Review: The Summoning by Heather Graham

The Summoning (Krewe of Hunters, Book #27)
by Heather Graham
Release Date: May 21st 2019
2019 MIRA
Kindle Edition; 368 Pages
ISBN: 978-0778369912
ASIN: B07H5P1LQN
Genre: Fiction / Mystery / Paranormal
Source: Review copy from publisher

3 / 5 Stars

Summary
When Kristi Stewart inherits a property in the old part of Savannah, she knows it comes with stories of hauntings. But she doesn’t believe in ghosts, even while she runs seances for the guests of McLane House Bed-and-Breakfast. Until the inexplicable midnight appearance of one of her infamous ancestors. Terrified, she flees into the night—and right into the arms of Dallas Wicker.

Dallas is trying to uncover the truth about a colleague who died under suspicious circumstances. As strange happenings continue to plague Kristi’s home, it is soon clear that there’s a very living threat in the neighborhood—several people have disappeared without a trace. Dallas can’t find any connection between the victims, but someone wanted them gone, and it might be linked to the history of McLane House. And that means Kristi should be very afraid.

My Thoughts
The Summoning is the latest entry in the Krewe of Hunters series by this author. For whatever reason, I am drawn to this series and have read every book; I consider it my fluff reading in between those heavy hitters simply because I know it's formulaic and predictable and I am okay with that.  Basically, boy meets girl, one of whom sees ghosts, the other one suddenly sees ghosts, one is being haunted, someone is murdered, they investigate together, they fall in love, they solve the case, end.  Predictable, but I think I would be a bit upset if the formula changed at this point.  

What I think draws me to these books is the settings; haunted places all over the United States and as I tend to be drawn to those places when I do the tourist thing, so am I drawn to them in books.  I've been to Savannah and was quite happy to see another one of these books set there.  I've always thought one of this author's strengths is the way she describes the local areas and highlights the history, something I love.  This book focused more on the Civil War and the Revolution around the area and you got an idea of what the area might have been like during that time period.  And since I have been in downtown Savannah, I could picture where the characters were going and what they were doing.  

Kristi and Dallas were all right as main characters; and by that I mean they weren't annoying as some of them can be.  I liked that Kristi was strong and didn't frighten easily, checking things out for herself. I tend to have a dislike for those wimpy characters who do nothing but cringe and cry and are afraid of everything.  There is nothing wrong with being afraid, and Kristi was afraid, but she didn't hide in her room and let the 'men' do everything.  And like I said, the plot was totally formulaic, so if you've read most of the Heather Graham books you would have been able to figure out who the murderer was quite easily.  This is probably the only part where I wait hoping there would be that one last twist, but it doesn't usually happen the way I would love it to happen.  I also tend to dislike the romance in these books simply because I feel that a couple of days is not enough to really develop a relationship.  But then, I don't really read these books for the romance. What I did enjoy about these books though, are the ghosts.  A ghost with a sense of humour and who watches Netflix? Funny.

Verdict
The Summoning was another addition to the Krewe of Hunters and I definitely get why these books are so popular.  I did enjoy it and I thought the ghosts were funny; I also thought Kristi's reaction to seeing them was quite funny too.  I was actually glad to see a bit of humour injected into this one.  And I do want to reiterate something here: just because something is formulaic doesn't necessarily make that a bad thing.  If it works, why fix it?  And for this author, it definitely works.  However, as a reviewer, it is something that does need to be pointed out.  Am I going to read another one? Already did, and yes, for sure.