Be Our Ghost

August 13, 2018
Entrepreneur Jason Northwood has big plans to build an arcade in the center of Sully’s Landing, Ore., in Kingsbury’s slow-moving third mystery featuring Melanie West and her grandmother, Liza Harris, the owners of the Merry Ghost Inn (after 2017’s Doom with a View). Northwood’s meeting with the city council and the planning commission ends in arguments and threats, and he is stabbed to death later that night. All the meeting’s participants are declared to be suspects, including Doug Griffith, of whom Liza is particularly fond. The ladies have no choice but to investigate, with or without the help of Deputy Ben Carter, Melanie’s boyfriend. Meanwhile, Melanie takes time to research the whereabouts of her mother, who disappeared some 30 years ago, leaving Melanie in Liza’s care. Will the pair solve the mystery before the police? Will Melanie find her long-lost mother? Will Ben kiss Melanie? For some, the answers to these questions about these cardboard characters with their cardboard emotions won’t matter. Still, some cozy fans will be satisfied. Agent: Paige Wheeler, CMA Literary Agency.

September 15, 2018
Melanie West and her grandmother Liza Harris run a bed-and-breakfast, the Merry Ghost Inn, in small-town Sully's Landing on the Oregon coast. When developer Jason Northwood reveals plans to build an arcade in town, many of the townspeople are furious as they believe it will shutter local businesses and ruin the peaceful character of their town. After Northwood meets with a group of prominent local citizens whom he hopes to persuade to vote for his arcade, he is found stabbed to death, with those attending the meeting considered suspects in his murder. When Melanie and Liza learn that Liza's friend Doug Griffith is the chief suspect, Liza is determined to clear him with Melanie's help. The two casually question suspects, against the advice of patrolman Ben Carter, Melanie's boyfriend, leading to a missing pet, sabotage, and kidnapping, with the two ultimately identifying the killer. Sympathetic, well-drawn characters; two blossoming romances; details of running an inn; a laughing ghost who leaves helpful clues; and the mystery of Melanie's mother's long-ago disappearance distinguish this cozy mystery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)