Although only 16, Wren has already had a rough life. She had been battling Leukemia, and had gotten to the point that no further treatments would prolong her life, when her family was in a car accident and were all killed. Now she is living out her last months with an eccentric aunt who has just purchased an old Victorian mansion that has been converted into a doll museum. The museum is a popular tourist attraction, both because of the dolls and because it is rumored to be haunted. As soon as Wren arrives at the museum she learns about a young man, Xavier, who used to live in the house, who has accused of murdering his niece before dying, himself, in a terrible fire. Wren senses the ghosts in the museum, and begins to believe that Xavier's ghost is benevolent. As her connection with Xavier's ghost grows, she goes on a crusade to prove that he was the innocent victim of a different malevolent force. Unfortunately, that evil force also haunts the museum, and wants to stop Wren from learning its secrets.
This is Ms Nielson's third teen fiction, and, like the others, is great fun to read. Wren is, despite all her trials, a plucky character who faces ghosts, and her own mortality, with aplomb. I really like Wren's voice. She sounds like a real teen and you can almost hear her roll her eyes sometimes. Like any good suspense writer, Nielson intersperses the tense scenes with funny ones so the story doesn't get too intense too soon. I think teens who liked her earlier books, and also those who like other clean paranormal romances will enjoy this one. (2020, 338 p.)
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