By Jaime Jo Wright

1888: Minnie Tipton’s life has turned upside down. After the death of her mother, her Civil War veteran father sells the family farm and purchases Ambrose Fields, a sprawling estate with 99 doors outside of Gettysburg. But Ambrose Fields comes with a dark past – and the legend of a ghost. Stories abound of a murderous Yankee captain haunting the halls of the mansion – and he doesn’t take long in making his appearance. As her father’s health mysteriously spirals, Minnie must uncover who is at the center of the haunting of Ambrose Fields. Who really was Captain Vickers? What drove him into a murderous rage? And what does the harsh housekeeper have to do with the dark stories that shroud the estate?

Present Day: Triss Bellamy has turned her own life upside down. With a new name, a new faith, and a new job, she has left behind her family’s ghost hunting reality show. But her exciting opportunity to work in the bookshop at the Ambrose Fields historical site turns sour when she hears stories of the ghost of a Civil War captain haunting the estate. When her boss contacts Triss’s family to film their latest paranormal investigative show at the estate, Triss refuses to get involved – until her brother’s health unexpectedly spirals when he arrives on scene. Forced to team up with her ex, Triss must grapple with the darkness she left behind in the hopes of finding out what is tormenting her brother. Is it the ghost of Captain Vickers? Is there a logical explanation? Or has the team’s ghost hunting opened up the rumored 100th door of Ambrose Fields into a world of spirits and demons?

Pros: This book was light on the romance and heavy on the mystery, making me a very happy reader! I also was pleased with the Biblically sound view on the paranormal, and how well that tied into a unique spiritual arc – especially for Triss. While I did guess one of the bad guys, this book was refreshingly un-formulaic, avoided cliches, and had a rich cast of characters. Excellent writing!

Cons: Yes, I did say it was light on the romance, and while I enjoyed what romance there was in the present day story, Minnie’s 1888 romance with Dexter Price didn’t make a lot of sense. It was more curiosity than legit attraction or friendship. I was honestly surprised that they got together in the end.

The Bottom Line: An excellent solid Christian split-time mystery that’s heavy on the Gothic paranormal – but, don’t worry, it all pans out in the end!

Commentary by Me:

(My take here goes to show an author can’t please everyone. This is my opinion, based on where I’m at in my Christian walk, and I respect that others are at different stages of the journey and/or may have other convictions.)

I love that Jaime Jo Wright has a Scooby-Doo approach to her Gothic Christian writing. While the plot may be full of ghosts, hauntings, etc. there’s always a logical explanation in the end. However, when you dig into your Bible, you realize that there are spiritual forces of evil out there. Demons exist. If you’re not filling yourself up with the Holy Spirit, you’re leaving yourself open to be filled with other not-so-good stuff, including potentially evil spirits. Because of this reality, I was super excited that 99 Doors had a pretty deep literal spiritual warfare theme. Triss used to be a paranormal investigator who communicated with spirits. She was convicted that it wasn’t right and turned from that darkness to the Lord. From her POV, while God is ultimately in charge, demons and evil spirits were very real and posed a threat to her brother, her ex, and herself if she went back into that lifestyle. From what I see in some of the reviews, that storyline did not sit well with some readers, but I was very pleased. The paranormal plot was handled in a tasteful and Biblically based manner. In my opinion, the darkness was presenting an excellent juxtaposition to the light of Christ. Where I wasn’t pleased was, after all that build-up, we got the logical, Scooby-Doo answer in the denouement that explained away pretty much all of the paranormal. I understand that the author has to write to audience and genre expectations, and she probably would have a mutiny if she didn’t have a logical ending, but, if in a future book, she does decide to leave the door open (pun intended) for a solid Christian mystery that leaves a few loose paranormal threads, I’m here for it.