Gilda Joyce: Psychic Investigator

Allison, J. (2005). Gilda Joyce: Psychic Investigator. New York, NY: The Penguin Group.

Plot summary: Gilda Joyce is working on her career of being a Psychic Investigator, spying on neighbors, dressing in disguises and reading The Master Psychic's Handbook: A Guide to Psychic Principles and Methods. Her best friend Wendy Choy is off to music camp and Gilda doesn't want to sit home all summer in boring old Michigan, so she gets herself invited to her long lost relative Lester's mansion in San Francisco. The mansion is the sight where Lester's sister, Melanie, committed suicide by jumping from the tower window 10 years ago. Lester's gloomy daughter, Juliet, saw the ghost of her dead Aunt Melanie and was so shocked she fainted, fell and hurt her ankle.

When Gilda gets to San Francisco she meets the house keeper, Rosa, who tells Gilda she sees ghosts roaming around the mansion. Gilda is ready to investigate! She meets Juliet, who isn't the nicest or most inviting person and Lester is consumed by his work and a bit peculiar. Sleeping in the room right next to the tower, Gilda hears footsteps in there and proceeds to get ready to investigate when she loudly knocks over a lamp. Lester comes to see what happened and Gilda says she heard noises coming from the tower, and Lester firmly tells her no one is allowed in there, ever. This sets Gilda in motion and she plans to find out what is in there no matter what! Juliet tells Gilda she has heard and seen ghosts, so the two go on to put together the puzzle that surrounds Melanie's death.

Genre: Mystery

Suggested age range: 10 to 13

Subjects/themes: Ghosts, Suicide, Loss of parent, Humor.

Awards:

• 2005 School Library Journal Best Books of the Year

Reviews:

• Booklist (starred review)
• School Library Journal (starred review)

Character list:

• Gilda Joyce - After her father passed away from cancer two years ago she has been fascinated with the afterlife. She is blunt and to the point, enjoys typing on the old typewriter that her father gave her, writing stories and keeping a progress report of events in her life such as writing a novel and surveillance of a man she calls Plaid Pants.
• Juliet Splinter - She is an unhappy loner who had thoughts of suicide right before falling and hurting her ankle when seeing her dead Aunt Melanie. She doesn't like school or have any friends, and quits or gives up on any after school activities. She is the opposite of her sunny, optimistic mother who lives in warm San Diego.
• Lester Splinter - He is an accountant who is ridden with guilt about the death of his sister, who he feels he should have been able to save. He locks up the tower and never speaks of her as much as possible.

Series information:

• Gilda Joyce: The Dead Drop
• Gilda Joyce: The Ghost Sonata
• Gilda Joyce: The Ladies of the Lake

High-interest annotation: Join Gilda Joyce in her first case ever as she travels to San Francisco to investigate a haunted mansion belonging to a long lost relative!