly becomes clear that the police are lacking an important piece of the investigative puzzle. Because of her ability to communicate with ghosts, Meg has information about the man’s death no one else knows. Ripley, Meg’s ghostly best friend, is confident they can solve the mystery and keep the rest of the residents safe. Meg and Ripley must navigate strange happenings and unravel the secrets of their building before it’s too late.

Thoughts: This was an okay story, not great but not totally awful. The main character, Meg, has moved back to the building where she lived with her aunt (who moved to Scotland). She was an artist and working in museums in NY and Chicago and got hammered by her mentor so gave up everything and moved home. And her best friend happens to be a ghost from the 1990s and is attached to her so can go where Meg goes (convenient). Meg can also see and communicate with other ghosts. In addition to coincidences, her childhood best friend and crush, Laurie (Laurence) has also moved back into the quirky building. There are a lot of odd characters in this book – many of them old enough to remember Meg when she lived there. When the recluse in 3B is killed, they look to Meg to figure out who did it. Add in secret passages throughout the building and another murder that ties into this one and you have an intriguing plot that seems to follow the plot of a TV show starring Steve Martin and Martin Short. There was very little description of the characters except for maybe the ghosts. In the end, the mystery is solved and Meg makes decisions about her life, but there was very little mystery to this mystery.