The Forever Summer

Single mum Lila Abbot will never forget this summer of ups and downs. Lila works in Port Gamble’s local store and witnesses the death of a local girl, Emily Ruth Griffin. Emily drops dead in the aisle where Lila is putting a display of ‘Cheez Whiz’ and crackers. Now her ghost is demanding in a very forceful way that she solve the mystery of who-done-it. Lucas Griffin, Emily’s ex also becomes caught up in the murder inquiry and becomes a suspect.

The angry ghost follows them around, causing problems, all Lucas wants is the family home back in his possession. Then there’s the little problem of him becoming smitten with the voluptuous, Lila. While Lila worries about her daughter, away from home for the first time.

Lucas begs Lila to help him solve Emily’s death, as the local police have made a mess of it so far and she can’t resist. Drawn together by a mix of lust and death, can their love blossom, as he’s a summer city boy and Lila is defiantly local and proud of it?

THE FOREVER SUMMER, is a comedy of errors that will make readers laugh. The ghost is a treasure never to be forgotten, as she finds a myriad of ways to get her message across the divide. The characters are an interesting mix—as both the city folk and the locals are quirky. None of these characters are boring, especially the ranting ghost and the unexpected villain. The locals always warn their daughters not to mix, as most of the time it’s oil and water. The action is easy to follow with interesting sub-plots blended into the main plot with expertise.

The conflicts between the different characters were varied, as life in a small community means there’s always somebody ready to point a finger. The dialogue was great and Lila’s pal added to the fun with comments like this, ‘this is what I love about you, complete stream of consciousness comments that bear no relevance to whatever it is we’re doing.’

The ending is well done and left this reviewer smiling and looking forward to another tale from Ms. Macpherson.

November 2007