Reviewed by Jeanne
Maureen Doherty has had a lot of life changes recently, not
the least of which is inheriting an inn in Florida through rather mysterious
circumstances. Not just any inn,
either: a haunted inn. Fortunately, the dead tolerate the living
well and vice versa.
Now all Maureen has to do is make the inn profitable.
Well, that and solve the murder of one of the guests.
I am a long-time fan of Perry’s Witch City mysteries set in Salem, so I decided to give this series
a try. As in that series, the main character
is an intelligent woman with a connection to the supernatural, but isn’t fazed
by it. More importantly to me, the supernatural elements don’t automatically solve
the crime. She also gives a good
supporting cast and gives the heroine other concerns to occupy her between clues. In this case, she’s working a new promotion
for the inn: a dinner and a movie combo,
using the town’s old theater and a schedule of Christmas movies, such as the The Bishop’s Wife and Home Alone. Perry tends to toss in names
of classic movies or tv shows in her books, and I am delighted to see someone
else remembers some of these gems.
I did enjoy the book and will read more in the series. However, I picked this one up with the idea
of going back and reading the first one later, but that idea was quashed in the
first pages as we are told who the murderer was in the first book. In fact,
just in case the reader didn’t catch it the first time, the information is
repeated. If you want to read them all,
I would suggest reading in order, unless you’re more interested in the
characters and setting and less in solving the mystery.
My only other quibble is with the police officer on the case
whom I found annoying. Then again, I wasn’t crazy about the police detective in
the Witch City mysteries either, but for somewhat different
reasons.
The ghosts add a lot to the story, just by being fun. Maureen
can see and interact with them, and so can her dog, Finn. In fact, fashionista ghost Lorna reads Finn
stories between finding new outfits and accessories.
Books in the series are:
Be My Ghost
High Spirits
Haunting License
The Spirit Moves
Double Knot Untied
(November 2026)
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