Simply Angela : Audiobook Review: An Open Spook by E.J. Copperman

Haunted guesthouse owner Alison Kerby may have only recently discovered her ability to communicate with ghosts, but for her mother Loretta, it’s been a lifelong gift. As Alison prepares her Jersey Shore guesthouse for what promises to be a huge storm, Loretta helps out by tackling a different issue when the winds blow in an unexpected visitor: the ghost of Sgt. Robert Elliot. His request? Help him find the POW bracelet from the Vietnam War that bears his name. But no sooner does Elliot make his appeal than he suddenly disappears, cutting off contact, and leaving Loretta to wonder...why here? Why now? And why the vanishing act?

The answers begin to materialize when Alison’s lone remaining guest shows up unwittingly holding a clue to the case - on his wrist. A coincidence? Hardly. And Loretta has good reason to believe that the sergeant’s spirit has a secret he’s yet to share. Something he’s been holding on to for more than forty years. Something he’s dying to put to rest.

Series: Haunted Guesthouse #4.5| Publisher: Audible | Narrator: Amanda Ronconi | Length: 2 hours 32 minutes | Genre: Cozy Paranormal Contemporary Mystery | Source: Audible | Ratings: Performance 3 Cups Story 1 Cup

When a hurricane Sandy unleashes it’s wrath on the Jersey Shore, Alison, her mother Loretta, and her daughter Liss along with her two resident ghosts, and a houseguest are trapped inside the guesthouse. They soon discover the arrival of a new ghost, Sgt. Robert Elliot, who needs their help locating a POW bracelet that has his name on it.

I really didn’t care for this one. I had trouble clicking with the last book in the series and this one went right down the drain.

It’s told from Loretta’s POV although we don’t really learn much about her other than she was against the Vietnam war when she was a teen.

The mystery isn’t really much of a mystery. It’s basically the ghost of a former sergeant who was a POW during the Vietnam War searching for the last POW bracelet with his name on it so he can pass over.

Even though the audio was only a little over two and a half hours, the book felt like it dragged on forever and I’ve just never been found of anti-war sentiments being strewn into my books. It wasn’t an in-your-face approach, but it still turns me off.

Overall, this one wasn’t my cuppa tea. And, honestly, the only reason I finished this one was because I was listening to it during a road trip and didn’t have time to change it.