Although this book is 3 in the series it can be read as a standalone. I do feel I needed to start at book one to find out more about Clarisse.

Clarisse and Henry are in Old Tailem, a ghost town! Where they come across some very creepy characters. The town has been taken over by demons and Clarisse and Henry need to stop them.

Although I enjoyed reading this book. I struggled with some of the Australian terms. There were lots of twists and turns and it was an interesting read but I struggled to finish it and skipped over quite a bit of the excessive descriptions.

This book got right to the point! I enjoyed it, a great book that really keeps your attention. I enjoyed both the characters and the plot. It was almost like you were really in the book, not just reading it!

Not quite a stand alone, more like a lean against…because you really will be happier if you read the first two books in the series or feel like something is missing at times. Other than that it was a good, creepy, read. Keep the lights on and make sure the doors are locked. Not quite a stand alone, more like a lean against…because you really will be happier if you read the first two books in the series or feel like something is missing at times. Other than that it was a decent, creep read. Keep the lights on and make sure the doors are locked.

Haunting of Old Tailem by Janice Tremayne is a stand alone book, although it is the third in a series. I haven't read the first two books and had no problems following along. Ms Tremayne gives the reader an interesting tale about demons laying in wait in a small town. Some edge of the seat moments. To me this read more as a Young Adult book. I want to thank NetGalley and Milport Press for an early copy to review.

When I saw the cover and the fact that this book can actually be read as a standalone novel, I decided to take a chance on it. I am and am not glad I did. Let’s explore why.

The Characters
I actually enjoyed the characters in this book. Especially Shamy and Digger. They’re technically supporting characters for this particular installment in the series, but they’re fun and genuine, which I love about them.

Although it is stated this can be read as a standalone, I felt as though I should have read books one and two so I could fully understand Clarisse, Harry, and their relationship. I’m still unclear as to whether they are married or a live-in couple. Harry didn’t have too much time in the story, but what time he did have, he was used effectively to further the story along.

Although it felt as though Clarisse and Harry weren’t well thought out, it could simply be that I did start on the third book in the series.

The Storyline
The storyline was interesting enough. The town has a dark past and is basically the home of a demon and his crew of evil minions. Digger has had dealings with this evil crew before, as has Shamy.

The story itself took a while to unfold, and the ending felt a tad rushed, but it wasn’t something I could say was horrible or that was a deal breaker for the book. Between the characters and storyline, I’d read the book again.

The Writing
Now for the reason I gave this book two stars and why I wouldn’t read it again. Mind you, I was reading an eARC and I understand that they are uncorrected proofs, so some of the following could be due to that fact. So if the following were corrected in the released version of the book, I might actually give it another read.

The first thing that bothered me was the Australian lingo. I get it, the author is Australian, the book is set in Australia. However, for those of us who don’t live there or have friends who have lived there, the Australian lingo is a bit daunting. I knew a few of the phrases, but most of them I didn’t know. I also found it funny that Clarisse acted in some spots like she didn’t know what the lingo was either. A little glossary to define the Australian terms at the beginning or end of the book would have been nice.

This particular eARC, unlike many, was actually formatted to look like a normal book, with the exception of the missing cover. However, I did note that there were several places where sentences and even paragraphs were repeated. I’m not sure if that was a formatting error or if that was done on purpose and was supposed to convey the importance of those passages, but it bothered me a lot.

The other thing that bothered me a lot with this book was the constant finding words that shouldn’t have been there, words missing, and improper tenses or forms of words. Again, I know this was an uncorrected proof, but as a general rule, I don’t find this many mistakes in an eARC. I’m just saying.

I read the three in a series of the books by Janice Tremayne I enjoyed all that went on with each character and person each of the books. I can't wait for the next read from this author. Surprise awaits each and every book.

*Thank you to Millport Press, Janice Tremayne and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review*

This book is #3 in a series but can be read as a standalone. I have not read the first two books and the only thing I felt was lacking was some background on Clarisse and Henry's relationship, background on who Clarisse is and how she learned her spiritual senses and how they ended up doing what they do.

Ghost children are always creepy so any book that you read with a posse of children who are in the hands of demons are going to be automatically creepy. In this mystery, Clarisse and Henry arrive in the ghost town of Old Tailem and meet a bevy of characters including an old shaman, an ageless circus witch, a demonized hotelier, a wily ghost tours operator and many little ghosts. The town has been taken over by demons and Clarisse is on a mission to stop them before opening day festivities.

Clarisse reminds me a lot of Nancy Drew. There is an innocence about her but she recognizes her gifts and being very smart, she is quick to act and get things done. I will definitely be reading the next in the series to see how her character develops. I would be interested to see more of her personality, her relationship with Harry and her background in further books.

I appreciated that this could be read as a stand-alone, as I hadn't read any from the previous books. Overall I really enjoyed reading this book, it was suspenseful and had great characters.

Haunting in Old Tailem follows Clarisse on her journey to release the spirits which are haunting the town of Old Tailem. It is told through the eyes of a third person narrator.

It says that this can be read as a stand alone book but i feel like it is missing a lot of important background information on Clarisse, so I could only guess that she is some sort of spiritual medium. Apart from that missing information the book was easy to follow.

I enjoyed the story line and the characters. I liked Clarisse because she was focused on releasing the souls from purgatory. She is a strong leading character who focused evil head on. The character of Digger is portrayed to be a typical Aussie, this is shown with the use of Aussie slang such as sunnies, mozzies, g’day and fair dinkum. I think this helps to highlight Digger’s deep Australian roots.

I thought that the ending was going to be huge but I actually had to reread the end because I missed the ‘big moment’.


I recieved an advanced copy for free, and this is my honest opinion.

Haunting in Old Tailem by Janice Tremayne is a scary book. But boy did I enjoy reading it. It has all the ingredients you need for the perfect horror mystery story. From the creepy ghost town to the actual ghosts make sure you read this one with the lights on.

A winner indeed!

This book was provided to me in exchange for my honest opinion. Wow! Definitely a 5 star.