Delia's Shadow (Delia Martin #1) - Jaime Lee Moyer Delia’s Shadow intrigued me with a beautiful haunting cover and an interesting premise. After I first registered on NetGalley I went straight for this book because I knew it was my type of story. Ghosts, serial killer and historical setting - I couldn’t ask for more. It didn’t disappoint me and I’m really glad I got a chance to read it.

The year is 1915 when Delia Martin returns home to San Francisco and her best friend Sadie, after spending a few years in New York. She’s been stalked by a ghost - she calls her Shadow - for the last six months and she feels like she might find some answers back home. Shadow’s been trying to tell Delia something important and with a help of a psychic, she starts to discover the story of ghost’s gruesome death. Gabriel is a young police detective and best friend of Jack, Sadie’s fiance. He’s in charge of a mysterious case. A serial killer’s been torturing and killing more and more people and it seems that it’s the same killer that Gabe’s father tried to catch thirty years ago. When Delia and Gabe meet, things get personal as the killer starts to threaten them both and it seems he’s constantly one step ahead of them.

The story is told from Delia’s and Gabe’s point of view. I really appreciated that because we get to know their feelings more that way. They both lost someone in the earthquake a few years ago. Both of Delia’s parents died in it and Gabe lost his young pregnant wife. Delia’s been seeing ghosts since then, questioning her sanity. Gabe’s been grieving for his loved ones and has been unable to move on. But when they meet, they slowly start to build their friendship. I loved them as characters, they were such strong and mature people. I liked their slow-building romance, based on trust. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I really prefer to read about this kind of romance over angsty and passionate one. The love story of Sadie and Jack was very sweet, too - they’re both so in love they can’t hide it, talking about each other all the time and fearing the wedding.

I was a bit surprised that the paranormal aspect wasn’t that big of a deal in the story. It was important to Delia as a character and how the story unraveled, but nobody called Delia crazy. They all accepted her seeing ghosts and once or twice, even her friends could see or feel some supernatural forces. I actually liked that and it made the whole story more eerie. The mystery was a bit predictable, without any major turns, but that didn’t spoil my fun. There is no way a reader can guess who the killer is and I loved reading about all the clues and pieces of the puzzle falling into place. There are some very sad moments, which were written very good. The author really made me care about the characters, they felt very real and I really loved some of them. I will definitely keep an eye on upcoming books from this author.

Delia’s Shadow is a slow-building story, not that full of action, but I really appreciated it for this. It was refreshing and something new. There was a bit of a swearing, but apart from that, it could be read by younger audiences, too. I recommend this book to everyone who loves to read historical fiction, mature romances and paranormal detective stories.

*Disclaimer: I received an advanced digital copy from publishers via NetGalley for an honest review.

See this review and more on my blog: http://thetemporaryescape.blogspot.com/