By B.E. Jones

Constable, out now

Melanie was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that…

Or at least that’s how B.E. Jones’ intriguing new mystery novel begins. BBC TV journalist Melanie Black wakes up next to a strange man – not perhaps as unlikely a happenstance as it could be – but is more than a little shocked to realise that neither he, nor his wife can see her. It doesn’t take her long for the penny to drop that she’s dead, and that there’s a connection to the house in which her ghost (a word that she doesn’t care for) is trapped. But it’s when she realises that she can read the minds of those around her and that in some strange way they can sort of her her that things get really interesting.

The novel is narrated by Melanie, who’s not renowned for her honesty, either with others or herself, and you quickly realise that everything is being presented in the best light for her… and there are times when you very definitely don’t enjoy being stuck in her head, much as she doesn’t like being stuck with Peter and his very put upon wife Emily. The pair of them are well-observed characters, and like Melanie, not necessarily people you’d want to spend time with – as Melanie herself observes at one point, when things are going wrong for Peter, even though you suspect he’s involved in her death, you have a tinge of pity for him.

I don’t want to spoil the many twists and turns that Jones brings to the plot, but the fantasy angle (and yes, on that basis I would say Sunset Boulevard has a fantasy angle) gives it an extra level. If you enjoyed Sarah Pinborough’s latest novel, Behind Her Eyes, then give this a try.

Verdict: A dark murder mystery with an intriguing twist. 8/10

Paul Simpson