Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496721556
Kensington Publishing
304 Pages
$7.99; $6.89 Amazon
September 29, 2020
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Charlene's parents are in town for Christmas, and her mother is driving her up a tree. Her bed-and-breakfast's resident ghost, Jack, isn't fond of her either -- and he's showing it some haunting hijinks. But when Charlene takes her mom and dad out for dinner, the less-than-seasonal spirits take a deadly turn.
David Baldwin has just won a fortune in the lottery -- and it adds a lot of drama to the charity auction he's hosting at his restaurant. When he caps off the evening by playing Santa and handing out checks to some of the attendees, the mood shifts...and Charlene observes mysterious tensions between David and his flashy, bleached-blonde wife, his neglected teenage son from a previous marriage, and his hostile business partner, among others. And they're only a few on the long list of potential subjects when David runs into the road and is mowed down by a fleeing motorist. Now it looks like it's going to be homicide for the holidays...
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Charlene Morris is a young widow who owns a B&B in Salem, Massachusetts. It's the Christmas holidays, and her parents, Brenda and Michael, have come to visit. Unfortunately, her relationship with her mother has been contentious and is partly the reason she fled Chicago for the safety of Salem after her husband was unexpectedly killed. She also has other guests at her B&B, so her time to spend with them is limited. Her only respite is her resident ghost, Dr. Jack Strathmore, who was murdered three years ago, and is living with her -- she is the only person who can see and hear him, which makes it difficult when guests are around and he talks to her.
But Charlene has taken her parents to a local Italian restaurant for the evening - Bella's - and its owner, David Baldwin has just won the lottery. Still, he's hosting a raffle for a local childrens' home, and Charlene plans to have fun, even if her mother is complaining. But after the meal when the gifts are raffled off, David distributes envelopes containing 'gifts' of his own to several people at the restaurant. Some don't seem happy, including his silent partner Vincent, or the childrens' home managers; even his son shows up and is surprised when he receives nothing.
But no one is more surprised than Charlene when David says two names and then promptly runs into the road and is run down by a hit-and-run driver. Now Charlene is determined to find out who killed David and why, even after being warned away by Detective Sam Holden. It doesn't help that her mother has already decided the young widow is the culprit, and wants to investigate with Charlene. She has her hands full running her B&B, keeping her mother otherwise occupied, trying to spend time with her ghost, and looking for a killer who might be the most oddest suspect of all...
This is the third book in the series and I've read them all. Let me first say that I love books with ghosts (friendly ones, not poltergeists), and even more so when they have personal relationships with the main protagonist. This series is no different than that. But Charlene is finding it difficult to maintain her attraction to Jack, knowing he's a ghost and can't reciprocate the way she wants, and her dawning attraction to Sam, knowing he can. It makes for problems in her life.
When she's on the hunt for a killer, it makes things even more difficult knowing Sam wants her out of it. But she's sure the widow knows something, and even has a desire to talk to the ex-wife, who was left by her husband for another woman. Even more so is her questions for Kyle, the son, and Vincent, the partner. But no one is giving any information, and Charlene is on her own.
It makes for quite an interesting mystery, and I truly enjoyed it. I also loved the descriptions of Charlene's home decorated for Christmas, and I myself would love to see it. That is what draws the reader in - descriptions we can discover in our own mind and make us want to share the story with the protagonist.
I do love the character of Jack, and my romantic side wishes there were some way he could become more than a ghost (through, perhaps, a miracle of sorts where anything can happen). I do, unfortunately, like him a bit better than Sam, who comes off hard sometimes. But these are my own opinions and others will see things differently.
Throughout the book I found that Brenda was growing on me, and her conversations with her husband started to become humorous by the end of the book. Sometimes marriages seem strange to others, but whatever seems strange to some people wind up being others' own forms of love. It was delightful visiting with Charlene's parents and watching her own relationship with them.
When the ending comes and we discover the murderer, it was sad in a way, knowing the lengths people will go to. Still, it all came out nicely and the book ended in such a way that left me looking forward to the next in the series soon. Recommended.
More on Traci Wilton's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/traci-wilton/
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