The Ladies of the Lake (Gilda Joyce)

This the second book I have read in the Gilda Joyce series and I'm hooked. I enjoyed the first book, but I loved, loved, loved The Ladies of the Lake. Gilda is an absolute HOOT! She has no "internal editor" and just says whatever pops in her head which often has disastrous yet humorous results.

In this latest book in the series, Gilda has been accepted into the exclusive private school, Our Lady of the Lake. She wasn't all the excited about attending the school until she found out that a student had drowned in the lake and that there might be a paranormal mystery to solve. Gilda is also dealing with her mom's new boyfriend and she is not happy about her mother dating.

If you enjoy spunky heroines, mysteries and humor than pick up your show more copy of Gilda Joyce: The Ladies of the Lake today. show less

This was a lot of fun! How unexpected! When I was at the library, I wanted to grab a couple of audiobooks since I spend a lot of time driving during the week, but didn't have a lot of time, and saw this sitting on the top of the display case and figured "what the heck, it looks cute". Turns out it's the second book in a series about a middle-school girl named Gilda Joyce, who considers herself a psychic investigator. In this book, she transfers to a private academy called Our Lady of Sorrows, partly because it's a "better school with better opportunities" (says her mother), but mostly because a girl died there a few years ago, and there are rumors of her haunting the school. Naturally, it sounds like a job for a psychic investigator, so show more Gilda jumps at the opportunity... but gets more than she bargained for when she begins to uncover the truth behind the girl's death.

There were only a few concerns I had with the book, mostly to do with the main character. Gilda can get somewhat annoying and repetitive at times, and she lies far too easily without remorse. I realize that's often the case with young teens, but I didn't feel comfortable that there were no repercussions for her lies and that she didn't apologize. She also has a tendency to act rather egotistical, and sometimes treats others with surprising contempt, even while bemoaning her own plight among the school's social scene. That said, the adults in the book sound like adults, act like adults, and react like sensible adults, even when Gilda thinks they're wrong. In that sense, I think the author has an excellent grasp on teen / adult relationships and how they're perceived from both sides.

I listened to this as an audiobook, and the narrator did an excellent job. She pulled off the young teen voice and vibe, without delving into sounding too annoying or whiny. Her voices for the other characters were also very well done and consistent all the way through.

I'm definitely planning to pick up more Gilda Joyce, and hopefully in audio format! show less

Gilda Joyce: Psychic Investigator is a scrappy, irreverent, and sassy 13-year-old who isn't afraid to use her brains and self-proclaimed talent as a psychic to solve mysteries that just seem to fall into her lap. Gilda still misses her dad who recently died and she connects with him by writing letters to him frequently. But, Gilda is most annoyed with her mom who has taken up with a new boyfriend, Brad Squib. Brad does Gilda and her mom a 'favor' by getting Gilda into an elite and exclusive all girls school called Our Lady of Sorrows. She doesn't want to leave her best friend, Wendy Choy behind at her old school. Gilda is silently furious until she finds out that a mysterious secret surrounds the school. Three years ago, a girl drowned show more under curious circumstances. Gilda is determined to get to the bottom of it. Her psychic abilities come to her via dreams which provide clues to preponderous predicaments. Gilda eventually does solve the mystery surrounding the dead girl, Delores Lambert, by using her insightful instincts and keeping a cool head. But, just when she thinks she will be hailed as a hero for solving the mystery, the real fun begins.

Gilda is a no-nonsense type of girl, who doesn't back away from set-backs or threats. She is a thinker, a doer and a go-getter. You will enjoy her brassiness and determination. I am sure when you pick up the copy of Gilda Joyce: The Ladies of the Lake by Jennifer Allison, you will have a hard time putting it down because a mystery is in the making show less

Gilda Joyce, a self-proclaimed psychic investigator has been given the opportunity of a life time. She has been offered a scholarship to a private school, "Our Ladys of Sorrow School for Girls. How did she get this lucky opportunity? It was her mother's boyfriend's doing. Gilda really did not want to go until she saw the place. Anything that looked like a haunted castle had to be haunted, right? The mystery surrounded the death of Dolores who fell through the ice into the lake and drowned. Now Gilda is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery. I loved her attitude toward the snobby girls at the school. She tends to be over-dramatic and to put her nose where it doesn't belong. Her reason is that it is justifiable if it will get to show more the bottom of the mystery. She can't believe that Dolores was stupid enough to just step out onto the ice. Someone must be responsible for her actions that night, and Gilda is going to find out who. show less

Natalie Cordaro 11-10-11
English 7 Rough Draft Critical Review

Jennifer Allison, author, wrote a creative and suspenseful book, “The Ladies of the Lake”. Allison grew up in a small town in Michigan. She was a news reporter and high school English teacher. Allison has written 5 books, including “The Ladies of the Lake”, all based on the series “Gilda Joyce: Psychic Investigator”. She currently lives in Washington, D.C. “The Ladies of the Lake” is a very interesting story that I didn’t know would end up being one of my favorite books.

Jennifer Allison came up with the name of her novel very cleverly. In the book, there is a secret club that may be responsible for Dolores Lambert’s death, a freshman at our Ladies of show more Sorrows, a catholic school, three years ago. Allison creates a main character, Gilda Joyce, to try to solve the mystery of Dolores lambert’s death. Something that I found very interesting and different from most books was that in 18 of the 41 chapters, Gilda types letters to her father who died a couple of years ago, informing him on everything that is happening in her life, good or bad. In chapters 6 and 35, the whole chapter is the letter Gilda wrote to her father. It made me more excited and curious as I continued reading the novel. This book is similar to Kelly Easton’s, author, book “White Magic”, where the main character’s father dies, and has a ghostly atmosphere to it, similar to “The Ladies of the Lake”.

Jennifer Allison’s creativity made this novel extremely unique and entertaining to read. I would rank “The Ladies of the Lake” a 5 out of 5 based on originality and much detail. If you love to read mysteries and ghost-type stories, you’ll love to read “The Ladies of the Lake”. I look forward to reading more of Jennifer Allison’s novels in the future. show less

Gilda Joyce, psychic investigator is off again on another exciting adventure. This time, she is attending an exclusive girls school and finds out that one of the students drowned in the lake. Her ghost is supposed to haunt the school. Gilda finds out who the murderers are and decides to force them to confess. Wendy Choy, her good friend, helps her with her adventures. This is a light, fun loving mystery that girls will like. Nothing scary - no horror. Gilda is a strong, independent thinker with some weird ideas. She loves to write and explore and is not afraid to stick her nose in where it's not wanted.

Having earned a scholarship to a private girls' high school, self-proclaimed psychic investigator Gilda Joyce investigates the circumstances surrounding the drowning death of a student whose ghost supposedly haunts the campus.