ISABELLA MOON by Laura Benedict

Laura Benedict's debut, ISABELLA MOON (Canada, UK available Feb. 2008), teeters on the bring of not being a fantasy. However, since it is at least partially ghost story with a dash of what might be psychic ability, I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. Here's the blurb:

Two years ago, in idyllic Carystown, Kentucky, nine-year-old Isabella Moon disappeared on her way home from school. Is it just coincidence that Kate Russell, a young woman with no discernible past, arrived in town just months before Isabella’s disappearance? When Kate walks into Sheriff Bill Delaney’s office to tell him that Isabella’s ghost has led her to the child’s hidden grave, he immediately views her as a suspect. Mystery follows mystery as a local athlete drops dead, inexplicably, on the basketball court, and someone close to Kate is viciously murdered. . . .

You can read more of the rather longish blurb on the publisher's website. Laura Benedict has a website somewhat reminiscent of J. K. Rowling's, with a clickable notepad, but nothing else on the site appears to be clickable. She has a MySpace blog. There is an excerpt that is available on both her website and on Random House's website.

Reviews appear to be mixed. There is a positive and a negative review on the Amazon page. A review at Book Reporter appears mostly positive, and a review at the Cleveland Plain Dealer is rather negative. A scan of my usual blogs did not show any reviews so I went out into the greater blogosphere and found a review at Novel Reviews, a long interview at Scrambled Dregs.