Notes from Ghost Town by Kate Ellison (review)

Sixteen-year-old Olivia is an artist, so she is devastated when suddenly, without explanation, she is unable to see color. Losing her colors, though, is nothing to losing Stern, her long-time best friend (with whom she’d also been in love), when he is murdered and her schizophrenic mother is accused of the crime. Now, ten months later, her father is trying to draw her into his happiness over his pending remarriage and a lucrative building contract, but she is resisting: how can he just go on with his life, and how can she? Things get even more complicated when the son of her father’s colleague begins to show an interest in her, and she starts being visited by Stern’s ghost. Though Stern has no memory of his death, he shares Olivia’s conviction that her mother is no killer. As her mother’s trial approaches, Olivia tries to figure out who really killed Stern, why she’s seeing his ghost, and whether or not she actually has feelings for the new boy, who seems oddly determined to be in her messed-up life. Ellison’s strongly imagistic prose provides the perfect accessory to this taut mystery. She configures a strong sense of place as she uses the ocean to suggest the turbulent emotions of the characters that conflict with their desire for normality and emotional peace. The mystery is satisfying and well paced, with a sound balance between clues that lead nowhere and behavioral hints of who the real killer may be; similarly, Olivia’s fears that she might have inherited her mother’s mental illness are complemented by her compassion for the woman who is struggling to hang on to herself. Give this to readers who like their murder mysteries embedded in evocative character study, with a little paranormal wistfulness, if not full-blown romance, thrown in.