Olivia Blacke | A NEW LEASE ON DEATH Spoilers

The Book: 

A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke (Supernatural Mysteries #1)
Published October 29, 2024 by Minotaur Books
Date read: October 22, 2024

Find more October 2024 releases here.

A New Lease on Death spoilers can be found below, but they’re hidden under a spoiler tag so you’re safe to keep scrolling if you’d just like to read my review.

The Characters: 

Cordelia (a ghost)
Ruby (a living person)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon

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The Plot (from Goodreads):

In this darkly funny supernatural mystery about an unlikely crime-solving duo that launches a commercial, unique, and genre-blending series, death is only the beginning.

Ruby Young’s new Boston apartment comes with all the usual perks. Windows facing the brick wall of the next-door building. Heat that barely works. A malfunctioning buzzer. Noisy neighbors. A dead body on the sidewalk outside. And of course, a ghost.

Since Cordelia Graves died in her apartment a few months ago, she’s kept up her residency, despite being bored out of her (non-tangible) skull and frustrated by her new roommate. When her across-the-hall neighbor, Jake Macintyre, is shot and killed in an apparent mugging gone wrong outside their building, Cordelia is convinced there’s more to it and is determined to bring his killer to justice.

Unfortunately, Cordelia, being dead herself, can’t solve the mystery alone. She has to enlist the help of the obnoxiously perky, living tenant of her apartment. Ruby is twenty, annoying, and has never met a houseplant she couldn’t kill. But she also can do everything Cordelia can’t, from interviewing suspects to researching Jake on the library computers that go up in a puff of smoke if Cordelia gets too close. The roommates form an unlikely friendship as they get closer to the truth about Jake’s death…and maybe other dangerous secrets as well.

A New Lease on Death Spoilers

Click here for A NEW LEASE ON DEATH spoilers
Book spoilers ahead–if you haven’t yet read A New Lease on Death, I suggest you turn back now.



The Reveal:

Jake was in a relationship with a woman named Shannon, who showed up at his apartment (with bruises) a few days after his death. Shannon was married to Arlo, who owned the pizza company around the corner. Arlo was abusive and Shannon was in the process of divorcing him.

Arlo had lured Jake down to the door with the promise of a free pizza. Shannon told him not to go but Jake wanted to confront Arlo. Arlo shot him and escaped. Cordelia realized all this when Ruby got a call about a free pizza as well. Arlo tried to overpower Ruby to get into the building to find Shannon. Cordelia was able to throw him through the glass door and incapacitate him until the cops could arrive.

The Ending:

The book ended with Ruby telling Cordelia that she thought Cordelia was murdered, since someone had been spotted leaving Cordelia’s apartment the day she died. The door wasn’t totally closed, and Cordelia never chose pills as her vice. Sounds like book 2 will be investigating Cordelia’s death! I was a bit disappointed not to find out what happened to Cordelia as I cared more about her than Jake, but I suppose we’ll find out in the future.



I hope these A New Lease on Death spoilers were helpful.

The Review: 

This book was a fun cozy mystery mixed with paranormal–perfect for October! One of the two main characters is a ghost, and the other is the woman who moved into the ghost’s apartment after her death. They team up to solve the murder of another tenant in their apartment building. There’s a lot of dark humor that was right up my alley.

It ends on a huge cliffhanger (not my favorite) but it certainly succeeded in making me interested in reading Book 2.

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