Things I loved:

1. The setting/atmosphere. I picked this book up at just the right time—it was a great entrance into fall. Rainy days, murder mysteries, haunted mansions, forest trails, developing photos in a darkroom, late-night dance parties lit by candles and paper lanterns. It's one of the most fallish middle grade books I've read to date.
2. Mo. Not for relatability, but for originality. She's so quick-witted and brave and unabashedly herself. I'm impressed by the way the author is able to make even the prose ring with Mo's voice. The style is definitely my favorite thing about this series as a whole so far.
3. The café. I love the whole trope of "one restaurant in a small town where all the locals gather for biscuits and gossip." (That can be a trope, can't it?) And of course, I love the Colonel and Miss Lana and Grandmother Miss Lacy. All the conversations while Mo was serving and taking orders were my favorites.
4. Nellie Blake. So, obviously I don't believe this whole ghost thing could happen just as they describe it in the book, but she was a character all to herself and I liked that. And the whole "interview with a ghost" plot was loads of fun. I stayed up late reading this book in the dark a couple times and it was perfect.
5. Harm Crenshaw. He was the "new boy in town," but not in the way you'd naturally assume. I can't really say much about him without spoiling the book, but I just really liked his character and the parts he played in every aspect of the plot.

The final dance with Nellie was actually kind of touching, not gonna lie.