Scarlet at Crystal River: Ghosts of Children (3.5 Stars)

I recently finished reading Scarlet at Crystal River by Randy Overbeck. I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway late last year. It is part of a series. Our main character, Darrell, sees ghosts. They reach out to him so he can solve their murders. In this book, Darrell has just gotten married. He’s honeymooning in Crystal River, Florida with his new wife, Erin.

Warning: Third Book in a Series

First, this book is the third book in the series. While most of the book made sense, there were a few places where I felt like I was at a disadvantage as a reader because I hadn’t read the previous two books. I would definitely recommend doing that before reading this one.

Issues With This Book

This book was kind of slow for a mystery novel. Darrell can see ghosts, and he’s apparently helped solve other murders. By doing that, he’s given ghosts closure before. Even before the story starts, he knows he’s going to have to help out two people. Yet, he hides this information from his new wife, Erin. Part of me understands that. He doesn’t want to ruin their honeymoon. Yet, he’s done this before. Erin knows he’s done it before, so it’s not like he’s trying to hide this skill/gift from his wife. He knows he can’t avoid helping the ghosts.

He should have shared that information with his wife a lot earlier. Maybe, it shouldn’t have, but it actually really bothered me that he was trying to hide this information from his wife. He should have just straight up told her he was going to encounter two ghosts on their honeymoon and have to solve their murders.

This book had a few odd transitions. Sometimes, it felt rushed, like the author wanted to get to another part, so he rushed through information to get to the scene that he wanted to write.

Experience Some Fun Late-90s Nostalgia

This story takes place in December 1999 and January 2000, so it offers some fun nostalgia. From music to technology to fears about Y2K, I think the author captured this time period really well. I found myself laughing at parts of it because of how well the author captured the mood of this era.

Reader Warnings

As a warning to readers, there is some swearing in this book. It’s what I’d call some of the “milder” swear words. There are also a few scenes where characters are shot at and even injured. Fortunately, these don’t go into graphic detail. The book also includes racism, particularly as it applies to migrant workers.

Final Thoughts

Despite giving this only 3.5 stars, I did enjoy reading this book. The 1990s nostalgia alone was worth the reading experience. As I mentioned earlier, if you do decide to read this book, you may want to read the previous two books. I think I would have enjoyed the reading experience a lot more if I had read the first two books.