Review Detail

Rebecca couldn't feel more out of place in New Orleans, where she comes to spend the year while her dad is traveling. She's staying in a creepy old house with her aunt. And at the snooty prep school, the filthy-rich girls treat Rebecca like she's invisible. Only gorgeous, unavailable Anton Grey seems to give Rebecca the time of day, but she wonders if he's got a hidden agenda. Then one night, in Lafayette Cemetery, Rebecca makes a friend. Sweet, mysterious Lisette is eager to talk to Rebecca, and to show her the nooks and crannies of the city. There's just one catch: Lisette is a ghost.

A ghost with a deep, dark secret, and a serious score to settle.

As Rebecca learns more from her ghost friend -- and as she slowly learns to trust Anton Grey -- she also uncovers startling truths about her own history. Will Rebecca be able to right the wrongs of the past, or has everything been ruined beyond repair?

If you love classic ghost stories with lush settings and lyrical language, read Ruined by Paula Morris.

When Rebecca arrives in New Orleans, the town is still feeling the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Her Aunt Claudia makes her living reading tarot cards in the French Quarter, and she dresses for the role as well as lives it. Rebecca finds a gris gris bag as well as many other objects intended to ward off evil in her new room, and everything is uncomfortable and strange at once. Just like New Orleans, Rebecca comes to learn that her life is both deeply rooted in history and the magic of the present.

And just across the street from her new home lies Lafayette Cemetery.

Ruined is rich in well-researched New Orleans history, and not just the kind you read about in textbooks. There are secret societies, graves, danger, Mardi Gras, more danger, more secrets, romance and dont forget the ghost. Morris does an excellent job with setting and pace, and keeps the mystery a mystery until the very end.

Highly Recommended

Four of Five Stars