Kate Racculia
Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Hardcover October 2019, Paperback October 2020)
A Kirkus Best Fiction of 2019 Pick
A Kirkus Best 2019 Fiction Writers to Discover Pick
An Indies Next October 2019 Pick
An Apple Books Best Book of October pick
One of Publishers Lunch‘s ‘Emerging Voices’ picks in their “Buzz Books Fall/Winter Preview 2019”
One of Hey Alma‘s “Favorite Books for Fall 2019”
A LibraryReads October 2019 Pick
One of CrimeReads‘ Most Anticipated Crime, Mystery, and Thriller Books of 2019
Featured on Publishers Weekly‘s Holiday Gift Guide 2019: Fiction
A Bookish October Book Club recommendation
A New York Post Best Book of the Week
A Parnassus Books November Staff Pick
Providence Journal‘s December Book Club Pick
One of Buzzfeed‘s and Libro.FM’s “24 Books That Are So Funny, You’ll Look Like The Crying-Laughing Emjoi While You’re Reading”
Featured on Buzzfeed‘s list of “12 Great Books That Are Out in Paperback This Month”
Tuesday Mooney is a loner. She keeps to herself, begrudgingly socializes, and spends much of her time watching old Twin Peaks and X-Files DVDs. But when Vincent Pryce, Boston’s most eccentric billionaire, dies—leaving behind an epic treasure hunt through the city, with clues inspired by his hero, Edgar Allan Poe—Tuesday’s adventure finally begins.
Puzzle-loving Tuesday searches for clue after clue, joined by a ragtag crew: a wisecracking friend, an adoring teen neighbor, and a handsome, cagey young heir. The hunt tests their mettle, and with other teams from around the city also vying for the promised prize—a share of Pryce’s immense wealth—they must move quickly. Pryce’s clues can’t be cracked with sharp wit alone; the searchers must summon the courage to face painful ghosts from their pasts (some more vivid than others) and discover their most guarded desires and dreams.
A deliciously funny ode to imagination, overflowing with love letters to art, from The Westing Game to Madonna to the Knights of the Round Table, Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is the perfect read for thrill seekers, wanderers, word lovers, and anyone looking for an escape to the extraordinary.
Advance Praise for Tuesday Mooney Talks To Ghosts
“Rarely does a novel so suffused with death radiate as much life as this spirited—in every sense of the word—genre-bending adventure from Racculia. Racculia should win many new fans with this inspired effort.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred and boxed review
“Racculia returns with a roaring adventure novel that never loses sight of adulthood’s woes… The result is thrilling, romantic, and charming as all get out, a love letter to former witchy girls and compulsive dreamers that will make readers reassess what—and who—they value. Spooky, witty, and observant, Racculia’s novel of friendship and bigger-than-life aspirations is a treasure.”
—Kirkus, starred review
“In Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts Kate Racculia has created a host of wonderful odd-ball and eccentric characters, not least Tuesday Mooney herself: smart, vivacious, and beguiling. I was swept up in her crazy treasure hunt through Boston, looking for ghosts—real and imagined. A book for the curious and spirited.”
—Claire Fuller, author of Swimming Lessons, Bitter Orange, and Our Endless Numbered Days
“Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is a story like no other. This tale of a high-stakes scavenger hunt—and the complex inner lives of those competing—is witty, exciting, and absolutely riveting. Before you know it, you’ll be playing the game right along with the characters, and with your full heart. I loved this.”
—Kayla Rae Whitaker, author of The Animators
“Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is at once a quirky ghost story, an addictive adventure tale, a love letter to the city of Boston, and, at its center, a story about grieving, intimacy, and what it means to be a true friend. I loved every page of this smart, exuberant book, from its intriguing start to its heartfelt finish. An absolute joy to read.”
—Louise Miller, author of The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living and The Late Bloomers’ Club
“Shirley Jackson by way of Henry James by way of The Westing Game—but pure hilariously wry and witty Kate Racculia. This book was so engrossing and so delightful that I actually yelped when it ended—I wish every book was as much pure fun as Tuesday Mooney.”
—Amber Sparks, author of The Unfinished World
“Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is so much fun it should be criminal. A mystery hidden in a game, hidden in a romp around Boston, with intrigue, a little romance, and a ghost? Perfection. Racculia has a gift for both humor and creating deeply relatable oddballs. Genuinely funny, whip-smart, and at times profound, it is a novel that reminds us both of the pure joy of play, and the importance of finding people who matter.”
—Erika Swyler, bestselling author of The Book of Speculation and Light from Other Stars
“[Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts] is a delightful cast of characters, twisty in the best way, and if you are someone who was into puzzles, this is 100% for you.”
–Hey Alma
“Tuesday Mooney is smart, intrepid, and just a little bit lost—even 20 years after her best friend disappears without a trace. A prospect researcher by trade, she dives in deep when a strange and reclusive billionaire dies and leaves puzzles throughout the city in an elaborate treasure hunt. While this fun and affecting book could have won me over just by being a romp, there is more here. Tuesday and her compatriots are all forced to confront the traumas that have stunted their lives and find new strength in their relationships. I couldn’t have asked for more!”
—Anmiryam Budner, Main Point Books (Indies Next October 2019 Pick)
“In this delightful ode to The Westing Game, Kate Racculia takes us on a puzzle-solving adventure! When an eccentric billionaire dies, leaving behind an epic treasure hunt through the city of Boston as his legacy, puzzle-enthusiast and inveterate loner Tuesday Mooney is ready to put all her brainpower towards deciphering the cryptic clues.”
–CrimeReads
“”Engaging characters set off to follow the mysterious clues of the will of an elderly, wealthy eccentric for a chance at winning the grand prize. Young grief and loss, family guilt, secrets, and hilarity are featured throughout. Plus: ghosts! For readers who liked The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson and Lost and Found by Carolyn Parkhurst.”
–Pamela Gardner, Medfield Public Library (LibraryReads October 2019 pick)
“The Westing Game (1978) meets the supernatural in this high-stakes scavenger hunt through Boston. When Vincent Pryce dies (no, not Vincent Price, though both Vincents share a penchant for the extravagant and macabre), he, through his obituary, invites anyone and everyone to join in a game, which they can play by following a series of Edgar Allen Poe–inspired clues he’s left in his wake. Tuesday Mooney, a professional researcher and puzzle-lover, decides to put her skills to the test. With an eclectic group of unlikely allies, she explores train tunnels, abandoned theaters, haunted houses, and more, making Racculia’s latest, following Bellweather Rhapsody (2014), in many ways a love letter to the city of Boston. Though Vincent’s puzzle itself is intriguing, so are the novel’s characters. Some know more than they are letting on, some are keeping secrets about their past, and readers will be drawn in by their varied, personal reasons for playing, not to mention their wry interactions. A sharp, heartfelt story about loners working together for the sake of a shared adventure.”
–Booklist
“If there is a magic trick in this novel, it’s that Kate Racculia somehow has managed to make a series of outlandish events seem reasonably believable. The premise stretches credulity: A billionaire dies, but leaves a treasure hunt with clues planted across Boston… The result is a quirky mix that delves into how grief affects us and how friendships and romance turn on a dime, yet it does so with disarming, often deliciously acerbic, humor…The emerging messages are bright: Be generous now. Don’t cheat your friendships. Become the person you’re looking for. They sound so simple, out of context, but in the bewilderingly entertaining context of events, they actually seem like words to live by. And that’s a bit of sleight-of-psyche that’s a delight to encounter.”
–StarTribune
“An entertaining third novel about ghosts, grieving and friendship. Just the story for All Hallows.”
–Toronto’s The Star
“If you wish it was spooky season all year, this book is for you. When a Boston millionaire dies and promises part of his fortune to whomever wins his game, Tuesday Mooney finds herself drawn into the action with unexpected sidekicks. I especially loved the widow’s character.”
–Parnassus Book Staff Pick, November
“If you like puzzles, humor, mysteries and the city of Boston, you’ll enjoy this pick.”
–Providence Journal
Read about the UK sale of TUESDAY MOONEY TALKS TO GHOSTS (in the UK: TUESDAY MOONEY WORE BLACK) on The Bookseller
Read Kirkus‘s starred review of TUESDAY MOONEY TALKS TO GHOSTS
Read Publishers Weekly‘s starred and boxed review of TUESDAY MOONEY TALKS TO GHOSTS
Featured on BookRiot‘s October 2019 Horoscopes and Book Recommendations
A PW Picks: Books of the Week for October 7, 2019
Included in Tor.com’s list of “All the New Genre-Bending Books Coming Out in October”
Read Devouring Books‘ review of TUESDAY MOONEY TALKS TO GHOSTS
Featured on BookPage‘s recommendation list “An eight-legged monster of Halloween horror”
Read Kate Racculia’s interview on Dead Darlings: Everything Novel
Kate Racculia gives her 10 Gothic Fiction recommendations on CrimeReads
Featured on BookRiot‘s New Release Tuesday video
Included on Locus Mag‘s New Books: 8 October 2019
Watch Kate Racculia’s interview on Local SYR’s Bridgestreet TV
Read Kate Racculia’s “9 Pop Culture Icons with Big Witch Energy I’d Like to Celebrate This Halloween” for PopSugar
Kate Racculia was featured in “The Writer’s Life” in the Shelf Awareness for Readers newsletter
Read StarTribune‘s review of TUESDAY MOONEY TALKS TO GHOSTS
Read Toronto’s The Star‘s review of TUESDAY MOONEY TALKS TO GHOSTS
Listen to Kate Racculia’s interview on WDIY
Listen to Kate Racculia on the So Many Damn Books podcast
One of Boston Magazine‘s “31 Books to Read While Self-Isolating”
Recommended by Monadnock Ledger-Transcript “The Avid Reader: Murder mysteries for being under the weather”
Read Apra‘s review of TUESDAY MOONEY TALKS TO GHOSTS
Kate Racculia is the author of the novels This Must Be the Place and Bellweather Rhapsody, winner of the American Library Association’s Alex Award. She received her MFA from Emerson College and now works for the Bethlehem Area Public Library in Pennsylvania.