The latest novel in this supernatural cozy series from the author of the Witch City Mysteries features a New Englander transplanted to a Florida town along the Gulf of Mexico when she inherits a charming, century-old-and very haunted-inn from a mysterious benefactor.
It's June in Haven, Florida, a 'between seasons' time in the tourism business, and Maureen's Haven House Inn is feeling the pinch. There are plenty of ghosts in residence, but Maureen needs living guests to pay the bills.
Inspired by an old brochure she finds in a trunk she inherited along with the inn from her mysterious benefactor Penelope Josephine Gray, she gets the idea to revive a June fishing tournament from twenty years ago, hoping to reel in anglers who'd love to catch the Gulf Coast's kingfish and take home a trophy.
But one fisherman won't make it to the tournament. While walking on the beach with her golden retriever Finn, Maureen discovers a body. When Officer Frank Hubbard arrives, he recognizes local charter boat fisherman Eddie Manuel.
Now it's up to Maureen and her spirited sleuths to sort through the red herrings and bait a hook for a killer before someone else ends up sleeping with the fishes . . .
Fans of Amanda Flower and Heather Blake will delight in this latest mystery in the Witch City series, featuring Lee Barrett, program director for Salem, Massachusetts's, local station, WICH-TV, and a cast of colorful characters and sleuthing helpers-including her detective sergeant husband, and a clairvoyant cat, O'Ryan.
Just married, Lee and her husband, Detective Sergeant Pete Mondello, are settling into their new home when Lee is dubbed WICH-TV's new 'Historical Documentary Chief Executive.' Her first subject is the brand-new Salem International Museum, slated to be a location for traveling blockbuster exhibits, starting with 'Seafaring New England.' From research to collecting artifacts of Salem's long-ago days as a shipping capital, the project is a challenge-but when the driver of a truckload of antiquities turns up dead under a pile of fall leaves, it's not quite the kind of challenge Lee expected . . .
Soon, Lee and Pete are dredging up clues along with a hardy crew of helpers, including Lee's librarian aunt, Ibby, Lee's best friend and practicing witch, River North-and of course the clairvoyant cat, O'Ryan. But when a ship model in the exhibit's collection appears to be haunted, Lee will have to dive into her own treasure trove of psychic gifts before a killer comes to the surface to strike again . . .
Christmas lights on palm trees and Santa hats on plastic pink flamingoes are far from the snowy landscape Maureen and her beloved golden retriever, Finn, are used to. But Maureen is determined to make this a holiday to remember-which means finding a way to promote Haven House on a shoestring. Fortunately, Haven's vintage movie theater, the Paramount, has come up with a great 'Twelve Days of Christmas' idea. They'll feature an impressive list of the best classic Christmas movies ever made-shown by one-time movie actor-turned-projectionist Decklin Monroe . . .
But nobody bothered to tell Maureen that the Paramount is haunted by the ghost of a man who was murdered a few years back. Haven's top cop Frank Hubbard doesn't believe in ghosts but, believing that Decklin Monroe was somehow involved, he wants a reluctant Maureen's help.
That plan is derailed when, on the first day of the festival, a fresh murder victim is found at the theater. Now Maureen has to defend her staff and guests, while trying to keep her high-spirited resident ghosts out of the picture-before they have company for the holidays . . .
The staff at Salem, Massachusetts's local station, WICH-TV, is looking forward to the wedding of their program director, Lee Barrett. But when Lee heads off on her Maine honeymoon, she'll be haunted by the ghosts of her own past . . .
Lee and Detective Sergeant Pete Mondello are finally tying the knot-and Lee is tying up loose ends before the big day. It'll be an adjustment moving out of Aunt Ibby's house, but the couple will stay nearby-after all, they have to share custody of O'Ryan, their clairvoyant cat. And Aunt Ibby will be renting out Lee's old apartment . . . though she's getting some bad vibes from her current prospective tenant.
After the celebration, complete with a cake made by the station magician, there should be time to relax-but the Maine island happens to be near the site of the crash that long ago killed Lee's parents, a mystery she's never been able to solve. Soon she'll be putting wedding gifts aside and turning to her psychic gifts instead, to wrap up crimes both past and present . . .
Maureen Doherty and her golden retriever Finn have taken possession of a charming old inn-only to discover that it's already possessed by tenants whose lease on life already ran out . . .
Maureen's career as a sportswear buyer hits a snag just before Halloween, when the department store declares bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Finn's lost his way as a guide dog after flunking his test for being too friendly and easily distracted. Sadly, only one of them can earn unemployment, so Maureen's facing a winter of discontent in Boston-when she realizes she can't afford her apartment.
Salvation comes when she receives a mysterious inheritance: an inn in Haven, Florida. A quaint, scenic town on the Gulf of Mexico hidden away from the theme parks, Maureen believes it's a good place to make a fresh start with a new business venture. But she gets more than she bargained for when she finds a dead body on her property-and meets some of the inn's everlasting tenants in the form of ghosts who offer their otherworldly talents in order to help her solve the mystery . . .
Salem's WICH-TV program director Lee Barrett is about to discover no good deed goes unpunished . . .
Lee has been promoted from field reporter to program director. Keeping track of all the shows and managing the local TV personalities-including a cowboy, a clown, and a performing dog-has her head spinning. Perhaps that's what makes her take pity on the distraught woman she finds sitting alone on a bench on the Salem common. When she realizes that the poor woman doesn't even know her own name, Lee takes her into the warmth of the home she shares with her Aunt Ibby and their clairvoyant gentleman cat, O'Ryan. Maybe Lee can use her own psychic gifts to divine the woman's identity.
Lee's detective beau Pete Mondello wants to talk to the 'Jane Doe,' but before he can investigate, he's called to a crime scene. A body has been found washed up in a narrow harbor cove. As harmless as her new houseguest seems, Lee can't help but wonder if she may be harboring a killer . . .
When a copycat killer has reporter Lee Barrett brushing up on ancient history, it's a test where failure could be lethal . . .
As a Salem, Massachusetts, native, WICH-TV field reporter and amateur sleuth Lee Barrett is well versed in the region's lore. So when the murder of revered local professor Samuel Bond resembles a killing from almost two centuries ago, everyone is on edge. Especially assistant professor Cody McGinnis . . .
Not only did Cody have differences with Bond, he even taught a course on the historic murder. And when his fingerprints and ladder are found at the crime scene, the police are certain of his guilt. Cody's family, however, believes otherwise and asks Lee for assistance. Now, with the help of her clairvoyant cat, O'Ryan, her tech-savvy librarian aunt and housemate Ibby, and Pete Mondello, her handsome detective beau, Lee will delve deeper than ever into Salem's past-and into her own psychic gifts-to find the real killer, before someone else is history . . .
Lee Barrett has landed her dream job at Salem's WICH-TV. As the new field reporter, she'll be covering events live as they're unfolding. Next on her holiday checklist is an interview with the beloved chairman of a popular walking tour through Salem's historic districts. But it may be his ghost walking this snowy Noel season after Lee finds him murdered in his stately offices, bloody Santa hat askew.
With her police detective boyfriend working the case and a witch's brew of suspects-including some bell-ringing Santas-Lee chases down leads aided and abetted by her wise cat O'Ryan and some unsettling psychic visions of her own. When a revealing clue leads to another dead body, not even a monster blizzard can stop Lee from inching closer to the truth . . . and a scoop that could spell her own demise this killer Christmas.
When Lee Barrett joins a former student's bridal party as maid of honor, she expects cake tastings and dress fittings. But wedding planning becomes more peculiar than Lee's scrying talents could ever predict. There's a magical baker, a best man with a checkered past, and a talking crow named Poe as the ring bearer. There's also a kindly old man dead under his apple tree-one of a series of unexplained deaths hanging over the Wiccan community . . . With witches dropping dead before they even come out of the proverbial broom closet, Lee's best friend, River, fears she might have somehow unleashed a terrible curse on the city. Now, aided by Poe and her clairvoyant cat, Lee sets out to investigate. Are lives being claimed by vengeful supernatural forces-or by something more shocking? She soon discovers, casting light on the wicked truth can be one killer commitment . . .
For residents of Salem, Massachusetts, the day after Halloween brings empty candy wrappers, sagging pumpkins, and a community-wide identity crisis. That is, until Lee Barrett's TV production class suggests extending the spooky season with the traditional Mexican celebration Dia de Los Muertos. But when the students discover not all of Salem's dead are resting in peace, the post-October blues don't seem so bad after all . . . As if a series of haunting graveyard visits isn't disturbing enough, Lee and her policeman boyfriend connect the crime to an unsolved missing person case. Driven by a series of chilling psychic visions, Lee calls on her cleverest allies-including her shrewd cat, O'Ryan-to go underground and dig up the evidence needed to put a lid on a cold case forever . . . before the latest headstone in town has her name on it!
Lee Barrett has agreed to attend a storage auction with Aunt Ibby-even though she suspects the forgotten rooms will yield more junk than treasure. Her skepticism vanishes once the two win a bid on an overlooked locker and uncover a trove of beautiful curiosities, including a stunning wooden carousel horse with gentle eyes and fading paint. But just before Lee leaves the fairground relic at a local repair shop, the sight of a silver samovar awakens her psychic abilities and conjures visions of murder. Lee prays the intrusive ESP episode was just a glimpse into the past-until her policeman boyfriend reports a dead man outside the repair shop. Apparently, the unknown victim had been hot on Lee's trail since the auction. And with the horse found dismantled, it looks like he was up to no good. What's the story behind the antique equine, and could a strange bubblegum-chewing woman with fiery hair have something to do with the crime? Guided by her gift and O'Ryan, her wise tabby cat, Lee's set on catching the murderer . . . before she's sent on the darkest ride of her life.
When Lee Barrett spots the same style oak bureau she once had as a child on the WICH-TV show Shopping Salem, she rushes to the antiques shop and buys the piece. Just like the beloved bureau she lost in a fire, this one has secret compartments. It also comes with an intriguing history: it was purchased in an estate sale from a home where a famous local murder took place. The day after the bureau is delivered, Lee returns to the antiques shop and finds the owner dead. The police suspect the shop owner's unscrupulous business partner, but Lee wonders if the murder is connected to her new furniture. At least part of the answer may be revealed through a mirror in the bureau; it's tarnished and blackened, allowing Lee to tap into her psychic visions. Using this bureau of investigation, Lee may be able to furnish her policeman beau with the evidence needed to catch the killer-before the next one to be shut up is her.
