My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read Ghost Ship, Book 2 of P.J. Alderman’s Port Chatham series, right on the heels of Book 1. And was delighted that I did, because while both are standalone stories, the continuation of the relationship between lead characters Jordan and Jase flows beautifully right out of Book 1. It is, hands down, my favorite thing about the second book.
But that said, everything else about Ghost Ship is also a fun followup to Haunting Jordan. Jordan is once again called upon by Port Chatham’s deceased residents to investigate one of their own murders, setting up another dual plotline that bounces back and forth between the past and the current timelines. This time the ghostly victim is Michael, the former rival for the affections of Jordan’s ghostly roommate Hattie–and Michael’s much more aggressive about having been killed. The modern murder is of Michael’s own descendant. Naturally, Jordan has to solve both at once!
We get some fun development of what all Jordan’s capable of seeing in this book, as well as some further explanation of what the ghosts of Port Chatham are themselves able to do. There’s advancement of Jordan’s friendship with Darcy, the (refreshingly) female sheriff of the town, as well as the aforementioned romantic advancement. On the strength of the image in my reader’s eye given me by the very last page alone, I almost liked this one even more than the first, and am greatly looking forward to what Alderman will be writing next. Five stars.