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A truly fun read!Cordelia is a ghost and is trying to find out why her neighbor Jake was killed. Her apartment is rented to Ruby who soon realized Cordelia is trying to communicate with her. They are unlikely roommates investigating his death together. Lots of interesting twists and turns. A real page turner and a must read!

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Thank you to Minotaur Books for the digital copy to review.

What a fun cozy mystery, the first in a new series! I am enjoying cozies lately, including this one. I really enjoyed the duo of Ruby and Cordelia, their banter, and how they worked together, although it was definitely bumpy at times. Told in both of their POVs, I loved getting each of their perspectives, and thought the second book is set up nicely at the end.

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*A New Lease on Death* by Olivia Blacke is the first book in the *Brooklyn Murder Mystery* series. It follows amateur sleuth Mia, who moves to Brooklyn and gets caught up in solving a local murder. The book blends humor and suspense, with quirky characters and twists that keep readers guessing. While the pacing is a bit slow at times, the focus on character development and cozy setting makes it an enjoyable read for fans of cozy mysteries.r it. If you're a fan of cozy mysteries with a bit of humor and lots of heart, *A New Lease on Death* should be an enjoyable read.

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Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press for the e-arc of this book.

This was a surprisingly cute and funny murder mystery.
Cordelia is relatable for me (solitary book/plant lady) who works a menial job and winds up dead by “suicide”
Ruby moves in Cordelia’s abandoned, fully furnished apartment and they develop a quasi relationship as ghost and friend of ghost trying to solve a murder of their neighbour across the hall.
These two ladies couldn’t be more different but they’re kinda opposites attract in their friendship and it’s charming and witty.
The pacing was good and kept me interested. The characters were likeable and the ending was satisfying. I would read any subsequent book to this as the ending left off open ended.

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I was looking forward to reading A New Lease on Death. I liked the idea of a ghost and her living roommate working together to solve a mystery. I found A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke to be a slow starter. The pacing was unhurried and there were repetitive details (Cordelia zaps electronics if she gets near them, it is very cold in Boston, Cordelia died in the tub, Ruby has nosy neighbors with a morbid curiosity, the dead neighbor loved pizza, ghost abilities). The job duties for the front desk position at TrendCelerate are listed at least three times. I did not warm up to Ruby or Cordelia. I read A New Lease on Death, but I could not get into the story (I found myself struggling to get through it). There are some fun, quirky elements (such as how Ruby and Cordelia communicated). The mystery is lackluster. It needed some zip and zing (a zap of electricity to bring it to life). It is a simple whodunit to solve. While the story is mostly lighthearted, it does touch on serious topics (murder, alcolhism, depression, suicide, domestic violence). I did not feel that the sensitive topics fit into the story, and they should not be taken lightly. The book ends with a cliffhanger. My interest is not piqued enough for me to pick up the next book in the series. A New Lease on Death left me discontented.

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I really enjoyed this story and was entertained throughout! Many of the reviews say it's a great "spooky read" but I would have picked this up any time of the year. It's set in the winter, and it's a cozy mystery, so there's really not a bad time to read it!

I will say that suicide is discussed multiple times, so be aware of that and check for any other content warnings before reading. None of the content bothered me, but we are all different (and that's okay).

There were times where I felt things were a bit repetitive, but overall I thought the dynamics between Cordelia and Ruby were great and the storyline flowed well. I also appreciated that it wasn't the same ghost story we've all read before. There were new "rules" of sorts.

I'll be looking for the sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

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normally I would just DNF but I did want to give this author and genre a shot . Overall it’s just not my jam but I’m hopeful others will enjoy it more!

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I did find this a pretty quick read, and one that held my attention. But at the same time, it also wasn’t really for me.
Ghosts, murderers, and an unknown death.
There was quite a bit going on, and the relationship between ruby and cordy was just a bit off.
Also, the part where the family watch has been stolen and then found. It seemed like a big chunk of the story and until it just wasn’t anymore. It kind of just stopped being brought up and that was it.
A lot of unexplained things: and by the way it ended, it seems like there should be another one coming.

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A cute twist on the ghost solves a mystery plot. Ruby's neighbor dies under mysterious circumstances and her roommate is convinced it was murder. The only problem is her roommate, Cordelia, is a ghost and Ruby can neither see nor hear her. Fun to read and I hope there's a sequel.

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This paranormal mystery had a lot of things going for it at the start…quirky characters, an odd-couple pairing, and a fun take on ghost/human interactions.

While I enjoyed the growing relationship between Cordelia and Ruby, and the various caper-like hijinks they got into, the overall mystery and their role in it fell flat for me. This was largely due to slow pacing and the murder involving a character we as readers don’t get the chance to know. I hoped that the main crime would tie into a larger mystery concerning Cordelia. But based on the cliffhanger ending, it seems that may be something the author is planning to explore in the second book.

There were also several sensitive topics touched on, such as suicide, alcoholism, and domestic abuse. While I have no problem with books exploring difficult topics, the tone was too light for me and I felt uneasy during certain scenes, like one involving alcohol being forced on a character who is clear they do not drink.

This may not have been the book for me, but I do appreciate the author's attempt at bringing dark humor into a cozy mystery!

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Thank you Minotaur Books & Olivia Black for A New Lease on Death. I enjoyed it! In this book, we come across a darkly funny supernatural mystery that introduces an unlikely crime-solving duo. Ruby Young's new Boston apartment comes with all the usual perks, including a ghost. Cordelia Graves died in her apartment a few months ago and her ghost has not left. When her across-the-hall neighbor, Jake Macintyre, is shot and killed in an apparent mugging gone wrong outside their building, Cordelia is convinced there’s more to it and is determined to bring his killer to justice. With Cordelia being dead herself, she cannot solve the mystery alone. Ruby is twenty, annoying, and has never met a houseplant she could not kill. She can also do everything Cordelia cannot. For example, interviewing suspects to researching Jake on the library computers that go up in a puff of smoke if Cordelia gets too close. As the roommates form an unlikely friendship and get closer to the truth about Jake's death, they also start to uncover other dangerous secrets. I would recommend if you like supernatural mysteries!

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A New Lease on Death is a witty take on the classic buddy escapade trope. Half of the duo, Cordelia, is deceased but for some reason is still able to explore the world around her. Now Cordelia is able to communicate, albeit somewhat dysfunctionally, with the apartment's new tenant, Ruby. Together the ladies are determined to figure out what happened when a fellow apartment dweller is found dead under suspicious conditions.

This novel reminds me of the 2005 Reese Witherspoon movie, Just Like Heaven, though Blacke's plot is a bit darker and more of a mystery than a romance. Without giving anything away, I found the ending to be neatly explained even though it felt a bit rushed after multiple chapters of no forward plot progress. Clearly Blacke is setting these characters up for a second novel together, and I would be interested to see what exactly happens next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read this novel.

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DNF at 17%
I really tried, but was just not invested in this story. Cordelia and Ruby's match up was odd, the pacing was slow and I was finding myself force reading it way too early on. I've seen others enjoyed this one so clearly it's just not for me.

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Fun concept for a cozy mystery! The multiple POVs, one being a ghost, really gave a neat spin. I had some difficulty getting into the novel, but once I did I enjoyed it. It was a fun book, and I hope to see what happens next in the series.

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A New Lease on Death is a fun supernatural cozy mystery about a ghost and her new “roommate,” who investigate the murder of their neighbor. The ghost, Cordelia, is a woman in her 40s who has died by suicide several months prior. She has been wandering around her apartment and Boston since her death. Ruby is a twenty-year-old looking for a fresh start who moves into Cordelia’s “furnished” apartment.

At the beginning of the novel, their neighbor, Jake is murdered in cold blood outside of their building. Cordelia and Ruby were acquaintances with him, but are interested in learning what happened because the police still don’t know who did it. Ruby is aware of Cordelia’s death before she moved in, but has never sensed her. Cordelia is frustrated by Ruby’s presence, but starts warming up to her. They learn how to communicate vaguely. There are a number of funny miscommunication scenes. I like how Cordelia and Ruby were layered characters trying to make the best of their situations and handle past traumas.

I was looking for a lighthearted read and this fit the bill. Being from Massachusetts, I always enjoy reading about stories set locally. I was surprised by the ending and who Jake’s murderer was. Overalls, it was an enjoyable read.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

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I liked the idea for this, and I thought it was cute, but it did read slow and lose my attention a good bit. I do think it would be good for those that like cozy mysteries and don’t mind a paranormal spin. The ending left on a cliffhanger, which makes me thing maybe it will be a series, but I’m not sure so I kind of felt like it was a bit of a disappointment because I probably wouldn’t come back for more. It is cute and humorous, I think I just wanted something darker so don’t let that deter you. Thanks to Minotaur Books and St. Martin’s Press for my eARC. A New Lease on Death is available now.

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What a great, fun read. I loved this book. The concept was quirky, as were the characters. It moved well, without being bogged down by too much foreshadowing or detail. It was the perfect fall, sit on the back porch with a blanket read. Can't wait for the next in the series. Because it just HAS to be a series!

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Cordelia & Ruby!!! I'm looking forward to more from these two!

If you have some extra disbelief lying around, come and suspend it with this likely read. . .there are a number of things that will stretch a reader's tolerance for some over.the.top situations, but if you've done it before (as we all have. . .humpty-dumpty anyone?) you understand that in for a penny, in for a pound, right?!~? Right.

<i><b>A New Lease on Death</i></b> has all the boxes checked for cozy mysteries, but has the bonus of ghosts and afterlifers wafting in and out. Rather than depending on scary tensions to move the story along, Olivia Blacke has humor take over - but humor requires a tricky ingredient, communication. . . .and how does a human and a haunt get over that hurdle? Well, these two ladies manage it handily (so to speak).

There's a promise of more to come from these two. I'm perched and ready.

*A sincere thank you to Olivia Blacke, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.*

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The premise of this book and the book in its entirety was a cute- I would say, cozy- mystery! The ghost of the past tenant pairs up with the current tenant to solve a mystery of the death of the man across the hall. It did get a little repetitive and stale for a minute or two there, but eventually picked back up when it was time to come to a conclusion.

Overall, this book made for a light and quirky spooky season read!

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This was a fun, cozy murder mystery. I'm kind of sad it didn't all wrap up in one story, but I can't say I'm not interested to see how the rest unfolds. It was cute to see an older millennial working with a younger generation, but they complimented each other well without clashing.

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