Last Case at a Baggage Auction by Eric J. Guignard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Day Books for providing me with an ARC of Last Case at a Baggage Auction in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Gist
I have been on a quest throughout the month of October to find good Halloween books and movies.
On the movie end I had some great help from friends giving me their suggestions and recommendations. So, my evenings are spent watching spooky movies to my heart’s content.
But what about the rest of my day? I can only train Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu so much before I need to give my body a well-deserved break.
I stumbled upon Last Case at a Baggage Auction in the summer, but I didn’t have any time until this week to read it. And boy am I glad I did.
Not to spoil anything, but I’m going to use the rest of this review sing its high praises.
The Details
Truth be told, I was a little hesitant when I opened the file on my e-reader. I had just found myself in the middle of a bad reading slump, finishing a book that had me almost pull out my hair.
Always the optimist, I thought what’s the worst that could happen, giving this story a try.
Within the first paragraph I knew this was going to be good. Really good.
The protagonist, also the narrator in this case, had a degree of honesty and sincerity that encouraged a connection between the character and the reader.
He told the story with enough detail to make everything come alive, without feeling overwhelmed or unnecessarily wordy.
The interpersonal relationships between the protagonist and the other characters demonstrated depth and complexity that is difficult to create, especially within a shorter work of fiction.
The horror was superbly developed. It wasn’t sudden or gory, but sneaky, subtle and positively eerie.
The writing was excellent. It kept me spellbound until the last word.
I also felt a sort of connection to the setting. I lived a few years in Windsor, on the other side of the Detroit River, just across the Ambassador Bridge. Half of the TV channels we got with our cable bundle were from Detroit and Michigan. So, I feel a little bit of a nostalgic bond towards it.
The Verdict
Overall, I think I could go on for a long time, pointing out everything I liked about this story with an ever-increasing risk of spoiling the story itself.
For that reason, I’m going to stop right here, but must reiterate one last time how much I enjoyed this spooky story.
I would definitely recommend Last Case at a Baggage Auction.
