The Haunting at Bonaventure Circus

By Jaime Jo Wright

What it’s about?

1928

The Bonaventure Circus is a refuge for many, but Pippa Ripley was rejected from its inner circle as a baby. When she receives mysterious messages from someone called the “Watchman,” she is determined to find him and the connection to her birth. As Pippa’s search leads her to a man seeking justice for his murdered sister and evidence that a serial killer has been haunting the circus train, she must decide if uncovering her roots is worth putting herself directly in the path of the killer.

Present Day

The old circus train depot will either be torn down or preserved for historical importance, and its future rests on real estate project manager Chandler Faulk’s shoulders. As she dives deep into the depot’s history, she’s also balancing a newly diagnosed autoimmune disease and the pressures of single motherhood. When she discovers clues to the unsolved murders of the past, Chandler is pulled into a story far darker and more haunting than even an abandoned train depot could portend.

What I think:

This is a dark and atmospheric novel with compelling duel timeliness.

Chandler arrives in Bluff River to project manage the restoration and development of an old railway depot that was formally home to the Bonaventure Circus. Neglected and decaying the eerie atmosphere makes Chandler uncomfortable. A fact that is not helped by the fact that it one of the stops on the local ghost tour.

Local legend links the depot to murder and a potential serial killer.

As Chandler starts to investigate the building she uncovers some ghastly secrets that refuse to remain hidden.

In 1928, Pippa Ripley is also searching for answers. About herself. Left with the circus owners as a baby she finds she doesn’t seem to belong. The mysteries of her circus borth mean she doesn’t quite fit in with society and is a constant disappointment to her parents. Her upbringing has isolated her from the circus folk, some of who do not trust her.

Pippa finds herself trying to unravel secrets that no one wants to talk about.

Both Chandler and Pippa are strong-willed women who are fighting to make their voices heard. Pippa is constrained by her father and fiance and their expectations of women. Chandler is trying to prove she can manage to look after herself and her son as well as be successful.

Both women are searching for love and acceptance.

The secrets in this book are revealed slowly. Chandler reveals layers of the past and the story is shown in present time through Pippa.

The circus is a fantastic setting for a murder and haunting. The circus folk have created a world that is hard to penetrate and suspicious of outsiders.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s a great read and both timeliness are really engaging.

There are some really poignant scenes involving the circus animals that were beautifully written. I had never read anything by this author efore but I will definitely be checking out some.of her other books in the future.

If you want to read The Haunting at Bonaventure Circus then click on the link below:

Purchase link: click here

About the writer:

Jaime Jo Wright is the author of five novels, including Christy Award winner The House on Foster Hill and Carol Award winner The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond.

She’s also the Publishers Weekly and ECPA bestselling author of two novellas. Jaime lives in Wisconsin with her cat named Foo, her husband Cap’n Hook, and their littles, Peter Pan, and CoCo.

To learn more, visit www.jaimewrightbooks.com. 

Thank you Jaime Jo Wright and Love Books Tours for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour and gifting me a copy of the book.