Audiobook Review: The House on Tradd Street by Karen White

Release Date: 2008
Read by: Aimee Bruneau
Age Group: Adult
Received From: Library
IBSN: 9780451225092
Blurb:

A brilliant, chilling series debut, featuring a Charleston real estate agent who loves old houses?and the secret histories inside them.

Practical Melanie Middleton hates to admit she can see ghosts. But she?s going to have to accept it. An old man she recently met has died, leaving her his historic Tradd Street home, complete with housekeeper, dog?and a family of ghosts anxious to tell her their secrets.

Enter Jack Trenholm, a gorgeous writer obsessed with unsolved mysteries. He has reason to believe that diamonds from the Confederate Treasury are hidden in the house. So he turns the charm on with Melanie, only to discover he?s the smitten one…

It turns out Jack?s search has caught the attention of a malevolent ghost. Now, Jack and Melanie must unravel a mystery of passion, heartbreak?and even murder.

I was drawn to The House on Tradd Street because it’s set in Charleston, SC. Charleston is one of my favorite places in the world. It’s always fun to read about places you know. When the character walks down a street you’ve walked down it’s exciting. If it weren’t for that I never would have considered reading this. It does have ghosts too, so that was definitely a plus.

I was pretty enchanted with The House on Tradd Street to begin with. All those fun things I was expecting from the setting were there. The atmosphere of Charleston was captured perfectly. The mystery picks up quickly and Melanie was really fascinating. Unfortunately, my enchantment didn’t last. The plot really seemed to bog down after Melanie moves into the house. It was almost like she kept having the same experience over and over. Things were also repeated a lot. It was really tiresome.

Melanie was a very uptight and headstrong character, but she made some dumb decisions that just didn’t seem to fit. I wanted to like her, but I just couldn’t. There were some great side characters but I don’t think they were as developed as they could have been.

The best thing that The House on Tradd Street had going for it was the back story and mystery surrounding the house and its past residents. I was never 100% sure where it was going and if it would have moved faster I would have been very captivated. The setting was also a plus for the story. Karen White did a great job with the description and just bringing Charleston to life. Too bad it wasn’t enough to make me love the story.