This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Susan Lobban
From the author of the Sookie Stackhouse series comes a new trilogy with a small town of characters who are not what they seem. Manfred Bernardo is a psychic who has just moved to Midnight, Texas, and wants to keep a low profile. This town is perfect for him, as everyone else wants to do the same. Midnight, is the kind of dried up western town you just drive through. The few that live there are weird to say the least, so linger too long and you may regret it.
I was very excited to read this book as I devoured the Sookie Stackhouse series and the synopsis alone had me eager to discover a new strange town created by Charlaine Harris. Midnight Crossroad did not disappoint. Each character has their own story to tell, but as the unwritten rule in Midnight is ask no questions we are given very little, which of course adds to the intrigue.
Manfred is new in town and he unpeels the layers of the townsfolk for us. As this is a trilogy you know more will be discovered down the line and when the book ends we are left wanting more.
Bobo runs the town’s pawn shop and his partner disappeared while he was away on a trip. He simply believes that she has run off with someone better, but when he goes into the mountains for a group picnic, her rotting carcass is discovered and everyone becomes a suspect, especially Bobo. I did find similarities with the murder storyline and the one in the first Sookie Stackhouse book, namely that there were a limited number of suspects and the way it all wrapped up in a very clean and swift manner. However this aspect of the story is merely a thread pulling all the characters together. Each person has their own individual quirks and shadowy pasts and this is what keeps you reading.
If you enjoy mysterious character driven stories with a paranormal twist then this is for you. Midnight can be an eerie time of day and this town is no different. Each resident has an element of darkness, which even in the bright light of day they can’t shake off. It seems you only live in Midnight if you have a secret you want nobody to know, and I am looking forward to the books to come so that the ghostly mists lift and more is revealed.8/10