Book Review: The Guests on South Battery by Karen White

#5 in the Tradd Street series
Pages: 352
Publisher: Berkley
Released: January 10, 2017
Rating: 4.5 out of 5, Special Shelf
Goodreads

Ok, so here's some backstory. I adore this series. Favorite ever, reread a bizillion times, re-listen on audio, feel like the characters are real, adore. The series wrapped up perfectly with book four and then there was a break between book four and book five and I was so worried that the series was going to get stretched beyond its natural ending and things would go downhill.

So. I saved this book for winter break so I could get the full distraction-free experience. And it was both more and less than I was expecting it to be.

Let's get the bad out of the way first? So, yes, the series maybe should have ended with book four. This did seem a little dragged out and we did a lot of retread over things that had been established in the previous four books rather than creating new. It did feel like this book was propped up more by the past than it was standing on its own two feet.

The mystery was good, but also disappointing. I don't pride myself on being a super-sleuth and figuring out mysteries long before they're revealed. The mysteries of the first four books did, well, take me by surprise maybe isn't the right phrase, but they slowly unfolded over the course of the story.

Not so with book five. Here I pretty much figured out all of the Big Reveals as soon as the first clue was dropped. That was disappointing, since half of the fun of these books has been unraveling the mystery. I also always thought the mysteries were clever, and while I do still like these mysteries, the delivery left something to be desired. The connections to Mellie's life also felt forced and unbelievable. How many secrets and ghostly connections can one family have?

And then there was that whole thing with Jack. The whole thing was treated as if it were a growth moment for Mellie, but I don't think she was wrong. I do think Jack was wrong, but it wasn't presented like that. The whole thing made me think less of him, and I really don't want to think less of Jack.

Ok, deep breath. Now that that's all out of the way, on to the good! The book still gets high marks from me because despite all my quibbles, this is still very much a Tradd Street book.

I still adore all the characters, I still love spending time in the old houses, I still love being transported back to Charleston, and I still love the ghostly mysteries. There's also the addition now of Mellie's children and I never thought I'd find fictional babies adorable and wonderful, but Karen White has me (semi) convinced that I want some of my own now.

Bottom line

Yeah, this could have been better. And, yes, it's definitely showing signs of a series that has run its course. But, the ending strongly suggests that we're in for at least one more book, and that's good because despite everything, I'm not ready to let go yet.

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