Dead and Breakfast: A Merry Ghost Inn Mystery (A Merry Ghost Inn Mystery, #1)

by Kate Kingsbury

Melanie West is getting her life back on track after a messy divorce when her grandmother, Liza Harris, asks her to open a B&B with her. Together, Liza and Melanie purchase a purportedly haunted mansion on the Oregon coast and jump right into clearing out the cobwebs. But while attempting to remove wallpaper in an upstairs bedroom, the new B&B owners stumble upon a very real skeleton in their closet.

The police suspect the skeleton is that of the wife of the previous owner of the B&B, but no one in town seems to want to say much about her. As the inn owners try to juggle renovations with their own amateur investigations, their grand opening looms closer and closer—and a friendly ghost in their walls starts playing tricks. But it all comes crashing to a halt when a new body is found stabbed to death on the beach below the inn—the victim chillingly close in resemblance to Melanie herself.

It seems someone doesn't appreciate newcomers prying into the small town's past, and now it's up to Melanie and Liza to get to the bottom of these murders to save their business...and their lives.

• ISBN10: 1683310101
• ISBN13: 9781683310105
• Publish Date: 10 January 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Crooked Lane Books
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[Mystereity Reviews]

See this and all of my reviews at Mystereity Reviews

I love a brand new series. There's nothing better than the promise of finding a new world to lose yourself in, and Dead & Breakfast is definitely a great new world to get lost in. A beautiful location in Oregon, a big old house set right on the beach, haunted by a laughing ghost, and real skeletons in the closet. This is the recipe for a great book, so I was eager to dive in.

Starting over after a messy divorce, Melanie buys a B&B with her grandmother, Liza, in Sully's Landing, Oregon. It's been vacant for years and needs some updating, and while stripping wallpaper in an upstairs bedroom, Melanie and Liza find a hidden door that opens onto a startling sight - a skeleton, dressed only in a nightgown! With only a few weeks until they open, and the police busy with another case, Liza and Melanie start investigating to find a killer before their B&B dream goes up in smoke.

What I really enjoyed about Dead & Breakfast is that it drew me in right from the start, and left me wanting more. I loved the plot, from discovering the secret room to adopting Max to the exciting ending. The story even left a couple of open plot threads that I'm looking forward to seeing more of. I'm dying (ha!) to know more about the laughing ghost (nicknamed Orville by Liza) and what other secrets are lurking at the Merry Ghost Inn.

The main characters, Melanie and Liza, are a likable bunch. I really liked Liza, she reminds me of my own Grammy - high energy, in charge and lovable. There was just enough info to give them dimension, while leaving out just enough that you want to know more. Melanie and Liza made a great team, I loved how they went about snooping around and uncovering clues.

Overall, a very promising start to a new cozy series and I can't wait to come back to Sully's Landing and find out more about the giggling ghost!

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for the advance copy in return for my honest review.