The House on Tradd Street

Posted on 28th November 2008No Responses

Cover of The House on Tradd Street

A brilliant, chilling series debut, featuring a Charleston real estate agent who loves old houses—and the secret histories inside them.

Practical Melanie Middleton hates to admit she can see ghosts. But she’s going to have to accept it. An old man she recently met has died, leaving her his historic Tradd Street home, complete with housekeeper, dog—and a family of ghosts anxious to tell her their secrets.

Enter Jack Trenholm, a gorgeous writer obsessed with unsolved mysteries. He has reason to believe that diamonds from the Confederate Treasury are hidden in the house. So he turns the charm on with Melanie, only to discover he’s the smitten one…

It turns out Jack’s search has caught the attention of a malevolent ghost. Now, Jack and Melanie must unravel a mystery of passion, heartbreak—and even murder.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars From S. Krishna’s Books
As you can probably tell by the rating, I enjoyed The House on Tradd Street immensely. First of all, the setting was wonderful. I was in Charleston, SC last year, and White really has a way of making the setting come alive. Her descriptions are vivid, and she manages to convey a sense of grandeur and history, coupled with the haunting quality that comes with these old houses. I thought she did a magnificent job with the setting.

The characters are definitely well-written. The reader can really understand Melanie’s need to control everything around her and her feelings towards her parents. However, she is not intransigent or annoyingly stubborn; it is wonderful to watch her relationship with her father heal throughout the book. Indeed, she evolves quite a bit as a character, and it is a satisfying journey to watch. Jack is a great character as well; he is obviously damaged, but manages to hide it incredibly well with his charm and good looks. It is obvious from the beginning of the book that these two are made for each other, but it’s not annoyingly predictable.

And finally, the mystery. This had me on the edge of my seat, reading frantically in an effort to finish the book before class (I knew that if I didn’t, I would end up skipping class to discover what happens to Melanie, Jack, and the house on Tradd Street). It really is that captivating. It unfolds very slowly; the reader is at the middle of the book by the time the real mystery is actually uncovered. Sometimes, this might be frustrating, but in The House on Tradd Street, that is not the case. Instead, it serves as a reminder that the mystery of Louisa’s disappearance is the underlying story to the novel and is one of the reasons that Melanie agreed to take the house. The fact that Melanie can see ghosts is also an interesting addition to the story. It can be disturbing and downright scary at times, but it is handled incredibly well, without any cheesiness.

The only disappointment in this book is that it ended. However, this was tempered by the fact that, upon turning the last page, I read the surprising and heartwarming words that read, “Melanie Middleton and Jack Trenholm will be back for a new adventure – turn the page for an exciting preview of their book, coming from New American Library in November 2009.” Just one more year. I can’t wait!

5 Stars Excellent reading…
Karen White

New American Library

ISBN: 9780451225092

5 stars

Excellent reading…

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for ReviewYourBook.com

Melanie Middleton inherits an old historic home on Tradd Street. Jack Trenholm is a writer. He suspects there is treasure hidden in the house. He volunteers to assist Melanie in the remodeling/restoring effort in hopes of doing a little treasure hunting. He soon falls in love with Melanie. The old house is haunted and one particular spirit is very unhappy with all the treasure hunting.

Karen White impressed me in her first book, The Memory of Water. She just keeps getting better! The House On Tradd Street is a great read. Readers will enjoy the romance between Melanie and Jack. The flirtation is high energy. The characters are multi-dimensional and eccentric. Even the ghosts have quirky personalities. This is not your typical ghost story; it is not horror or spooky. This story has great depth. Romance, mystery, paranormal, and a little humor all combine to make The House On Tradd Street a book that you do not want to miss.

5 Stars 1st in series
This book has everything – an intriguing story line involving missing diamonds from the Civil War, ghosts (good AND bad), location (historic Charleston), a hero with a secret, a bad guy with his own secret, Melanie Middleton who has a long way to go for the peaceful well-ordered life she wants and the house on Tradd Street which brings them all together.

A great mystery, a love story and a ghost story make for an enjoyable read.

The 2nd book in this series will be out in November, 2009.

5 Stars Charleston’s Latest Ghost Mystery
Karen White’s The House on Tradd Street is part romance, part ghost story, part mystery. The narration of this novel grips the reader with its beautiful descriptions of South Carolina and the historic neighborhoods of Charleston. Melanie Middleton specializes in historic home sales, though she hates historic homes and believes those who buy historic homes are saps willing to waste thousands of dollars on renovations. Fate brings her into the home of Mr. Vanderhorst, who asks Melanie if she saw a woman in the garden. He suddenly dies and leaves her his home.

Melanie is given a historic home and the money to renovate and repair it from the Vanderhorst estate. There are a great cast of characters in this book from Mr. Vanderhorst to his mother’s ghost and Melanie, her father, and Jack Trenholm. Melanie is a barracuda in the real estate world, but her inability to relate to her family or male companions hampers her ability to widen her horizons. Meanwhile, Jack uses his good looks and fame to woo women to his side and charm them out of information so he can uncover historical mysteries and publish novels. His charm and good looks, on the other hand, are just a cover.

The restoration at Tradd Street begins, and Melanie is overwhelmed by her responsibilities and the two attractive men that have fallen into her life–Marc Longo and Jack Trenholm. In spite of the restoration, Melanie gets wrapped up in the mystery surrounding Mr. Vanderhorst’s mother’s disappearance and the ghosts that haunt her new home.

White easily draws the reader into the beauty of Charleston and her ghost mystery. The intricate relationships between these characters are complex, and in spite of the convenient connections between Melanie’s family, the Vanderhorsts, and the Trenholms in a big city like Charleston, I was enveloped in the storyline.

The mystery doesn’t get heavy with humor sprinkled in. The interactions between Melanie and Jack is contagious and will make readers smile.

I recommend this book to those who love a good mystery and a good ghost story.

5 Stars quirky charmer
Realtor Melanie Middleton loves the single life that her professional success brings her. Everything is going extremely well. However, Melanie cannot understand why a late client whom she barely knew left her an ancient relic more elephant than house in Charleston, South Carolina; all she has to do to inherit it is live there for a year.

Even stranger to Melanie is her uncanny ability to see dead people. She knows she must look into her haunted past to understand her present. Her family and friends, some of whom have crossed to the other side, remain at her side helping her come to grips with THE HOUSE ON TRADD STREET and much more when investigative reporter Jack Trenholm arrives searching for missing Confederate diamonds that he believes are buried in the house. As they fall in love, encouraged by her family (dead and alive), one mean spirit wants them gone claiming ownership of the diamonds and much more.

The key to this quirky charmer is the depth of the lead characters especially the heroine and even some of the ghosts. Fans of paranormal romantic suspense will want to read this wonderful tale as Karen White provides a fine treasure hunt mystery with a nasty spirit inside a warm romance in which Readers will say yes that they believe in ghosts and in love.

Harriet Klausner

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