The Last Curtain Call by Juliet Blackwell

Item: The Last Curtain Call
Rating: 5
Author: BaronessMom

Posted September 5, 2022 by BaronessMom in #SummerReadsWithTheBaroness, Mystery, Paranormal, Review, Series / 0 Comments

The Last Curtain Call

by Juliet Blackwell

Series: Haunted Home Renovation Mystery Series #8
Series Rating:

Published by Penguin Random House on June 30, 2020
Genres: Cozy Paranormal Animal Mystery
Pages: 326
Format: Audible Audiobook, Audio CD, ebook, Kindle, Paperback
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon
Also in this series: Give Up the Ghost, A Ghostly Light, A Haunting is Brewing

A new ghoulish mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of A Ghostly Light featuring Mel Turner, a ghost-whispering contractor.
Mel Turner can’t resist the chance to bring the Crockett Theatre, a decrepit San Francisco Art Deco movie palace, back to life. But there’s a catch for Turner Construction: Several artists are currently squatting in the building, and they aren’t the only ones haunting the once-grand halls of the historic theater...
When one of the squatters is found dead, the police department has a long list of suspects to investigate. Meanwhile, Mel and her fiancé, Landon, are remodeling an old house for themselves, and Mel finds being on the other side of a home renovation project more challenging than she expected.
When Mel discovers that the former owner of the Crockett Theatre died under mysterious circumstances, and that there just might be a connection to the ghost haunting her own attic, the case takes a new turn—one that could bring down the curtain for the last time.

The Last Curtain Call by Juliet Blackwell is a fantastically entertaining mystery filled with a new set of unique characters brought to life in an amazing old theater.

Will Mel find a way to save the Crockett Theater and free Hildy too?

Mel Turner

Mel is our sleuth. She helps spirits and the living with the death of their loved ones. Mel runs her family construction company in the San Francisco bay area. They do primarily historic renovations. These historic homes have a few specters hanging out, and Mel helps them find peace. What I like about Mel is she is relatable. Mel fears heights and has a soft spot for her dog and her stepson from her previous marriage.

In this installment, Mel is learning to balance her actual paying job, her ghost busting, her family, and her own needs. I think that she is happy and enjoying her life.

The Mystery

For our sleuth, there are always multiple things going on, and this story is no different. Mel and her crew are remodeling the home that Landon bought for them to live in. Mel’s great grandparents once owned this house, so the attachment is excellent. Anyway, there is a ghost in the attic. Her name is Hildy, and she was once a silent film starlet. Turner Construction is hired to work on the art deco Crockett Theater in San Francisco. There are so many things going on in that theater that Mel can’t seem to stay away.

Mel is really working on balancing her life. She spends quality time with her Dad, Stan, and Caleb, but she also manages to double date with Landon, Lux, and her new boyfriend. They go to some really great restaurants and bars. But my favorite is the burlesque show; they happen upon it by chance.

Ms. Blackwell has a fabulous way of mixing history with fiction. I didn’t know that some silent films were created in what is now Freemont, California. Here is a link to the Niles Essanay Film Museum.

Five Stars

I always love Juliet Blackwell’s books. She creates these fabulous worlds that are right there in our present, and she adds the perfect amount of history and paranormal. My rating for The Last Curtain Call by Juliet Blackwell is five stars. I highly recommend the entire series, but grab any of these books, and you will be transported to Ms. Blackwell’s version of the San Francisco bay area.

Haunted Home Renovation Mystery Series

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of The Last Curtain Call by Juliet Blackwell.

Until the next time,

About Juliet Blackwell

Juliet Blackwell was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, the youngest child of a jet pilot from New York and an editor from Texas. She graduated with a degree in Latin American Studies from University of California, Santa Cruz, and went on to earn Masters degrees in Anthropology and Social Work from the State University of New York, Albany.

While in graduate school she published several articles based on her research with immigrant families from Mexico and Viet Nam, as well as one full-length translation: Miguel León-Portilla’s seminal work, Endangered Cultures. Juliet taught Medical Anthropology at SUNY-Albany, was a producer for a BBC documentary about Vietnamese children left behind by US soldiers, and worked as an elementary school social worker in rural New York. Upon her return to California, she became a professional artist and ran her own decorative painting, historical renovation, and domestic design studio for more than a decade.

In addition to mainstream novels, Juliet pens the New York Times Bestselling Witchcraft Mysteries and the Haunted Home Renovation series. As Hailey Lind, she wrote the Agatha Award-nominated Art Lover’s Mystery series. She is past president of Northern California Sisters in Crime and former board member of Mystery Writers of America.

Juliet lives in a hundred-year-old house with extensive botanical gardens in Northern California but spends as much time as possible in Europe and Latin America. She believes in the magic of language, travel, and cultural exchange to open hearts, minds, and souls.

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