Maureen Doherty isn’t having the best time as the store that she’s worked as a buyer for (and a decorator of?) goes out of business. She’s smart, savvy, and has an awesome dog so things aren’t too terrible for her though for very long, because as soon as she gets home she learns that she has inherited an inn in Haven, Florida from a woman she doesn’t even know. After verifying that it’s not a hoax, she packs up her things and begins the road trip to her new life. Stopping at South of the Border she visits a Zoltar machine and receives this message, An answer, a vision in black and white. You’ll know the where but not the why. Beware the place one comes to die.
Pretty much as soon as she gets there she falls in love with the inn, the regulars and some of the workers. She also learns almost instantly that despite not believing in ghosts, there are a lot of ghosts who live at the inn, some very friendly, like Lorna the 40’s actress; and some perhaps not so friendly, like the one who inhabits Room 27. Similarly she begins to take a liking to the bartender/chef and has some real issues working with the hotel manager Elizabeth who expected to inherit the inn herself. Also, there’s a small problem. The night she arrived a prominent ghost hunter who managed to get actual photos dies on the porch and unfortunately, Maureen was the one to find the body. With police watching her every move, items being planted in her room, Maureen and friends (both physical and supernatural) have to figure out who the murderers are and why!
I could see myself reading this book and loving it on the beach or reading it when I know I’m going to be interrupted every five minutes until eternity (this is what it’s like to read at my house). This isn’t high literature, but it was really fun. The murder almost seems inconsequential because it’s very clear who the murderer is and what their motive was but the book itself was an excellent set up for the series. I bought book 2 yesterday and I look forward to starting it ASAP.
