Hungry Ghosts is the first novel by Peggy Blair that I’ve consumed. I enjoyed this book tremendously and with its relatively short chapters I would often say to myself; “oh.. just one more”. This my friends, got me into trouble a few times!!! (Oh come on, you’ve done it before, I know you have)
Two detectives, two series of murders, two different countries… how does this all tie together? That is what I was thinking throughout the novel and by the end, I was not disappointed. Blair connects the two seamlessly.
In Hungry Ghosts we find Detective Ramirez in Cuba fighting crime and examining a string of unsolved murders in a corrupt and crumbling Cuba, all the while dealing with ghostly apparitions. Up north in Canada, Detective Charlie Pike comes home to a tense First Nations reserve, investigating what may be another Highway Stranger murder all the while, facing his own ghosts.
Although Hungry Ghosts is the third book in the detective Ramirez series, it can easily be read as a stand-alone. I’ve never read the other two, but after reading this one… I want them in my library.
Blair infused this novel with rich characters, vivid locations and a brilliantly twisted plot. I particularly loved that the book touches on events we see in the media today. (Even though the book is set in 2007) Just this morning while listening to the CBC they were talking about residential schools, land settlements and the disappearance and murder of Aboriginal women.
If you’d like to check out a little something extra that ties into this novel, there is an exhibition of artwork inspired by Hungry Ghosts that you can browse HERE.
If a good crime/thriller novel is your thing, don’t think twice… pick up Peggy Blair’s Hungry Ghosts !!