Givin' Up the Ghost by Gwen Gardner

Givin’ Up the Ghost, by Gwen Gardner, is a cozy mystery involving a sixteen year-old girl who moved in with her uncle and cousin. Indigo Eady, who has the ability to see ghosts, and her fifteen year-old cousin, Simon, are seemingly looking for something to do.  They, together with their friends Badger and Riley, start to investigate what happened to Badger and Riley’s father, who had mysteriously disappeared. Everyone thought that he had run away with his secretary; everyone except the four friends.  They are joined by Cappy, a chimney sweep that Indigo met, to prove that Bart didn’t just leave his family. 

The plot was good, and I liked the characters, although I had trouble remembering that they were in their teens.  Also, Ms. Gardner did not play fair with her readers.  She introduced certain characters in the beginning of the book and the reader would not see them again until the end.  By that time, the reader forgot who the character was and what role he played in the story.  What’s more, the characters were too many in numbers to keep straight.

I usually read a cozy mystery in a day or two, as I get involved in them. I lost interest in this book from the very beginning, and so it took me a few weeks to read.  I kept thinking it would get better, but it didn’t.  I am sad to say, that I only gave this book one star.