One of the MOST original stories have read in years. Take classic favorites from your own childhood, scavenger hunts, a love for X-Files, books such as a Westing Game and realize the hunt the characters embark on is more about who they are and not the prize- you understand you hold a gem of a book. Tuesday Mooney is a kindred spirit. I think many a book loving soul will be able to relate to her and not soon forget her.

This nostalgic & suspenseful book kept me hooked from page one. Wonderful characters, tight plot line & great writing! I am excited to see what else this author comes out with!

I thought this book was going to be very different than it was. It was just not the book for me, but may be a better fit for others.

This book was a bit different than I expected it to be. I wanted more ghosts and less reality I think. That said, I still really enjoyed this book. I think the title and marketing of this book put me off a bit more than the actual book itself. There is one ghost Tuesday talks to, but I thought it was going to be a whole world of them. I actually really love a good adventure book so once I really caught on to what the book was about, it was definitely a book that I would have picked up had I understood what it was about. There were a few moments that it felt like the book went on a bit too long, but overall I really enjoyed it.

This book is on the purchase list for fall as I am growing the adult fiction collection in our highschool and know this is one that students will want to read.

My late review of this book is due only to the debilitating reader’s hangover I suffered from after finishing it — what an excellent, charming, and intelligently crafted story. As a protagonist, Tuesday is a compelling character, but everyone else is equally interesting and the dialogue is fantastic. Plus, as a Boston resident, it was great fun to read a story with a local setting. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

I hesitated to review this book because I simply just couldn't get into it. I finished it, but slowly...oh so very slowly. It didn't grip me like I expected it to. The story was different than I thought it would be...I just struggled with this one. That being said, there were lots of twists and turns (most you could see coming) and the characters were given lots of detail.

Once, long ago, before the current pandemic shut the world down, I started a delightful book called Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia, which I’d been granted as a free digital ARC from NetGalley. Then the pandemic came and derailed my reading habit, which I’ve slowly been rebuilding. And five months after I started it, I finally finished Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts, reading the last thirty percent in two nights, staying up far too late (early?) to do so. Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is a lot of fun, with a clever, twisting plot and a story that reminded me of a more socially conscious and emotionally developed Westing Game, which I had finally read just last year. Like the Westing Game, there’s a central quest/ game, with a vast fortune as the potential payoff, an eccentric dead billionaire setting the plot in motion, and a cast of quirky, imperfect, often pretty damaged characters competing for the prize.

There are plenty of differences from the Westing Game, though. I like to describe this as an adult goth version of the Westing Game, set in Boston. There’s a lot more character building than in the Westing Game, a lot more angst, more discussion of sex and relationships, and even a ghost. Or is there? Or is it just mental illness? There’s a bunch of darkly quirky characters, from a Madonna-cosplaying flamboyant gay corporate hotshot, to a bereavement-traumatized shy Asian-Jewish teenage girl, to the over-the-top deceased billionaire who is “not that Vincent Pryce”, to a charming man of mystery with trust and intimacy issues, to the titular Tuesday Mooney, a socially awkward goth loner who researches people for a living and who talks to what may or may not be the ghost of her friend Abby, who died when they were both in high school. There’s also the vivid and richly drawn setting in Boston, some sly social commentary, and a host of other quirky characters, lots of dysfunctional families, and a game whose stakes may just be far more complex than originally suggested.

There’s also a lot of geeky and nerdy Easter eggs, frequent allusions to pop culture, like Madonna and Prince, historical asides, like a reference early in the story to Lord Carnarvon and his curse (Lord Carnarvon, the British noble and amateur Egyptologist, died of what some called a curse associated with opening and excavating the Egyptian pyramids. He was also one of the lords of what was basically the real Downton Abbey…but I digress.), and even some love for books, authors, and libraries (as it should be).

There is a fair amount of diversity in the story. Tuesday Mooney herself may just be a tall goth white woman who may or may not be mentally ill. But her teenage neighbor and unlikely friend Dorry is half Jewish, half Asian, and Dorry’s new friend and possible love interest Ned is Black. Tuesday’s best friend Dex is a somewhat closeted gay man who buttons up his love of musical theater, of makeup and performance and attention, behind his powerful corporate persona. Everyone is portrayed in what seems to be a sensitive and informed manner, and the story is interspersed with wryly witty commentary and asides on various aspects of privilege at work in the world, from wealth to race to gender to sexuality. The story briefly touches on topics like gentrification and racial discrimination in policing and ingrained traditional gender roles and marriage expectations and American healthcare and pharmaceutical profiteering, and offers serious depictions of grief, mental illness, alcoholism, and domestic abuse, including severe physical violence. (I’m not good at providing Content Warnings, but if that sounds triggering to you, this might not be the book for you.)

At the core of this story, running parallel to the mystery, with all its twists and turns, is a theme of human connectedness, of birth and found families and the love between friends that can run as deep as any romantic love, and the feeling of hopefulness that can accompany meaningful romantic connections, even between people who are struggling and broken. Maybe especially between those lonely outsiders. After all, “having someone care about you makes you want to give a shit, especially if you’re having trouble caring about yourself.” The tender ties of relationship between Tuesday and Next Dorry, Tuesday and her friend Dex, and Tuesday and her possibly untrustworthy partner Archie, as well as relationships between several of the other characters take this story to another level of heartfelt authenticity, but with enough wit and self deprecation to avoid being maudlin.

By the end, I got a little frustrated with the main plot, with the twists and turns and coincidences and machinations of the game almost becoming too much for me, exhaustingly, unrelentingly clever. I felt a bit like I did after watching Inception, with how my head almost hurt trying to follow the intersections and plot turns and reveals. But the human connections of the characters continued to ground this story, to showcase the worth of each character, and to affirm the interconnectedness of all humans. Those connections and that commentary is what made this otherwise clever and suspenseful story truly resonate with me. And they are what will encourage me to buy the story and reread it, hopefully in one solid reading, uninterrupted by pandemics and fascism. If you like games and quirky characters and sly humor and all things kitchily macabre, but peopled with real, resonant characters, you will probably love Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts as much or more than I did.

Above all, as the story reminds us, “Don’t hoard what you’ve been given, because you think it’s all you’re going to get. Be generous. And be generous now, because the future isn’t a destination. It’s an extension of how we choose to live today.”

Thank you to #NetGalley and Houghton Miffling Harcourt for letting me read a free digital #advancedcopy of #TuesdayMooneyTalksToGhosts . This is my honest opinion.

A mix of adventure and supernatural with unique, eccentric characters is what you'll find in TUESDAY MOONEY TALKS TO GHOSTS. Admittedly, it took a couple chapters to get into the book, but eventually I felt like I couldn't get through it quick enough.

I was reminded of the WESTING GAME while reading, and despite some of the twists and turns seeming unlikely, the central plot is mysterious and interesting enough to have kept me guessing the whole time, which is the best part of mysteries for me.

References to the 90s was nostalgic for this Millennial. Overall, the combination of characters and the development of their relationships and the depth of mystery made this worthwhile.

Kate Racculia hooked me in with a good premise. I wavered a bit because the cover art reminded me more of middle grade or young adult though the summary stated adult. Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts started out interesting but soon became confusing for me. I had a hard time following the storyline. I wondered if the author used a scattered approach to character development and settings in order to reinforce to the reader just how eccentric were the profiles of the characters. That scattershot technique contributed to my difficulties following the story and enjoying the novel. I guess my reading style wasnt up to the task.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

The synopsis of the book is so good that it draws you immediately to read the book. The starting pace is smooth, but it lacks gripping and paces towards the middle. An okayish story, details of characters and places were amazing though.

So...not what I was expecting. Which is too bad, because the story I thought I would read (you know, the one in the title and the description) would have been awesome. Instead this is a shaggy dog that at once doesn't totally fit together and at the same time is too tidy.

There are SO many moving parts, so many characters with tragic backstories, and also some rich people nonsense which makes money feel illusory and blunts the stakes of the treasure hunt at the center.

For instance - at one point there is a filing cabinet with a number of folders containing clues, plus in total well over half a million dollars...and the trustworthy people of Boston kindly only take one folder per team. I just couldn't buy it. A game like this would get so cutthroat (does anyone remember the first season of <i>Survivor</i>?!), but in the end the treasure hunt didn't matter much because the ending was so bizarre as to be completely unpredictable.

Ultimately, too literary and not quite enough of a mystery.

Received a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A big thank-you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for giving me a copy of this book for an unbiased review.

2.5/5 - If the whole book had been as fast-paced and satisfying as the ending, my rating would be higher.

Overall, I did enjoy the book. My number one complaint is that it was slooooooooow and often felt disjointed. The details and characters and sidestories which permeated the first 80% of the novel broke the pace and made it difficult to plunge into the story, which was a shame. I really like Tuesday. I love Dex. I enjoyed Archie, Vincent Price, Lyle, Rabbit... Each character was vibrant and odd and vulnerable and raw, just how I like them. The tone of the book was unique and darkly comical. All of the elements were there for the story to be delightful, but the story itself just didn't move. It was as if the plot had a permanent stutter, and I found myself skimming through the details, swimming upstream past the descriptions and the side plots, hoping to reach the solid river bank of the real story.

But when the real story finally came together, it REALLY came together. It was explosive, exciting, with that tingle of satisfaction that comes from reading a good mystery. Truly, if the whole book had kept this pace, I would have been giving this novel at least 4 stars.

I also wanted to know more about Abbey. What actually happened? I loved her integration into the story, but for a book titled "Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts" the ghost felt rather tangential (and singular, not plural).

Overall, the book was between 2.5-3 stars for me, meaning that I had the potential to really like it, but it didn't keep my attention the whole time. This being said, I would still recommend it to fans of mystery, the paranormal, and spooky (but not scary) stories. It's worth the read, if only for the ending.

Not bad, but I was expecting something different. The cover, months after reading the description, convinced me it would be a middle grade and then I was confused. BUT, I did enjoy it after I understood my mistake!

Tuesday Mooney is an introvert of the first order. She lives in Boston, keeps to herself, doesn’t socialize, and likes it that way. But, when an eccentric billionaire dies unexpectedly, leaving his wealth to whomever can solve the puzzle he’s left behind, Tuesday Mooney finds herself dragged into the treasure hunt. Her cohorts include a friend who never gives up on her, a teenage neighbor, and a young man who is also a potential heir to the fortune.

The hunt for the treasure leads them throughout Boston by using literary references and clues. While others in the city are also engaged in the fun, Tuesday Mooney and her motley gang are in it for keeps.

Tuesday Mooney is a character. All the people in this book are characters – quirky, unpredictable, and fun. The story itself is creative and original, and the reader will find himself rooting for Tuesday as she breaks out of her solitude and joins whole-heartedly in the quest for the treasure.

I enjoyed this book, with its unexpected twists and its myriad of characters. Boston is a fascinating city and it lends itself very well to this story. What a fun and interesting book!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

This book was fun to read! The front cover looks as much fun as the storyline. This is a treat for all people who love paranormal stories.
It was a very fast read too.
Highly recommended.

The title of this book grabs you attention but the story holds it. Kate Racculia has written a treasure/ scavenger hunt into the will of a rich billionaire who just happens to die at a public event so EVERYONE knows. Tuesday Mooney is a character who prefers her own company but is drawn out of her comfort zone for a chance at a fortune. Her journey is of course filled with many more characters who kept this writer entertained as they make their merry way. A really good read.

Such a fun book. A tribute to some of the best parts of 90's nostalgia, a little bit rat race meets Addams Family, a bit Westing Game and Ready Player One too. I enjoy Racculia's writing style too and found this to be another really enjoyable book with her distinct way of telling a story.

I suggest Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts n my 2019 Fall lineup of books people can't wait to get their hands on!

3.5 Stars.

Going in, I absolutely thought this was a young adult book (wrong). I absolutely thought it would be vaguely creepy (also wrong). And I thought it was like a new era Westing Game (sort of right, sort of wrong).

However unspectacular the solve is in this (and while it isn’t bad, it also isn’t great), it’s certainly better than that of the Westing Game, which remains one of the greatest disappointments of my reading life despite having read it waaaay back when I was 8 years old.

This too is a treasure hunt of sorts that is (kind of) based out of a creepy old house. And oh, how I wish we’d gotten more of this house! Though I semi-enjoyed some of the capering around Boston, I would have preferred that the bulk of the game take place in the house, which we get enough of descriptively to become enthralled by but not enough plot-wise for that to become fully realized.

I also wish that more of this book had been plot and less of it has been character study, especially given the over-sentimental, schlocky direction that the story ultimately takes for most of the characters. Racculia is clearly a very talented writer and thus I would imagine is capable of more subtlety in this regard.

Tuesday is easy to like and her backstory more deftly constructed than some of the others. Dex is all of the cheesiest, most maudlin parts of a stereotype. And Archie...is really kind of a dud. Lyle was delightful (wish we’d gotten more of her), as was her husband, the architect of this whole game from beyond the grave.

I enjoyed this for the most part but would have preferred it with less syrupy sentimentalism.