In White's less than exciting sequel to The House on Tradd Street
, Melanie Middleton reprises her role as the Lowcountry realtor with psychic powers. This time out, she's enlisted to help her estranged mother, opera star Ginnette Prioleau Middleton, buy back her family's ancestral home. Ginnette fears Melanie's in danger from a supernatural force, and she plans to keep her daughter close, even though Melanie's long since written Ginnette off. Meanwhile, local hunk author Jack Trenholm again offers his investigative services to determine and neutralize the threat, and a nosy local reporter is intent on writing a story about Ginnette's return. Jack's attempts at intimacy with Melanie are generally rebuffed, and their “relationship” comes off as annoying background noise compared to the better-handled relationship between Melanie and Ginnette. It doesn't help that the ghostly doings develop at an excruciatingly slow pace, and the reporter's role (of course much more important than it first appears) takes too long to gel. Hopefully, White's next installment will regain the snap of her first outing. (Nov.)
