Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts - by Kate Racculia (Paperback)

About the Book

A handsome stranger. A dead billionaire. A citywide treasure hunt. Tuesday Mooney's life is about to change . . . forevermore.

Book Synopsis

A handsome stranger. A dead billionaire. A citywide treasure hunt. Tuesday Mooney's life is about to change in ways she--and no reader--could never expect in this "rollicking" (Star Tribune), award-winning novel. ¶ A Kirkus Reviews Best Book - An Indie Next Pick - A Library Reads Selection - A New York Post Best Book of the Week - A Publishers Weekly Pick of the Week - A Buzzfeed Best Paperback - and more! ¶ Tuesday Mooney is a loner. She keeps to herself, begrudgingly socializes, and spends much of her time watching old Twin Peaks and X-Files DVDs. But when Vincent Pryce, Boston's most eccentric billionaire, dies--leaving behind an epic treasure hunt through the city, with clues inspired by his hero, Edgar Allan Poe--Tuesday's adventure finally begins. Puzzle-loving Tuesday searches for clue after clue, joined by a ragtag crew: a wisecracking friend, an adoring teen neighbor, and a handsome, cagey young heir. The hunt tests their mettle, and with other teams from around the city also vying for the promised prize--a share of Pryce's immense wealth--they must move quickly. Pryce's clues can't be cracked with sharp wit alone; the searchers must summon the courage to face painful ghosts from their pasts (some more vivid than others) and discover their most guarded desires and dreams. A deliciously funny ode to imagination, overflowing with love letters to art, from The Westing Game to Madonna to the Knights of the Round Table, Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is the perfect read for thrill seekers, wanderers, word lovers, and anyone looking for an escape to the extraordinary.

Review Quotes

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2019 An October 2019 Indie Next Pick An October 2019 LibraryReads Selection A New York Post Best Book of the Week A Best Book of October: BookRiot, Tor.com, Locus, and Chronogram A Best Book of the Fall: CrimeReads and Hey Alma A Publishers Weekly Pick of the Week A Bookish October Book Club Selection A Young Folks Best Book for Halloween A Buzzfeed Best Paperback of October 2020 "A quirky mix that delves into how grief affects us and how friendships and romance turn on a dime, yet it does so with disarming, often deliciously acerbic humor . . . Rollicking . . . The emerging messages are bright: Be generous now. Don't cheat your friendships. Become the person you're looking for. They sound so simple out of context, but in the bewilderingly entertaining context of events, they actually seem like words to live by. And that's a bit of sleight-of-psyche that's a delight to encounter." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune "Acerbic and quirky . . . Entertaining." -- Toronto Star "Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is so much fun it should be criminal. A mystery hidden in a game, hidden in a romp around Boston, with intrigue, a little romance, and a ghost? Perfection. Racculia has a gift for both humor and creating deeply relatable oddballs. Genuinely funny, whip-smart, and at times profound, it is a novel that reminds us of both the pure joy of play and the importance of finding people who matter." -- Erika Swyler, best-selling author of The Book of Speculation and Light from Other Stars "Racculia has created a curiosity cabinet of a novel here--brimming with wonder and surprise, and populated by a charming, somewhat haunted cast of outsiders. Clue by clue, page by page, Tuesday Mooney leads readers through an adventure that is bookish and spooky and compulsively fun!" -- Matthew Sullivan, author of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore " "In Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts Kate Racculia has created a host of wonderful odd-ball and eccentric characters, not least Tuesday Mooney herself: smart, vivacious, and beguiling. I was swept up in her crazy treasure hunt through Boston, looking for ghosts--real and imagined. A book for the curious and spirited." -- Claire Fuller, author of Bitter Orange, Swimming Lessons, and Our Endless Numbered Days "In this delightful ode to The Westing Game, Kate Racculia takes us on a puzzle-solving adventure!" -- CrimeReads "Romance takes a contemporary turn in Kate Racculia's wonderful new novel . . . Dynamic spirit . . . The treasure hunt is a bid for these characters' very souls." -- BookPage "A delightful cast of characters, twisty in the best way, and if you are someone who was into puzzles, this is 100 percent for you." -- Hey Alma "Your book club will love the Poe references, the thrill of the hunt, and Kate Racculia's vibrant characters." -- Bookish "Witty, quirky, and insightful." -- Chronogram "A group of misfits are sent on a treasure hunt by a dead billionaire. The pop-culture references alone make this book a delight to read around Halloween!" -- Young Folks "Rarely does a novel so suffused with death radiate as much life as this spirited--in every sense of the word--genre-bending adventure. The author...has a deeper design in mind, which only becomes apparent with the book's immensely satisfying final bombshells. Racculia should win many new fans with this inspired effort." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review "Thrilling, romantic, and charming as all get out, a love letter to former witchy girls and compulsive dreamers that will make readers reassess what--and who--they value...spooky, witty, and observant, Racculia's novel of friendship and bigger-than-life aspirations is a treasure." -- KirkusReviews, starred review "The Westing Game meets the supernatural in this high-stakes scavenger hunt through Boston . . . A sharp, heartfelt story about loners working together for the sake of a shared adventure." -- Booklist "Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is a story like no other. This tale of a high-stakes scavenger hunt--and the complex inner lives of those competing--is witty, exciting, and absolutely riveting. Before you know it, you'll be playing the game right along with the characters, and with your full heart. I loved this." -- Kayla Rae Whitaker, author of The Animators "Shirley Jackson by way of Henry James by way of The Westing Game--but pure, hilariously wry and witty Kate Racculia. This book was so engrossing and so delightful that I actually yelped when it ended. I wish every book was as much pure fun as Tuesday Mooney." -- Amber Sparks, author of The Unfinished World "Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is at once a quirky ghost story, an addictive adventure tale, a love letter to the city of Boston, and, at its center, a story about grieving, intimacy, and what it means to be a true friend. I loved every page of this smart, exuberant book, from its intriguing start to its heartfelt finish. An absolute joy to read." -- Louise Miller, author of The City Baker's Guide to Country Living and The Late Bloomers' Club "A deliciously dark confection of a novel, and one of the most thoroughly enjoyable books I've read in years." -- Celeste Ng, on Bellweather Rhapsody "Funny and exuberant, twisty and captivating. Racculia tells the truth here, about art and life and the many trajectories that talent can take. She's also written the most resonant descriptions of music--how it really works in the head and the heart--that I've ever read. For its darkness and its glee, I loved this novel." -- Robin Sloan, on Bellweather Rhapsody

About the Author

KATE RACCULIA is the author of This Must Be the Place and Bellweather Rhapsody, winner of the American Library Association's Alex Award. She received her MFA from Emerson College and works for the Bethlehem Area Public Library in Pennsylvania.