Book Synopsis:
Tracy Whitwell’s second novel Gin Palace picks up with the main character, Tanz, from The Accidental Medium, as she grows accustomed to her rather unusual gift . . .
Tanz can talk to ghosts, although she’d prefer it if she couldn’t. Struggling to make ends meet as an actress and wholly unsuited to supply teaching, Tanz is only one bad day away from a meltdown. And the babbling ghosts aren’t helping.
So when Tanz is offered a paid acting gig in her hometown, things start to look up. But Newcastle’s dead won’t stay quiet for long, and soon Tanz becomes haunted with visions of a mysterious Gin Palace guarded by a sinister figure. As Tanz starts to piece together a terrible tragedy, it becomes clear there’s no limit to what the poltergeist will do to keep his secrets his own.
Unfortunately, he’s never met anyone quite like Tanz before . . .
My Review:
The Gin Palace was a funny, quirky mystery from a new author for me.
I absolutely loved Tanz who I’d happily be friends with in real life. She’s such a wonderful, larger than life character who was a joy to follow throughout the book. She had me laughing out loud with her observations one moment and then sobbing the next as she passed on messages from people who had passed. Her work as an actress also gives the reader an insider glimpse of the film industry too which I found very interesting.
The plot of this book is quite fast paced and very action packed as there always seemed to be something happening to keep my interest. I found it very heartwarming to see how her work touched the people she helped and think I went through every emotion whilst reading , even fear as some parts were a bit more scary then I anticipated. The mystery side of things was very intriguing so I enjoyed trying to solve it alongside Tanz and her fabulous friends.
The ending was brilliant, very exciting but poignant too. This is the second book in the series and I’d definitely recommend reading the books in order. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future and hope there is more to come in this series.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to the publisher for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Tracy Whitwell was born, brought up and educated in Gateshead in the north-east of England. She wrote plays and short stories from an early age, then had her head turned, and like the ungrateful wretch she’s always been, she ran off to London to be an actress. By 1993 she was wearing a wig and an old-fashioned dress and pretending to be impoverished on telly in a Catherine Cookson mini-series, whilst going to see every indie/rock band she could afford.
After an interesting twelve years messing about in front of the camera and traveling the world, Tracy discovered she still loved writing and completed her first full length play KABOOM! A son, many stage plays, screenplays and a music video followed, until 2012 when she realized she was finally ready to do the one thing she’d longed to do since she was six. She wrote her first novel, The Accidental Medium – a crime/horror/comedy tale about an alcohol-soaked, gobby, thrill-seeking actress who talks to ghosts. (Who knows where the inspiration came from . . .)
Tracy now lives in north London, is working on screenplays and making her own short films, and has written more novels.
Over The Rainbow Blog 