Book Reviews and More: Ghost Hotel - Arthur Slade - Canadian Chills Book 2 Reprint Edition

Tuesday 16 July 2024

Ghost Hotel - Arthur Slade - Canadian Chills Book 2 Reprint Edition

Ghost Hotel

Canadian Chills Book 2 Reprint Edition

Arthur Slade

Shadowpaw Press

ISBN 9781998273027

eISBN 9781998273034

ASIN B0CZJJ9KJ4

Ghost Hotel - Arthur Slade - Canadian Chills Book 2 Reprint Edition

This book and series are back in print in a new Shadowpaw Press Reprise edition. I am thankful this book and series are back in print. Walter the 'Wart' Bigger Bronson and Cindy his best friend witness a ghost in their school and they follow it to the historic Bessborough Hotel. While there, they are transported back in time to 1936. Walter and Cindy are twelve year old detectives and they investigate the paranormal.

This book is a ghost story that is both intense and humorous. Walter states early in the book:

“The problem with Saskatoon is that no one believes it exists. Oh, sure, the people who live here, Saskatonians (or Saskatoonians or Tooners), know the place is real, but step outside the city limits, and no one believes there is, or ever was, such a place as Saskatoon.

“Didn’t it sink into the sea?” they say. “Was that the capital of Atlantis? Or was it covered by a volcano?” The Prime Minister never visits. The Queen was here once, but no one believes that. “Who in their right mind would name their city after a purple berry?”

Saskatoon is the Bermuda Triangle of the prairies. It’s also the ghost capital of Canada. People complain about ghosts in their cellars, popping up their laundry chutes, starting their lawnmowers at night (but never cutting the lawn—they’re lazy ghosts), and taking cabs and paying in old money that disappears seconds later. They even stride along the Meewasin Trail and tap couples on the back just as they’re about to kiss.

Hey, I’m not complaining—ghosts are good for business. Once I solved this mystery, I’d make the front page of The StarPhoenix, and my phone would be ringing off the hook with calls from little old ladies wanting to get the ghosts out of their pianos and mechanics trying to find the ghosts in their machines.”

When I tracked down a previous edition of these books we donated it to our kid’s school library. Now that it is back in print, my son and I am rereading them again together. It was fantastic to reread this book 14 years apart. I enjoyed it even more this second time through. The description of this book states:

“Can two modern-day kids solve mystery of the ghost that haunts the old hotel--or will they be trapped in the past forever?

Walter Biggar Bronson (a.k.a. Wart) and his friend Cindy meet a ghost one night after school. The small, mournful boy leads them across the Broadway Bridge to the gracious Bessborough Hotel. After a strange incident in the elevator, they find themselves still in the hotel–but back in 1936.

Some spooky things are going on. The room numbers are all mixed up. The library on the mezzanine is filled with hundreds of copies of the same book. And out on the street, the cars are all the same–vintage Studebakers.

Back in the present, Wart and Cindy follow their motto–“Gather, identify, solve”–as they attempt to crack the case, with help from Wart’s distinctly odd parents and the loan of his mother’s time-travel-proof cell phone.

If they fail, they may be trapped in the ghostly past forever...”

The story is mash up of ghost story, history, humour and of course friendship. It is a whole lot of fun. This is another excellent school story wrapped in a historic mystery filled with humour.

It is a great read and I can easily recommend it!