Publisher: Twenty Hills Publishing.
Release Date: September 16th, 2025.
Source: From publisher. All opinions are my own.
Category: YA, historical, mystery, paranormal.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
She can see ghosts, but can she catch a killer?
Stornshire, England – 1890
Leighanna Pauley barely escaped consumption. Now, she’s claimed by both Life and Death. Fascinated by justice and why she survived when so many others haven’t, she has a new the murder of a fellow socialite. But the police have no leads.
The investigation emboldens Leighanna to attend the first ball held at the Carmine Estate. When midnight strikes, the unimaginable takes place. Time stops for everyone but Leighanna. Before her stands the ghost of the dead girl, pleading with Leighanna to catch her killer before someone else is murdered.
In a race against time, Leighanna hunts for clues across Stornshire. Will she be able to solve the case before the murderer strikes again, or will she become just another forgotten victim?
My Thoughts:
Leighanna has escaped death after suffering from a severe sickness and wakens with a renewed sense of life. No longer wanting to conform to societies expectations, she finds a new purpose in solving the murder of a young woman in order to bring her justice. She becomes obsessed with the case and is determined to solve it, no matter the cost.
The characterization was done really well in this. Leighanna was headstrong, which I really liked. Her best friend was more reluctant, and worried about Leighanna, but didn’t leave her friend to do the risky investigating alone, which I admired.
I love animal sidekicks, and Stan, Leighanna’s cat, was so cute and clever and a great help.
My absolute favourite part of the book was the characters of Life and Death. It was such a unique concept to have them as characters, and I would love to read more stories with them.
I loved the setting and the time period. I am not a huge mystery fan, or a fan of ghost stories, and probably wouldn’t have read this if it was set in modern times, but the story worked really well in the Victorian era. I was creeped out when the ghost was on the scene, but she didn’t appear too many times. I did find the way she appeared to be a bit gory.
Overall, I found Curious Case to be a heart pounding and compelling read, that was also a touch chilling. I stayed up late to finish it to see if I had guessed correctly who the murderer was, and I had. It did take me a little while to figure out who it was though. Although I had guessed who the killer was, the very ending left me in shock. I hadn’t seen that coming. It did leave me wanting more.
Suitable for upper YA and adults, I highly recommend it for those who like historical mysteries and don’t mind ghosts.
Content warnings:
There was no sexual content.
There was some mild swearing used somewhat frequently. Mainly blast/bl**dy.
Some violence, mentions of violence, and the Ghost appears covered in blood which I found a bit gory.
You can add it to your Goodreads here.
Rochelle L. Sharpe 