I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Mallory Fontaine is a fraud. Though she comes from a long line of witches, the only magic she possesses is the ability to see ghosts, which is rarely as useful as one would think. She and her sister have maintained the family business, eking out a paltry living by selling bogus spells to gullible buyers and conducting tours of the infamous mansion where the first of the Saphir murders took place.

Mallory is a self-proclaimed expert on Count Bastien Saphir—otherwise known as Monsieur Le Bleu—who brutally killed three of his wives more than a century ago. But she never expected to meet Bastien's great-great grandson and heir to the Saphir estate. Armand is handsome, wealthy, and convinced that the Fontaine Sisters are as talented as they claim. The perfect mark. When he offers Mallory a large sum of money to rid his ancestral home of Le Bleu's ghost, she can’t resist. A paid vacation at Armand’s country manor? It’s practically a dream come true, never mind the ghosts of murdered wives and the monsters that are as common as household pests.

But when murder again comes to the House Saphir, Mallory finds herself at the center of the investigation—and she is almost certain the killer is mortal. If she has any hope of cashing in on the payment she was promised, she’ll have to solve the murder and banish the ghost, all while upholding the illusion of witchcraft.

But that all sounds relatively easy compared to her biggest challenge: learning to trust her heart. Especially when the person her heart wants the most might be a murderer himself.

Short and Sweet Review

Mallory Fontaine is a fraud and she’s not ashamed of it. She and her sister Anais come from a long line of witches but the only ability Mallory has is to see ghosts. Mallory makes money by selling fake spells and jewelry and also giving tours at The House Saphir. Mallory considers herself an expert on Count Bastien Saphir who is better known as Monsieur Le Bleu, over a hundred years ago Le Bleu murdered his three wives. While giving one of her tours Mallory doesn’t expect to meet Le Bleu’s great great grandson, Armand. Armand needs Mallory’s help getting rid of Le Bleu from another one of his properties and Mallory needs the money and this is like a paid vacation for her and her sister. The only problem is Mallory doesn’t have the power to exorcise ghosts so she has to keep her charade up long enough to find an actual solution, she also starts to fall for Armand who may or may not have inherited the gene to murder.

I love Marissa Meyer’s books especially her retellings. This book is a retelling of Bluebeard and I had no idea who that was so I went into the book blind but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this book. Not only are there ghosts but there’s other paranormal creatures around too. Mallory has the ability to see ghosts which isn’t very useful but it does come in handy when she’s giving her tours. Mallory and her sister aren’t wealthy so when she meets Armand and he offers to pay her a pretty sum for her services it’s an offer she can’t refuse. When Mallory gets to the country manor she realizes she may be in over her head. Mallory is already acquainted with Le Bleu’s first wife from the house saphir but she gets to meet the other two at the manor. The ghosts did bring an element of humor and it’s really unfortunate that they were murdered but they do let Mallory know that whatever Le Bleu was up to when he murdered them he isn’t done. When another murder occurs at the manor, Mallory knows she has to solve the murder along with keeping up the illusion that she’s a powerful witch. I loved the dialogue it was serious but at other times it wasn’t and there were some real funny moments. I also liked the sense that there was danger around, Mallory does come into contact with Le Bleu and he hits at somethings from Mallory’s past and it was interesting to learn more about that. I enjoyed the romance between Mallory and Armand, on one hand she was confident that he was a great guy but on the other there was some weird things going down. We do meet some other characters towards the end of the book and I also enjoyed their presence and the help they provided.

Overall, this was such a fun book. I loved the story and the characters. Mallory is definitely a character you want to root for, it was fun watching her try to come up with solutions for her shortcomings. I loved this book and I would definitely recommend it to someone in the mood for a mystery paired with a paranormal retelling!