The Science of Ghosts by Lilah Sturges and El Garing stars Doctor Joy Ravenna – a forensic parapsychologist, trans lesbian, and grantee. She also solves murder(s) for reasons that have to do with all of the above and funding may be the most important one. You can’t do paranormal psychology without a grant.
Joy used to work with the police as a psychologist. She was married to a pretty detective and they were probably happy enough. Then she transitioned, her presumably heterosexual wife left her, and she turned her expertise to ghosts.
Even though the new life is good, all those changes are stressful individually. Now Joy is working in a field she is passionate about, she lives with her suspiciously perfect girlfriend (aside from using ‘wombat’ as a term of endearment), and seems to be doing well. Except for the fact that she won’t leave her ex-wife alone, but at least her excuses for contact are valid.
The story is about Joy gripping a lead for an academic breakthrough and more grant money and not letting go. When the contact for that lead is murdered and a friend is arrested for it, Joy may have complained that she’d lose her grant if there’s a conviction. She’s violently attacked by a ghost and she goes academic. (I learned the sensory deprivation of being a ghost would be psychologically unhealthy.) She probably needs to slow down and definitely needs to reprioritize.
The story was a lot of fun and I’d love to see more of this world. What’s the consensus on ghosts existing now? What happened with the Perez case? Can good things happen to Amanda? But I’m content if this is it.
