Walking with Ghosts on Ward's Pond, by Heidi Sprouse

Based on a true story from the 1900s, the suspicious death of Grace Mae Brown, and subsequent execution of Chester Gillette for her murder, is brought up to date with a spoooooky ghost story.

The author Heidi Sprouse cleverly weaves the real life documents into a narrative fiction. The characters’ motivations and emotion are brought back to life through the haunting of Katherine and Charlie by Grace and Chester.

Charlie is related to Chester and is convinced of his innocence despite the overwhelming circumstantial evidence to the contrary. Meanwhile, ghost Chester is desperate to find Grace again and make amends for the way he treated her in her final days. Can love overcome death and reunite the pair?

Love and passion are important issues in this book, both between the historical characters and those in the present. Morality and sex are key themes to the book as well and we are reminded that we shouldn’t assert our present day definitions on the past.

There is also a political overtone about the use of the capital pinishment and the electric chair, and the description of Chester’s execution as experienced by Charlie is very difficult and extremely uncomfortable to read, even more so when we know he may have been innocent.

This is more of a novella than a full length book and I wish it had been longer to explore the background to Katherine and Charlie meeting as well as dedicate more time and pages to the murder case itself. Having said that, Walking with Ghosts on Ward’s Pond inspired me to go and read more about the case so really captured my imagination.

Walking with Ghosts on Ward’s Pond

Genre: Mystery

Expected Publication Date: July

A hundred-year-old unsolved mystery resurfaces when journalist Charlie Baxter becomes consumed with finding out the truth. After discovering his bloodline includes a potential murderer, Charlie sets out to clear his family’s name—only to find that everyone has an opinion, but does anyone have answers?

In 1906, Chester Gillette took Grace Brown on a secret trip in the Adirondacks, but only he returned. Grace and her unborn child drowned in the lake, and Chester was convicted of murder. Now, his distant relative Charlie Baxter is retracing the steps of that fateful trip in hopes of laying it to rest once and for all.

However, a mysterious guest at the bed and breakfast on Ward’s Pond is drawn into the cold case—not by Charlie, but by the ghost of Grace Brown. When Charlie learns that the guest’s name is Katherine Grace Brown, he can’t deny the connection. Despite running from her own past, Katherine agrees to help Charlie in his quest for the truth.

The true tale of the Gillette-Brown murder has been the subject of many a story, and it continues to intrigue. What really happened at that lake? Was Chester Gillette truly guilty of murder, or was he sent to the electric chair innocent? Perhaps with the help of their ghosts, Charlie and Katherine can find out.

Available at B & N and on Amazon!

About the Author

Heidi Sprouse, author of Walking with Ghosts on Ward’s Pond is a resident of historic Johnstown in upstate NY and went to college at St. Rose in Albany.

Heidi started her journey to becoming an author when she was just a child. She would practice creative writing with her friends and continued to write on through college. It wasn’t until her early thirties, after her father passed away, that she began seriously penning words with the intent to write books. As an author, Heidi opens a window into her worlds of sweet romances, historical fiction, and suspense thrillers. She’s always in search of the finding the extraordinary within the ordinary; writing about strong men with old-fashioned values and the women who pick them up when they fall.

When she isn’t writing, she adores spending time with her husband Jim, her son Patrick and her furry canine kids. She also has a rewarding career as a Pre-K teacher.

Heidi has a long list of titles credited to her name. We hope that this month you’ll check out her latest endeavor, Walking with Ghosts on Ward’s Pond available for preorder or for direct purchase on July 2nd.

Blog Tour Schedule

July 1^st

Reads & Reels (Spotlight) http://readsandreels.com

B is for Book Review (Spotlight) https://bforbookreview.wordpress.com

Kim Knight (Interview) http://kimknightauthor.wordpress.com

The Legal Alien (Review) https://thelegalalien.com/

Devouring Books (Review) https://devouringbooks2017.wordpress.com/

July 2^nd

Just 4 My Books (Spotlight) http://www.just4mybooks.wordpress.com

The Magic of Wor(l)ds (Spotlight) http://themagicofworlds.wordpress.com

LoopyLouLaura (Review) https://www.loopyloulaura.com/

July 3^rd