The Haunting at Bonaventure Circus by Jaime Jo Wright

Amazon description:

1928
The Bonaventure Circus is a refuge for many, but Pippa Ripley was rejected from its inner circle as a baby. When she receives mysterious messages from someone called the "Watchman," she is determined to find him and the connection to her birth. As Pippa's search leads her to a man seeking justice for his murdered sister and evidence that a serial killer has been haunting the circus train, she must decide if uncovering her roots is worth putting herself directly in the path of the killer.

Present Day
The old circus train depot will either be torn down or preserved for historical importance, and its future rests on real estate project manager Chandler Faulk's shoulders. As she dives deep into the depot's history, she's also balancing a newly diagnosed autoimmune disease and the pressures of single motherhood. When she discovers clues to the unsolved murders of the past, Chandler is pulled into a story far darker and more haunting than even an abandoned train depot could portend.

It seems like I've been reading Jaime Jo Wright's books all the time, but really I've been trying to read more and reviews and blog posts have fallen to the wayside. However, I was super thrilled to join the launch team for her newest book, even if my social media book presence has slowed. 

Wright has the ability to take you into the minds and souls of her characters while using using suspense and mystery in a tasteful way. Pippa and Chandler's story both resonated with me in different ways. I appreciated how the physical limitations of a deformed leg and disease along with the mental limitations of anxiety brought out different relational connections between Pippa and Chandler. And Pippa finds comfort in a dog while Chandler places her hopes and dreams in her son, Peter. 

After recently seeing The Greatest Showman again, this book circus setting came alive for me in a new way. While I've never personally attended a circus, the movie gave me the mental images and lifestyle, and Jaime's book created a story within a story. Circuses are like any other scenario where the outward lifestyle is a scene which may not accurately reflect the characters lives until you get to know them, and even then, Jaime's characters learn much about each other--some good, some bad. 

A strange theme in this book was the hierarchy of power in victims lives. I think too often I wonder why victims don't stand up for themselves or run away or find help. But the mental limitations and abuse they endure leads them into a life that is much more complicated. Often the risks of moving outside the "group" lead to more danger than remaining--at least for the present. 

Once again, I love Wright's ability to create lives, scenes, characters, hopes and dreams, wins and losses, and tackle the hard topics in her novels. Thank you for letting me join your launch team, Jaime!! 

*I received this book free from the author in exchange for my honest review.

Echoes Among the Stones by Jaime Jo Wright

From Amazon:
After Aggie Dunkirk's career is unceremoniously ended by her own mistakes, she finds herself traveling to Wisconsin, where her grandmother, Mumsie, lives alone in her rambling old home. She didn't plan for how eccentric Mumsie has become, obsessing over an old, unsolved crime scene--even going so far as to re-create it in the dollhouse.

Mystery seems to follow her when she finds work as a secretary helping to restore the flooded historical part of the cemetery. Forced to work with the cemetery's puzzling, yet attractive archeologist, she exhumes the past's secrets and unwittingly uncovers a crime that some will go to any length to keep quiet--even if it means silencing Aggie.

In 1946, Imogene Grayson works in a local factory and has eyes on owning her own beauty salon. But coming home to discover her younger sister's body in the attic changes everything. Unfamiliar with the newly burgeoning world of criminal forensics and not particularly welcomed as a woman, Imogene is nonetheless determined to stay involved. As her sister's case grows cold, Imogene vows to find justice . . . even if it costs her everything.

This story is a hard one to read for anyone who has traveled through the journey of grief. People mourn and grieve in different ways, and Jaime does an amazing job showing different levels of the healing process through her characters.

Aggie's past career has left her searching for purpose and wondering if she is capable of responsibility. After receiving a letter from her Mumsie, she attempts to bond with her grandmother while also grieving the loss of her mother. Skeletons and bone fragments initiate a rough beginning for the estranged granddaughter and grandmother, but the two soon realize they may have more in common than they know.

Approximately 7 decades earlier, Imogene relives the day she found her sister's body in her attic bedroom. While her deputy brother attempts to relieve her concerns and follow the clues, he's handcuffed by work politics and his impulsive younger sister.

Each of these young ladies finds themselves intertwined with one another in ways they didn't imagine. Their faith, families, and friendships are tested as they try to unravel the mystery of Imogene's sister's murderer.

I especially love Collin's part in this story. While not a main character, he's an important support and friend to Aggie, and basically everything one would wish for in a solid friendship. Mumsie too begins to hold a large place in Aggie's life and the transition is beautiful to watch. I wish I had the words to unpack the depth of this story, but it's a hard one to describe or feel. I admire Wright for her willingness to unpack such deep topics and yet bring healing out of horrible tragedies. She allows characters to grapple with loss and the pain of sorrow, but yet keeps the hope of Jesus at the forefront. Jaime Jo Wright captures emotion, friendship, love, and sorrow in this story, and reminds us that those who have gone before leave their memories and love for us to share.





*I received this book free from the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.