The Uninvited Corpse (A Food Blogger Mystery #1)

Author:  Debra Sennefelder
Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781496715920
Kensington Publishing
368 Pages
$5.29; $5.03 Amazon
March 28, 2018

⭐⭐

Leaving behind a failed career as a magazine editor and an embarrassing stint on a reality baking show, newly divorced lifestyle entrepreneur Hope Early thought things were finally on the upswing -- until she comes face-to-face with a murderer...

Hope's schedule is already jam packed with recipe testing and shameless plugs for her food blog as she rushes off to attend a spring garden tour in the charming town of Jefferson, Connecticut.  Unfortunately, it isn't the perfectly arranged potted plants that grab her attention -- it's the bloody body of reviled real estate agent Peaches McCoy...

One of the tour guests committed murder, and all eyes are on Hope's older sister, Claire Dixon -- who, at best, saw Peaches as a professional rival.  And suspicions really heat up when another murder occurs the following night.  Now, with two messy murders shaking Jefferson and all evidence pointing to Claire, Hope must set aside her burgeoning brand to prove her sister's innocence.  But the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she gets to a killer intent on making sure her life goes permanently out of style...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Hope Early moved back to her hometown after losing her husband and her job, and losing on a television reality show.  Now she's moved into a farmhouse, raises chickens, and makes her living with her home and cooking blog.  Things seem to be going well, at least until she goes to a friend's book signing party...

While there, she finds that her sister Claire's nemesis, real estate agent Peaches McCoy, has arrived uninvited and is rude to everyone.  When Hope finds Peaches murdered in the study of her friend Audrey's home, that's bad enough.  But when Claire is the prime suspect for the murder, that's worse.  And when Hope decides to investigate trying to find out who the killer is, things go completely downhill.  Now she's in the sights of a killer, and Claire's next home might be a prison cell.  If Hope doesn't figure this out soon, both Early girls are going to be losing their lives in one way or another...

This is the first in a new series, and I really would have liked to enjoy it.  But there were things unexplained (which I will explain later) and my thoughts on the plot, which I will explain first:

First off, Hope is a horrible investigator.  She goes to peoples' homes and just starts looking around, without trying to be subtle, but subtlety isn't her strong point, since she just goes around asking everyone if they killed Peaches - which, of course, makes them dislike her, and honestly I don't blame them.  Who would like someone who walks up to them and accuses them of murder?  Of course they're going to think she's trying to find someone else to take the rap for her sister, who's the suspect.

Then, she's a blogger who never blogs.  As in never.  She states as how she's making her money from it, but she never goes on her computer to do so.  She spends her time making food for people to get information or ask forgiveness or going to snoop.

Her sister Claire is completely dense.  She lives and breathes real estate, ignores the fact she's a murder suspect, and rarely mentions that she's married with two kids, one of whom we meet in one sentence only - her husband is out of town on business (we learn he has his own business but don't know what he does) and Claire has dinner at Hope's a couple of nights while her husband's gone, then tells us how much she loves her kids.  Loves them so much she eats at Hope's without them?  Never spends time with them?  Never talks about them?  Sure, sure...

Things I would have liked explained were how did Hope lose the top prize?  How did she lose her job?  We get that her husband cheated, but somehow she lost her job as a magazine editor?  How did her husband get everything she owned if she were the one cheated on?  Why would a woman hold a grudge since grade school over something so ridiculous?  If there's more to it, shouldn't we have been told what that is?  None of this is explained, and should have been.

But the kicker - and the thing that may keep me from reading any more in this series which will depend upon the second book - is the ubiquitous 'love triangle'.  Never interesting, always frustrating, and as I've said many, many times before, if it were a man stringing along two women, you'd think he was a dog, so why is it okay when a woman does it?  It isn't.  The way it happens isn't even believable.  So if it develops in the next book I can tell you that I won't finish the book and will not read any more in the series.  For that alone, this book was a disappointment.  I do hope that this isn't going to become one.  I also hope that Meg doesn't become the 'evil nemesis'.  I really loathe that in books.

When the murderer was discovered, it might have been a surprise, but by the end of the book I really didn't care since there were so many slow parts with things that just weren't relevant to the murder, and the subject kept coming up about her failed career and reality show with no details about how they ended and why.  Details count.

https://www.amazon.com/Uninvited-Corpse-Food-Blogger-Mystery/dp/1496715926?SubscriptionId

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3381696168

More on Debra Sennefelder's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/s/debra-sennefelder/

Still Knife Painting (A Paint & Shine Mystery Book 1)

Author:  Cheryl Hollon
Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781496725240
Kensington Publishing
352 Pages
$7.99; $6.89 Amazon
June 30, 2020

⭐⭐⭐⭐

After inheriting her uncle's Red River Gorge homestead in Eastern Kentucky -- smack dab in the middle of the Daniel Boone National Forest -- Miranda comes up with a perfect business plan for summer tourists: pairing outdoor painting classes with sips of local moonshine, followed by a mouthwatering sampler of the best in southern cooking.

To Miranda's delight, Paint & Shine is a total success -- until someone kills the cook.  As the town's outsider, suspicion naturally falls on Miranda.  Murdering the best biscuit baker of Red River Gorge is a high crime in these parts.  Miranda will have to prove her innocence before she's moved from farmhouse to jail cell faster than she can say "white lightning"...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

When Miranda Trent discovers she's been left her Uncle Gene's farmhouse and belongings in Eastern Kentucky, she's surprised as can be.  But then she decides it can be an opportunity for her to start her own business, and not have to struggle to make it as an artist.  She opens Paint & Shine, where people can learn to paint and then return to her farmhouse for an authentic country meal, accompanied by moonshine tastes for each course.  However, not everyone is glad she's starting her business, since a lot of people are still against consuming alcohol in this town.

The first outing seems to go well, with six customers who are enjoying it.  But when they go back to the farmhouse, Miranda has an argument with one of the cooks, Mrs. Childers; and when Miranda goes to check on the meal a few minutes later, she finds the woman lying on her kitchen floor, stabbed with a butcher knife. 

Now Miranda's business is dwindling, and she's the main suspect in the murder.  If she's going to survive -- and keep the farmhouse and land -- she needs to find out who killed the woman and why.  But only if she can stay alive long enough to do so...

This is the first in a new series, and I really enjoyed it.  There were only a few things that bothered me, so I'll get those out of the way first.  I would have liked to know why Miranda didn't confront the reporter after the newspaper came out, but she ignored it, which couldn't be a good thing in anyone's book; she didn't even mention it to Austin, which I thought she at least might have done.  Then, she stated how Austin was going to stay at her place while a killer was on the loose, but we never saw any indication of this happening, so I'd like to know if he did or not.  The first deputy who passed out seemed ridiculous -- if you're going to pass out seeing a dead body, you need to find another profession -- I can't even imagine an officer like that stopping people to give them tickets. 

I also didn't get the scene between Dan and Miranda when she grabbed at him; it seemed out of character for the person she was starting to be portrayed as, since she never acted this way and the comment he made shouldn't have set her off like that.  But as Miranda states as how she's an introvert it didn't make sense; I am too, and I would never react this way to anyone.  I also control my tongue a lot better, since I'd rather not draw attention to myself.

Aside from that, I liked some of the secondary characters.  Mrs. Hobb grew on me early even though she's not in the book much, and I hope to see more of her in the next one.  I also like the idea that our protagonist isn't mooning over a police detective, which usually happens in most cozies.  Since I realize this is the first in the series, hopefully there will be more character development of Miranda and the others in the next one.

The plot is written well, and it's an interesting decision to make her an artist who will also offer moonshine from a local distillery instead of wine pairings.  While I've never heard of this, that's probably because I'm a city girl through and through.  We don't get a lot of descriptions of the countryside, but we do get some, and I look forward to learning more about the area in future books.

While I guessed the murderer early on (I read a lot of mysteries), I enjoyed moving along with Miranda as she put the pieces together and discovered the reason for the murder.  While it was sad, we can't ever decipher motives from a killer or the future victim that they face.  Sad indeed, but believable just the same.  I did like the ending and look forward to the next in the series.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Still-Knife-Painting-Paint-Mysteries/dp/1496725247/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3377577674

More on Cheryl Hollon's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/cheryl-hollon/

Occult and Battery (A Bay Island Psychic Mystery #2)

Author:  Lena Gregory
Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780425282762
Berkley Publishing
290 Pages
$6.28; $7.99 Amazon
April 4, 2017

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The outlook is not so good for Cass's psychic shop, Mystical Musings.  With winter winds discouraging tourists from riding the ferry from Long Island to Bay Island, Cass hopes to draw in more customers by hosting a murder mystery weekend, complete with a séance, in a supposedly haunted mansion.

But Cass begins to lose her spirit when her ex-husband shows up, along with his fiancée -- Cass's ex-best friend.  Then, after one of the guests is found dead, a blizzard blows in, trapping everyone inside with a murderer.  Now Cass must divine who did the deed before her reputation and her livelihood fade away.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Cass Donovan ditched her psychiatry practice and cheating husband to open Mystical Musings, and also gives private and group readings in her now psychic shop.  Presently she's coaxed her best friends Bee and Stephanie to take her to a spooky mansion on an island, in the middle of winter.  Once there, she tells them that she's convinced the owner, Priscilla Wellington, who's opening the home as a new B&B, to invite guests and she will have a seancé and give private and group meetings on the coming weekend.

The only drawbacks are the fact that her ex-husband Donald shows up with the reason for her divorce -- her ex-best friend Sylvia; and also the fact that one of the owners, Conrad Wellington, believes that the mansion is haunted with the ghost of a former owner and wants nothing to do with it.  Still, with the help of Stephanie and Bee, and her dog Beast, Cass presses on.  During the seancé, something strange occurs along with the loss of power, and everyone heads to their rooms.  But then there's a scream during the night, and Cass, along with Priscilla's brother Jim, finds a body, killed in exactly the same way as the long dead owner.  But Cass, with her innate curiosity, notices things that seem out of place.  And when Stephanie's detective husband Tank can finally reach the island, he sees them, too.

Now Cass knows that not only will she have to find an alternative place to give the readings or lose everything, but that there's a killer on the loose - and it's someone that was in the mansion along with she and her friends.  But will she be able to unmask a killer?  Or will the killer find her first?...

This is the second book in the series and I must say that I truly enjoyed it more than the first.  In the first book, I thought Bee was stereotypical, and Cass and Stephanie managed to get into situations that at least Stephanie should have known not to do.  But I am very glad I decided to pick up this series again and start over.

Cass is an interesting character; she never admits she's a psychic, but she knows that she notices things about people and her surroundings that others may miss.  If she wasn't in the business that she's chosen, she might have made a very good homicide detective.  The only thing that bothered me this time out is the fact that she stated she chose this business because she didn't want the responsibility for someone else's life.  If you do a reading for someone, you've taken some responsibility in their actions afterward (I know this because I read the Tarot).  Not as great an extent as her previous profession, but it is there nonetheless.

I absolutely adore Bee this time.  He's not only interesting, he's intelligent and loyal and has hidden talents that emerge just when you need them.  He surprises both Cass and the reader with these from time to time.

As far as the mystery goes, it was very good.  What's better than a haunted house without electricity?  I would have loved to have seen more of a ghostly presence, but that's just me.  I liked how the clues were presented, and even though I figured out the murderer before Cass, she put the pieces together with clues I missed myself.

The book kept me reading in one sitting, and can be read in an evening; it had enough characters to give us red herrings, but not enough to confuse us.  When the ending comes and everything is revealed, it is done nicely and I do like the fact that Cass finally got a sort of "release" for something that she needed to have.  I will definitely continue this series.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Occult-Battery-Island-Psychic-Mystery/dp/0425282767/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3375823328

More on Lena Gregory's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/lena-gregory/

Natural Thorn Killer (A Rose City Mystery #1)

Author:  Kate Dyer-Seeley
Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781496705136
Kensington Publishing
320 Pages
$7.99; $6.89 Amazon
March 27, 2018

⭐

Britta Johnson might be a late bloomer, but after leaving her deadbeat husband and dead-end job, she's finally pursuing her artistic passion at her aunt Elin's floral boutique, Blooma, in Portland, Oregon.  It's on the banks of the Willamette, in a quaint district of cobblestone paths and cherry trees.  The wine bar featuring Pacific Northwest vintages is a tasty bonus, offering another kind of bouquet to enjoy.  But things aren't as peaceful as they look.

For one thing, someone's been leaving dead roses around -- and a sleazy real estate developer who wants the waterfront property has put a big-money offer on the table.  Then, after a contentious meeting of local business owners, he's found on the floor of the shop, with Elin's garden shears planted in his chest.  And before the police decide to pin the crime on her beloved aunt, Britta will have to find out who arranged this murder...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

This is the first book in a new series, and I loved Ms. Dyer-Seeley's previous one, so I wanted to give this one a chance.  But I'm not even going to go over the plot again; it's pretty much what the blurb tells you it is.

I was so disappointed in this book that I don't think I'll even write a detailed review, but just give my thoughts from the few chapters I read before I became totally bored by it:  First off, Britta just walks out on her husband when he's sleeping.  Yes, I get that he was cheating, but where's the closure?  She never confronted him with what she knows and states that he'll realize she's gone for good when she doesn't come back.  Well, duh.  The fact that her clothes are gone would be a real clue.  But is she so devoid of feeling anything that she doesn't want to lash out or tell him what she knows?  She spent ten years with the man and doesn't react at all -- just packs her bags and leaves.  What a boring woman.  No anger, no sadness, no anything.

Also, she's too contradictory.  First she states how she hates her job and wants to be creative, but when her aunt offers her the chance to do so, she panics and tells her that she can't.  Huh?  This doesn't make any sense.  She also mentions how she hated her husband Chad's watered-down coffee.  Excuse me, you were married ten years and you never either a) told him it was watered-down and you hated it; b) showed him how to make proper coffee; or c) just made it yourself?  To top it off, she's willing to start a new romance after just leaving a marriage that obviously left her numb.

I don't know if her husband ever contacted her, if she ever realized he was just lazy and happy that she was willing to support him, and I honestly don't care.  Like Britta, this book left me numb (what I read of it).  The book went downhill more after that, so I stopped reading and didn't even care who the killer was or why.  Again, while I loved Ms. Dyer-Seely's other series, this new one is less than enthralling.

https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Thorn-Killer-Rose-Mystery/dp/1496705130/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2884309279

More on Kate Dyer-Seeley's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/kate-dyer-seeley/

Marshmallow Malice (An Amish Candy Shop Mystery)

Author:  Amanda Flower
Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; [Audio CD]; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781496722034; [97819773696351]
Kensington Publishing; [Tantor Audio]
336 Pages
$7.99; [$24.99]; $6.89 Amazon
May 26, 2020

⭐⭐⭐⭐

With Juliet Brody and Reverend Brook tying the knot in Ohio's Amish Country's most anticipated nuptials of the year, Bailey King is determined to do everything in her power to make the event a sweet success.  Except midsummer heat waves and outdoor ceremonies don't mix, and an exasperated Bailey soon finds herself struggling to fulfill bridesmaid duties and keep her stunning marshmallow-frosted wedding cake from becoming a gooey disaster.  Then much to everyone's shock, the entire ceremony crumbles when a guest drops dead, and the cause isn't sunstroke...

Turns out, the uninvited victim came equipped with lots of dirt on the devout reverend's hidden past.  As Reverend Brook tops the murder suspect list on what should have been the happiest day of his life, Bailey and her sheriff's deputy boyfriend vow to clear his name.  Can the duo boil down a series of baffling clues before Juliet considers her marriage a bad mistake -- or the killer whips up another deadly surprise?

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

After her grandfather passed away, Bailey King, a top chocolatier in New York, moved to Harvest, Ohio to help run Swissmen Sweets, the candy shop her Amish grandmother, Clara, owns.  She has help from Clara's young cousin Charlotte, and Emily Keim, a young Amish woman that used to work next door.

At present she's the maid of honor in the wedding of Juliet Brody and the Reverend Simon Brook.  Bailey's boyfriend and Juliet's son, Aiden, is not only best man, but he's the deputy sheriff.  When a drunk woman shows up at the church just before the end of the ceremony, attempting to disrupt it, Aiden has his deputy remove her.  But during the reception, Bailey once again notices the reverend speaking with her away from other people.  When Bailey has an accident and goes home to change clothes, she sees the woman again being coaxed into a car with a man, but unfortunately, she can't get the license plate.

When the woman is later found murdered on the church steps -- again by Bailey -- she's naturally upset and wonders why this keeps happening.  But with her best friend Cass in town for the wedding, and vowing to keep Aiden informed, she's once again on the trail of a killer.  As if that weren't enough, she meets a woman and her daughter who both intimate to her that the daughter, Kayla, is going to marry Aiden.  Confused, Bailey vows not to confront Aiden about this and instead concentrates on helping Aiden, even if he doesn't want it.  But once again, will Bailey be able to corner a killer, or will she finally meet her maker?...

I must say that when I read the first book in the series I wasn't too enthralled with it.  But I will also say that each ensuing book has gotten better.  The characters have been fleshed out, and some of them have even become endearing -- and no, I'm not talking about Jethro the pig, even though he is kind of cute sometimes -- and they've come to grow on me.  I enjoy watching Bailey and Aiden's relationship grow, even as she becomes embroiled in his homicide investigations when she knows she shouldn't.  I do like Cass, who shows up often enough; she's a strong woman who knows what she wants and being Bailey's friend, she has her back and even, unfortunately, encourages her in her escapades.

The plot was very good, with few clues to the murderer, but then it hits you almost the same time as Bailey, even though you start putting things together a bit earlier than that.  The ending was done well, and it was all believable, right down to the fact that Bailey is finally discovering just how much she loves being in Harvest instead of Manhattan.

A very good book with lovely descriptions of the area around Amish country, and I will definitely continue on with this series.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Marshmallow-Malice-Amish-Candy-Mystery/dp/1496722035/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3372230766

More on Amanda Flower's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/f/amanda-flower/

Deadly Sweet Tooth (A Vintage Sweets Mystery Book 2)

Author:  Kaye George
Genre:   Mystery

Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781516105441
Lyrical Underground Publishing
180 Pages
$15.95; $7.19 Amazon
June 2, 2020

⭐⭐⭐

With Tally's Olde Tyme Sweets finally -- well, almost -- turning a profit, Tally Holt is taking one busy Saturday off to host a grand party for her parents, traveling performers who spend most of their time on the road.  Tally's counting on the publicity and free treats to attract new customers.  And the event is a sweet success -- at least until Fran Abraham, the town's foul-tempered theater director, drops dead after a bitter confrontation with Tally's mother.

Murder was definitely not on Tally's menu, but it's clear that Fran's death wasn't natural.  The list of possible culprits includes not just Tally's mom, but her protective dad too.  Relying on Yolanda Bella, her best friend and the proprietor of Bella's Baskets next door, for help, Tally will need to unwrap the sticky pasts and unsavory presents of everyone from her own parents to her new hires before Fran's death sours everybody on her fledgling shop...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Tally Holt owns Tally's Olde Tyme Sweets in Fredericksburg, Texas, and is hosting a party for her parents' return from their latest performing gig overseas.  She's invited everyone in town, since this is where she grew up and they all know her parents, and everything seems to be going swimmingly.  That is, until one of the guests becomes ill and winds up dead.  Now, With Detective Jackson Rogers heading the case, Tally's parents are in the hot seat, but with her mother ill from something she picked up overseas, questioning is going to take time.  So Tally's out to discover who wanted the woman dead and why...

This is the second book in the series, and after reading the first I thought it would be a good start to a new series.  But I did find that there were inconsistencies between the two, and while they wouldn't have bothered other people, I am a great believer in details, and I notice them.  In the last book, Yolanda states how her sister Violetta and her girlfriend have met Eden's parents, but in this book they have not.  Then in the last book, Allen helped Tally find a murderer, but in this book he seems disgusted by it and the fact that she wants to clear her father, who is one of the suspects.  Huh?  How did his personality change so quickly?

Also, perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if the killer hadn't practically pranced off the page at us.  There was no suspense there; it was easy enough to figure out who the murderer was.  I'm beginning to think Tally's a bit of a dimwit, since in neither book could she put two and two together until it was too late.

The plot was written decently, but when the clues started jumping at Tally she just couldn't figure it out.  She comes off in this book as rather naive in a lot of areas; and I also found her parents' disclosure of their past 'escapade' a bit distasteful, as much as I would have if I learned it about my own parents, but she listens and then it's as if she thinks, 'okay, I'll just put it out of my mind now.'  There's no thoughts about it ever again.  Really?  I think most -- if not all -- children would be pondering that one for quite awhile.  It changes your view of who your parents are, and there's no getting away from it.

As to the rest of the story, there were several subplots that were added in that gave it a bit more oomph, and kept me reading to see where the relationship between Yolanda and Kevin was going to go, and if Cole was going to stick around this time (he's still my favorite character, aside from Nigel, whom I absolutely adore).  As a matter of fact, Nigel is probably the best part of the book.  When the ending comes, I did find that it seemed an entire chapter was missing; I really do like the 'climactic' parts in books and this one fell a bit short.

Although since I did enjoy the first book quite a bit, I will continue to read this series and see if Tally finally gets the employees she wants, along with a love life, and where Yolanda is going with her own life. 

https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Sweet-Tooth-Kaye-George-ebook/dp/B07W8X9C3H/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3370438137

More on Kaye George's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/kaye-george/

Muffin to Fear (A Merry Muffin Mystery #5)

Author:  Victoria Hamilton
Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; [Audio CD]; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780425282595; [9781515914174]
Berkley Publishing; [Tantor Audio]
304 Pages
$7.99; [$39.99}; $6.99 Amazon
July 25, 2017

⭐⭐

While Merry is distracted by her quickly planned marriage to Virgil Grace and a blissful honeymoon in New York, her friend Pish invites the ghost-hunting crew from the TV show Haunt Hunt to investigate Merry's home, Wynter Castle.  Merry soon discovers that not only is the crew out of sync, there are so many feuds and squabbles, it's a miracle they get a show produced at all.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

I was disappointed in the way this book ended.  It made me feel like I wasted my time reading any of the series in the first place.

Following is a major spoiler, so please don't read any of it if you've planned on reading this book at all:

Throughout the entire series Merry has been running a muffin business and trying to decide what to do with her castle - first she wants to sell it, then they wants to find a way to keep it.  So of course, we're thinking she'll figure out something, maybe renting to people and actually hiring a manager to run the place, or turn it into a B&B, etc.; but noooo...she, of course, marries Virgil (no spoiler there, it's in the beginning of the book), so now she has someone to help her run it.  But instead she decides to use the castle for a winter home for a symphony orchestra!  Then, she buys a dilapidated house and moves it onto her property and decides to live there instead.  I like music as much as anyone, but who wants to listen to a bunch of musicians practicing all winter?  Also, why didn't she ever make Becket an indoor cat?  If she knows there are coyotes, that's just irresponsible.  (There's no reason at all for him to have been an outdoor cat.  Changing a litter box isn't that difficult).  I don't even know why the author brought in Becket; through the entire series he wasn't a major presence, more of a means to bring in readers who liked cats - a convenience to the story line occasionally.  Anyway, the ending felt like a cop-out to me.  Honestly, if there were any indications it would have ended this way, I never would have read the series at all.  I don't care if others don't agree; I really disliked it.

I also felt that if the author was even going to hint at the castle being haunted, it would have made the series so much more interesting if it was done from the first book.  Sorry, but it just wasn't that good and I don't know whether I'll continue with this series or not. 

https://www.amazon.com/Muffin-Fear-Merry-Mystery/dp/0425282597/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2438006102

More on Victoria Hamilton's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/victoria-hamilton/