Spirit Guide (Madame Chalamet Ghost Mysteries Book 3) by Byrd Nash – Review by Tara Johnson Barnes
Spirit Guide by Byrd Nash
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Spirit Guide is Book 3 in the Madame Chalamet Ghost Mysteries Series. Madame Elinor Chalamet is approached by the Duke de Archambeau, Tristan Fontaine, to help a nobleman find his missing daughter. This time Madame Chalamet has more help than she can handle with the nobleman, Tristan, and an annoying apprentice. The nobleman seems to be gruff and hard to deal with. Tristan instructs Elinor to be careful and insists on her not investigating the case alone. Madame Chalamet’s young apprentice only adds extra stress because she seems reluctant to follow instructions. Matters only intensify when their investigation leads Elinor to her beloved Morpheus Society. Now she must determine if the Society is involved and if so, to what extent.
Book three follows with the relationship between Madame Elinor Chalamet and the Duke de Archambeau, Tristan Fontaine so I recommend reading the first two books. Their relationship is a bit complicated and it seems that there was a spark between them that started when they first met. Yet, neither Elinor nor Tristan seems to know what exactly their relationship is or if it will become more than what it is. Elinor is frustrated because Tristan seems to be attracted to her one minute but then practically shuns her the next. Their relationship started to unfold a bit more in this story and Tristan showed Elinor that he cared through his actions and wanting her to stay safe.
The characters are wonderful and it is easy to root for them. Elinor Chalamet is both a fantastic medium and detective. She is smart, strong, feisty, determined, headstrong, and hits the scariest of challenges head on. Tristan Fontaine is charismatic yet seems aloof and almost comes across as cold at first. In this story his character developed a bit more and we were able to see that his attitude and behavior are more like coping mechanisms. His heart has been scarred from a tragedy in his past and he is still trying to work through the demons of that painful past. Madame Chalamet’s new apprentice, Twyla, seems like a bumbling little twit who has no desire to listen to anyone and is determined to do things her own way. As the story unfolds it becomes clear that she has talents that she has kept well hidden out of fear of the trouble it may cause her. Those hidden talents come in handy for Elinor in this investigation.
I really enjoyed this storyline and the intensified paranormal aspect with the realms between the living and the dead. The involvement of the Morpheus Society was an intriguing twist to the story that added an extra layer of intensity and a layer of possible corruption from within the Society. The storyline kept me hooked to the end and contained a few twists and turns that kept me reading to the end. I highly recommend!
