Paranormal Mystery Meets Rom-Com in This Cozy Novel About a Ghost-Busting Medium

Review by Autumn, Library Specialist
Book by Josie Silver

Crazy Spooky Love is the first book in the Melody Bittersweet series by Josie Silver. It’s a cozy paranormal mystery with a bit of romance and comedy about a plucky 27-year-old woman, Melody Bittersweet, who realizes this is her make-or-break year because she’s done nothing substantial… until now. Melody decides to not follow in her family’s business of communing with the dead for money, but instead creates a ghost busting agency to help the dead move on. 

Being a medium in a family of mediums, it’s a bit hard to make your own unique mark on the world, and that’s exactly what Melody needs to do. Twenty seven was a major year in both her mother’s and grandmother’s lives and now Melody feels the need to accomplish something as well. Her love life is a dead end, and her working life isn’t any better. So with the help of her determined and protective best friend, Marina, and newly acquired helping hand, Artie, Melody creates the Girls’ Ghostbusting Agency. 

Their first job is a big one, an old house with old bones that seemingly can’t be sold, Scarborough House. Melody and crew may or may not have sniped the opportunity from her fame-seeking ex, Leo Dark, but if you ask her, she’s the better pick for the job anyway. 

Soon, Melody comes to find that Scarborough House definitely is haunted, not by just one ghost, but three; the Scarborough brothers. Now, instead of asking them to move on, the Girls’ Ghostbusting Agency must solve a century-old murder. It would be easy, if there wasn’t the annoyingly handsome roadblock that is local reporter Fletcher Gunn. 

Fletcher has spent years trying to expose the Bittersweet women as fakes (they aren’t), but there’s also been an undeniable chemistry between Melody and him lately. Between Fletcher kissing Melody like the world is ending and the ever increasingly difficult ghostly mystery to work through, then throw in Leo schmoozing the other Bittersweet women, Melody has her hands full.

This book was such a fun and cozy read. The main character doesn’t take herself too seriously and I genuinely love that about her. She’s quirky, zany, and just a bit over-the-top, but in the best way. I found myself laughing multiple times at her silly antics! That being said, when she needs to lock-in, she doesn’t mess around. Her growth throughout the book feels natural, and I can’t wait to see where she goes in the second book. 

The mystery at the center feels natural and not too supernatural (even with the whole “seeing ghosts” part). The heart of the mystery is a human one after all, and if you do guess who did it, there’s a twist that you won’t see coming.

If you like a cozy paranormal mystery with a hint of romance that will have you giggling and kicking your feet and that keeps you guessing, then be sure to check out Crazy Spooky Love!