Bailey Burke has had a rough six months—it’s not easy thinking your romantic overtures toward your best friend caused him to kill himself. Except that’s exactly what happened. Ryan is very much dead, having shot himself with his own police-issued gun. Guilt and grief shouldn’t cause hallucinations though, but six months after Ryan went into the ground, Bailey is freaking out and swearing his … ghost is standing in her kitchen. Which he is…
Ryan claims he didn’t commit suicide, but was murdered, and he needs Bailey to help him find his killer so he can earn his ticket out of purgatory. Ryan’s counting on a stairway to heaven, as opposed to wings, since that might be a little unmanly for a cop, even a dead one.
An expert in home design, with her own staging business, Bailey can tell you where to place a couch to improve flow and comfort, but solving a crime? Not her area of expertise. But with help from Ryan’s former partner, Marner, she is unraveling the mystery of what happened to Ryan that day… and unwittingly putting herself in grave danger.
Murder By Design Series
Book 1- Gone With The Ghost
Book 2- Silence of The Ghost
Book 3- Once Upon a Ghost
Book 4- How The Ghost Stole Christmas
Book 5- It’s a Ghost’s Life
Book 6- Ghosts Like it Hot
Bestselling author Erin McCarthy offers her signature humor in this fun series about an uptight fashion-conscious home stager who finds herself stiletto-deep in murder…
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Follow the money; find the murderer.
This was the start of a great series. Fun, easy to read, enjoyable.
I loved that not only was the heroine able to figure out who killed her friend but she was able to find peace in the fact that he didn’t kill himself and that he did love her. Only thing I didn’t enjoy was the cliffhanger at the end and not being able to find the next book in the series.
I wanted to read this book because it looked good but there was cussing within the first two pages so I stopped. If you don’t mind bad language I’m sure this book is fine.
This was a light hearted book. I liked the characters and it was humorous. Great read for an afternoon.
Quirky and cute mystery
I had high hopes for liking this book, because I thought the premise was interesting. The problem was that the “ghost” was really not a nice guy, and so I began to feel like I didn’t care that he was gone, which probably saved the girl a lot of trouble. Can’t recommend.
The enjoyment of a little fantasy in this day and age makes this a welcome read!
This was a fun, silly little tale that’s kind of a ghost story and a cozy, which seems to almost be a genre unto itself, when I see the number of cozies that involve ghosts. I liked the author’s tone. The book was cute and pretty funny. The mystery itself wasn’t all that compelling, but it was an enjoyable read. It was pretty clean, with no swearing to speak of, although occasionally, a surprisingly tasteless sexual reference would sneak in there unexpectedly. These just seemed out of place in a mostly clean book. The author also had a charming habit of using “than” in place of “then,” which is the opposite of most people’s than/then problem. All in all, I think this was a good choice for a quick way to get in a little reading.
Enjoyable easy read with a few twists and turns.
Too unbelieveable.
Book was good but not great.
Looking forward to more books by this writer.
I lived in Cleveland, OH for many years. Enjoyed reading about areas I remembered so well.
Clever theme. Enjoyed 4 of the series so far.
Read the book on my NOOK (free copy). I enjoyed the characters. I’d have to read another book to see how Bailey developes – in this book she is a tad to needy and love-stuck for me.
This story needed a good editor and the story arc was terrible. There were too many comparisons used in attempting to explain things, too many attempts at being funny that fell flat, and too many references to women’s breasts and other body parts that were just plain awkward. The main character is a house stager. Her best friend, a police detective, has just committed suicide, or so she thinks. He appears to her as a ghost and tells her it was not suicide, but he cannot remember the details of what happened. He wants her help to sort things out. The main character is a reluctant and inept investigator. There is not much to make her interesting or likable. She stumbles around trying to solve the mystery without much success and then suddenly the case pretty much abruptly solves itself. It was as if the writer didn’t know where to go with the story and just decided to end it.
I loved this book! The protagonist is seriously funny. I love the comments in her head and her descriptions of people. Her situation regarding her friend is not great but she deals with it and makes the best of a not so great situation. I really liked Bailey’s senses of humor and reality.
Fantastic!
If you like a light read mystery with an everyday gal who talks to a former friend’s ghost in order to solve his possible murder … this will hit the spot. Light. Easy. Enjoyable. Smoothly written read. Perfect stay in bed, under comforter, sipping cappuccino on a cold day or weekend simple read.
This is the first book in the Murder by Design Series. It is a funny, lighthearted paranormal cozy mystery filled with interesting characters. Bailey, a house stager has been upset ever since her best friend, Jake, killed himself just after she confessed her romantic feelings for him. Talk about guilt. Well about a half a year later Jake shows up, at least his ghost does. At first she thinks she is going nuts but after awhile he convinces her that he is there to find his killer and needs her help. So she investigates with James former partner, Marner.
The characters are good and get her into hilarious situations. The mystery is full of surprises, dead ends, unexpected obstacles and dangerous situations. I enjoyed the interplay between Jake and Bailey and think as we see more of them in future episodes, their relationship will become more entertaining. This is a fun paranormal mystery.