Tradd Street Books In Order

Publication Order of Tradd Street Books

Tradd Street is a series that tells us the story of Melanie Middleton, who inherits an historic home with ghosts, in Charleston, South Carolina. The first book in the series is called The House on Tradd Street, and it is a brilliant yet chilling debut that features a Charleston realtor who loves learning about the histories that can be found inside ancient manors. Even though she hates to admit it, Melanie Middleton can actually see ghosts. There’s a man that she met briefly who suddenly died, and he left his historic home behind, and it came with a ghostly family all too eager to reveal their secrets.

A gorgeous writer called Jack Trenholm has an obsession for unsolved mysteries, and he has reasons to believe that diamonds that were stolen from the confederate treasury are hidden. So he decides to turn on the charm offensive on Melanie, only to discover that he’s actually the one who’s smitten. This book is therefore part romance, part mystery and part ghost tale. What grips you as a reader is the narration of the novel, and the author provides fantastic descriptions of Southern Carolina as well as the historical neighborhoods in Charleston.

The main character is Melanie and she specializes in selling historic homes, even though she doesn’t like such homes and believes that the people who buy them are foolish if they are prepared to waste a lot of money in terms of renovations. As fate would have it, she wanders into the historical home of a man called Mr. Vanderhorst. The man asks her if she had seen a woman prowling the garden but then he suddenly dies, leaving his home to Melanie. The Vanderhorst estate now provides her with money for renovating the home and this is when things start getting interesting.

There’s a writer who liked using his looks in wooing women and using his charms to get information from them so that he can use that to unravel historical mysteries before publishing books about these events. On the other hand, Melanie is now feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities of restoring the house as well as the two handsome men who are now a constant feature in her life. Mr. Vanderhorst’s mother had mysteriously disappeared and Melanie becomes interested in trying to solve this mystery. She also wants to learn more about the ghosts haunting her newly acquired home.

The good thing is that the mystery does not get too intricate and there is some humor thrown in for good measure. There are intricate relationships between the characters, and you will find yourself drawn into the storyline. Melanie’s family and the Vanderhorsts also have a convenient connection and you will also find it humorous when Jack is interacting with Melanie. If you like a good ghost story that also has an element of mystery, The House on Tradd Street is definitely recommended. It promises to provide a good dose of historical secrets and romantic suspense to keep you turning the pages.

The second book in the Tradd Street series is called The Girl on Legare Street, and it is a continuation of Melanie’s career as a renovator of old houses. However, she never imagined that she would have to renovate her own life to include her estranged mother, who left Charleston thirty five years ago. Now she has returned and she wants to protect her daughter, whom she never really knew after skipping town because of a menacing premonition that she received. Even though Melanie was never interested in seeing her mother after all these years, Jack Trenholm persuades her to give her mother a chance.

So Melanie agrees and she starts building a relationship with a mother that she never really knew. Melanie and her mother decide to purchase back their former home, and using their joint psychic abilities, they are expecting to uncover some ghosts. However, the two of them are not prepared for what they discover, which is a vindictive dark ghost whose strength has kept growing for many years. To beat this spirit, Melanie and her mom will have to unearth secrets that were long buried in order to save what is left of their family.

Melanie’s character comes out as an immature woman who doesn’t know what she wants in life. For starters, she is 39 years old and she still doesn’t know whether she likes her boyfriend or not. She is also still reminiscing about her gloomy childhood and one should expect more from a person who happens to be a medium. As for Jack’s character, he is a man in his late thirties or early forties who is struggling to develop a relationship with his love interest Melanie. There is tension in the relationship and this makes for compelling reading.

The good thing about the story is that even though there are ghosts, it is not a scary tale. This is not a horror story where your heart almost pounds out of your chest as you follow the story. Another good thing about the story is that the author doesn’t bore you with tales of Melanie discovering her psychic abilities, accepting these abilities and then moving on with her life. Instead, the author just wants you to accept that this is something that Melanie had always known for a long time and so there’s no need for any explanations.

The author also does a good job of writing about historical homes, the renovations that should be carried out, and the general setting of the story. There is a mystery element to this ghost story, and a vengeful demon is out to get Melanie and her mom. Together, they have to unravel the mystery of why this spirit is still hanging around and why it is haunting them. In order to solve this mystery, the two of them have to go back in time and learn about events that happened in their family many years ago. We are also introduced to a new character called Rebecca, and she provides an unexpected twist in this story. All in all, this is a light-hearted ghost story that will leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.