Kate Racculia

"From the award-winning author of Bellweather Rhapsody, a delightfully clever novel following one woman and a supporting cast of misfits, dreamers and foes as they race to win a treasure hunt inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, left behind by a dying billionaire" --

An Adventure

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts

so fun! i love a treasure hunt and a family mystery 

A handsome stranger. A dead billionaire. A citywide treasure hunt. Tuesday Mooney’s life is about to change…forevermore. Tuesday Mooney is a loner. She keeps to herself, begrudgingly socializes, and spends much of her time watching old Twin Peaks and X-Files DVDs. But when Vincent Pryce, Boston’s most eccentric billionaire, dies—leaving behind an epic treasure hunt through the city, with clues inspired by his hero, Edgar Allan Poe—Tuesday’s adventure finally begins. Puzzle-loving Tuesday searches for clue after clue, joined by a ragtag crew: a wisecracking friend, an adoring teen neighbor, and a handsome, cagey young heir. The hunt tests their mettle, and with other teams from around the city also vying for the promised prize—a share of Pryce’s immense wealth—they must move quickly. Pryce’s clues can't be cracked with sharp wit alone; the searchers must summon the courage to face painful ghosts from their pasts (some more vivid than others) and discover their most guarded desires and dreams. A deliciously funny ode to imagination, overflowing with love letters to art, from The Westing Game to Madonna to the Knights of the Round Table, Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is the perfect read for thrill seekers, wanderers, word lovers, and anyone looking for an escape to the extraordinary.

momo-reads

If you love books that take so long to get to the point that you forgot what the point was, this book is for you.

Megan Snodgrass

3.75

It took a lil bit to get into the book but overall it was a cute, light read. I was hoping there would be a bit more to the treasure hunt, but I guess not all books can have Ready Player One treasure hunt-esque details. The banter between the characters was well done, and I genuinely enjoyed all of the relationships between the characters. Also just a big fan of spooky things. Not super common you see a girl that presents as goth that's seen as the cool girl to everyone else. Would love a book on just Vincent Pryce.

Haley Murray

I don't really know how I feel about this. I loved most of it but what I didn't love definitely stood out. I am going to give this four stars but I might drop this down to a 3.5 after a couple of days.

Stephanie Highfield 

While weirdly fascinating to have a book be indirectly about hospital fundraising, something about the characters just didn't click

Cheri McElroy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tuesday Mooney is a loner. Past experiences have taught her that this is for the best. Then a millionaire dies and invites people on a scavenger hunt through Boston to inherit some of his wealth. Suddenly, Tuesday can't go it alone, and the fun begins.

Oh my goodness. This story of Tuesday Mooney, had all the quirkiness I love, while exploring themes of grief and loss. I absolutely love it.

Mary Rose Luksha

The title and cover do not do this book justice. It all appears very middle grade, but it’s for adults. Though I would argue it’s more New Adult because some of the Realizations these 30 somethings are having get a little preachy and made me think they were for a younger crowd. 

But. This book has heart. It has spookiness. It has a little twee. A perfect October read for people who don’t like to get scared.

Becky Carpenter

Takes on way more than it can handle. This book doesn't know tonally whether it wants to be a boring verison of the Goonies, an unearned meditation on grief, or an exhaustingly in-depth tour guide to Boston. It manages to miss all three, and you should miss this book.

Risa C

While I found this book to be generally entertaining and well-written, I tend to rate anything that puts me in a reading slump pretty low. I just wasn't gripped by the mystery or cared enough about the characters. The twists didn't turn the book on its head for me or make my jaw drop to the floor. Just a good, fun romp, with a side serving of grief, of unbecoming and becoming again. The mystery always seemed secondary to the inner traumas and hang-ups of these characters that I just didn't care about, and the reveal was so disappointing.

Renee Delcourt

Soooo... My thoughts about this book was all over the place. I really really enjoyed a lot of these characters and I enjoyed a lot of the plot line. There were some bits that I felt were just too.... implausible? It actually stressed me out a bit. I enjoyed the meaning behind Vincent Pryce's game and the message he was trying to drive home to all the players. I loved Dex's fun loving personality and his friendship with Tuesday is kind of adorable. He just cares for her so much even with how many walls she has. I feel like there were still a lot of plot points that left me confused or looking for answers. The beginning of the book is definitely slow moving. I kind of thought there would be more to the game than there really was in the book. I wont lie I'm still all over the place with this book. I think I'm struggling to completely explain my thoughts.

Faith Collins

Kerri McDonald

“The point of a game is the experience of playing. The obstacles and the choices you make to get to the objective. The possibility of winning, the danger of loss, shapes the game. Risk and reward give the game suspense, a plot. But winning or losing is not the whole point.”

Have you ever read a book synopsis and thought, “I must read this book immediately.”

That’s what happened when I found Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts on Goodreads.

There were three things in the synopsis that sold me: the book is set in Boston, there is a treasure hunt, and The Westing Game was mentioned. I don’t know what it is about moving to a new city, but I’ve been loving reading books set in Boston now that we live here. And we all know I love a book centered around a puzzle or a game! Then they sprinkled in a mention of one of my favorite books of all time?! I hadn’t even known this book existed until I stumbled upon it in a Goodreads group, but I knew I had to read it!

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts centers around our titular heroine, who works as a sort of charity stalker. She looks into rich peoples’ lives to see what strings charities can try and pull to get them to donate. Tuesday is extremely good at her job because she loves figuring things out. Then, Vincent Pryce, an eccentric billionaire who has a fondness for Edgar Allan Poe and all things weird, dies at one of the charity functions thrown by Tuesday’s employer. She finds herself, and the entire city of Boston, pulled into a bizarre treasure hunt written into the deceased’s obituary. But, as much of a loner as Tuesday is, she needs help, which comes in the form of “a wisecracking friend, an adoring teen neighbor, and a handsome, cagey young heir.”

The first note I wrote down while reading was, “I am falling in love with this book”, so that should tell you how quickly I was all in. This book hit so many sweet spots for me! It was one of those books that I just wanted to savor as I read it, which is probably why it took me so long to read. I distinctly remember being about 60 pages from the end and catching myself purposely setting the book down because I didn’t want it to be over!

So what did I love so much about it? First and foremost, it was the writing and the atmosphere it created. I loved the matter-of-fact tone that mixed beautifully with the Gothic vibes. I loved the dark and twisted parts of the story. I loved the varied cultural references, from plays, to music, to books. I loved the descriptions that brought me right to downtown Boston alongside Tuesday as she hunted for Pryce’s clues. It was all masterfully done and drew me in deep.

And the game! Oh, I adored the game! Probably because I understood a lot of the references, lol. I’m a fan of Edgar Allan Poe, myself. I enjoyed the set up the game, the execution, but especially the underlying turmoil that was just beneath the surface. If there is anything I love more than a game in a book, it’s a game within a game in a book! I like trying to find what everyone else is missing just underneath the obvious. In that way, I’m a lot like our main character.

Speaking of Tuesday, Kate Racculia did a beautiful job writing a character that was both at times unlikable and completely relatable. She made some choices in her life that had me yelling at the book, but I also saw myself in her so much. And the characters that float in her orbit were similarly well-crafted. None of the side characters felt flat or one-dimensional. They had their own lives separate from Tuesday’s narrative and I loved it. We all know I love a well-rounded character and to have so many in one book was a treat!

But beyond the game and the antics and the weird, damaged character, this book takes a look at the process/stages of grief. I think the author did an amazing job of describing how different people may deal with the loss of someone important to them. And it was interesting to see people dealing with grief both old and new. It was heartbreaking and touching and added another layer to this excellent book.

Final thoughts: I basically loved everything about this book. It was quite the adventure! It was tragic and heartbreaking and beautiful. And I can’t wait to explore more of Kate Racculia’s writing ❤

Renee Blankenship

An adventure, a millionaire's treasure hunt through the streets of Boston, love, mystery, ghosts, thrills, friendship and an overall feeling of what it truly means to find yourself and embrace that feeling. This book was so FUN! I loved Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts. It felt wholly different from anything I have read lately, with an adventurous storyline woven into something with a bit deeper meaning (grief and trusting yourself to move on). If you're looking for something fun and also heartfelt- this is for you!

Rachel Schommer

4/5

This was an adorable mystery and the characters were top notch! I want to be friends with Tuesday, Dex, and Lyle; spending nights at karaoke with them drowning the boredom of my desk job away.

Tuesday is weird. Obsessed with anything dark and occult - moody music, ghosts, scary movies...all the stuff I myself love. Tuesday is 30-Something and a bit bored with her life (same, Girl, same). Tuesday has had some traumatic past experiences that have made it difficult for her to open her heart to anyone (raises hand), but when an eccentric billionaire passes away and invites the public to play a sort of macabre scavenger hunt in order to win bits of his estate, she must figure out who she wants in her corner in order to play the game. 

I seriously adored these characters - all of them. Even nasty ol Nat. I want to know more about what happens to Lyle and her babies. I need to know more about the mysterious and incredibly badass Emerson. 

Typically I love a deep dark psychological thriller, or a really great crime fiction, however, I wanted something a little lighter, and originally decided on this because it was part of Kindle Unlimited and didn't look 'bad', but it was actually delightful, and I'm so happy I delved into this one!

Susan Forsythe

Guy Schmidt

Gabby Perez

A handsome stranger. A dead billionaire. A citywide treasure hunt. Tuesday Mooney's life is about to change . . . forevermore. Tuesday Mooney is a loner. She keeps to herself, begrudgingly socializes, and spends much of her time watching old Twin Peaks and X-Files DVDs. But when Vincent Pryce, Boston's most eccentric billionaire, dies--leaving behind an epic treasure hunt through the city, with clues inspired by his hero, Edgar Allan Poe--Tuesday's adventure finally begins. Puzzle-loving Tuesday searches for clue after clue, joined by a ragtag crew: a wisecracking friend, an adoring teen neighbor, and a handsome, cagey young heir. The hunt tests their mettle, and with other teams from around the city also vying for the promised prize--a share of Pryce's immense wealth--they must move quickly. Pryce's clues can't be cracked with sharp wit alone; the searchers must summon the courage to face painful ghosts from their pasts (some more vivid than others) and discover their most guarded desires and dreams. A deliciously funny ode to imagination, overflowing with love letters to art, from The Westing Game to Madonna to the Knights of the Round Table, Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is the perfect read for thrill seekers, wanderers, word lovers, and anyone looking for an escape to the extraordinary.

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts An Adventure

Reviews