Notes From Ghost Town by Kate Ellison

This book is about Olivia, whose mother has been accused of murdering her best friend. Then she is visited by his ghost and starts to realize that her maybe her mother didn't really do it.

I have read several other YA books like this in the past few years. Books where a teen was murdered and their best friend is the one who has to figure out who really did it. And yes the mystery aspect was pretty good (I didn't suspect the real murderer until about 20 pages before Olivia did). I liked the whole addition of Olivia's mother being schizophrenic and Olivia's sudden color blindness because it made me wonder how reliable the narrator was. (Was she really seeing ghosts and going color blind or was she slowly starting to go crazy?)

So even though I've read similar stories it was an interesting read except for one small thing. It really needed a bit more editing or a different description for a few scenes. Like where Olivia lifts a piano lid but then says it had been left open ever since it had been put in storage. And that was important because when she closes it a clue fell out...which couldn't have happened if the lid had been closed and then opened. And then at the end of the chapter the piano was still open...but how is that possible if Olivia closed it and a clue fell out?

(After some research maybe the scene did make sense if the first reference was to the keyboard lid and the second was to the actual lid but to someone who has never played a piano and hasn't seen one in years that was really confusing.) That scene needed more clarification...exactly which lid was she opening/closing each time? But if that wasn't continuity there was at least one, if not more, instances of it.

So all in all it was a good book and kept my attention but I think it could have used another proofreader or at least have some clarification for that confusing piano scene.