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Brenda Strange had an enviable life. At the age of thirty-two, she was a rising star and about to become a junior partner in the New York law firm where she worked. She's been in a committed relationship with her significant other, Tina, for 5 years. And she even bears more than a passing resemblance to Princess Di. Brenda's life goes in a direction she would never have predicted when the deranged spouse of one of the law firm's employees goes on a shooting spree in the firm's offices. Brenda is shot and nearly dies. As a matter of fact, she undergoes a near death experience which changes her life forever. At first, she is unresponsive to the world around her. She spends her time making teddy bears and not doing much else until Tina suggests that they fulfill a dream of Brenda's to buy a summer vacation home. They take a vacation to Tampa, and Brenda is drawn to an old Victorian home known as the Malfour House. The home needs extensive renovation, but it calls out to Brenda as the place where she needs to be. After a battle to buy the house, Brenda and Tina settle in. One of the unforeseen aftereffects of Brenda's near death experience is that her psychic intuition has become very active. She experiences what is known as a "full spectrum" sighting-she can smell, see, hear and touch the visions. Malfour House has a reputation for being haunted, and Brenda discovers that is true. When she is in the house, she alone smells a strong burning odor. And she is introduced to a set of murders that occurred 70 years earlier. It appears it is her mission to solve the murders and free the people who were done some terrible injustices. Brenda becomes consumed with uncovering what happened, obsessed with Malfour House, all of which causes problems in her relationship with Tina. The ghosts of the past are real to her, and she jeopardizes the present in her efforts to help them. The least believable element of the book to me was when Brenda acts as a private investigator. This seemed rather forced to me, in that she was really set up as an amateur sleuth through a majority of the book and did not seem to have any particular skills that would enable her to be successful at being a private investigator. I have to admit that before I picked up this book, I expected that I would not like it. I am very much a fan of realism and do not care for the supernatural or otherworldly in my reading. Haunted houses and psychic revelations are not my bag! Much to my surprise, I enjoyed the book. Henderson did an excellent job of introducing the paranormal element of the book into the narrative in a believable way. The characters were well developed, and the story moved along nicely.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, March 2002
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