The Haunting at Bonaventure Circus

by Jaime Jo Wright

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493428113
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/01/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	539,034
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

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.

Editorial Reviews

07/13/2020

Wright’s entertaining latest (after Echoes Among the Stones) centers on two unsolved murders. In 1909, baby Pippa Ridley, born with a deformed leg, was left on the doorstep of her circus owner parents. Now, 19-year-old Pippa is receiving secret messages from someone who calls himself “The Watchman” and claims to know the origins of her birth and the course of her future. In the present day, Chandler Faulk, who has recently been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder and feels abandoned by God, is busy renovating a train depot and learns it is the site of the 1928 murder of Patty Luchent, a circus worker and prostitute. Chandler becomes friends with her landlord, Denny, and his nephew, Hank, who both want to clear the name of Denny’s grandfather, who went to prison for Patty’s murder, as well as solve their own mystery—that of a family member who disappeared 40 years before. In 1928, Pippa develops feelings for Jake Chapman, who is also on a mission to find the Watchman, who claims to have murdered Jake’s sister. While Pippa maintains that the Watchman couldn’t be dangerous, the investigations across time reveal someone (or something) is determined to keep them all from the truth. Wright braids the storylines nicely, building to a jaw-dropping conclusion. Readers of Colleen Coble will love this. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

07/01/2020

Pippa Ripley was abandoned by her circus performer parents as an infant and adopted by circus royalty, the owner of Bonaventure Circus himself. As the 1920s brings more freedom for some women in rural Wisconsin, Pippa is still under her father's thumb even as she is drawn to the traveling life. The seedy underbelly of circus life soon places her in grave danger. In a modern-day story line, which is more appealing than the historical, Chandler Faulk has purchased an old depot and is hoping to make a name for herself in historical renovations even as she raises her son alone and battles an autoimmune disease. Suspicious events and the discovery of a 40-year-old corpse begin to convince her the old circus building is haunted, even though believing in ghosts goes against her faith. VERDICT The intricate setup Wright (The House on Foster Hill) delivers requires patience and suspension of disbelief, but the ending is worth it. Fans of complex Christian fiction in the vein of Kristy Cambron and Michèle Phoenix will enjoy this title.—Christine Barth, Scott Cty. Lib. Syst., IA

Library Journal