When a guest mysteriously dies at the Merry Ghost Inn, Melanie and her grandmother fear that their professional reputations—and their lives—are on the line With the arrival of six senior reading group members at the Merry Ghost Inn, the long-awaited Grand Opening week has finally begun for Melanie West and her grandmother, Liza. All is well with the Oregon coast-side B&B until Melanie’s dog, … until Melanie’s dog, Max, finds the dead body of one of their guests.
Everyone at the inn immediately falls under suspicion, including the innkeepers themselves. Melanie and Liza are not sure who they can trust, and the idea of cohabitating with a murderer is enough to send chills down anyone’s spine. To make matters worse, the curmudgeonly town detective wants them to steer clear of the investigation, but doesn’t seem too inspired to solve the case in a timely fashion himself. To clear their own names and to avoid the blight on the inn’s reputation that yet another dead body will bring, Melanie and Liza dive headlong into the murder investigation.
With a little help from their chuckling ghost, Melanie and Liza dodge the detective, tip-toe around their suspicious guests, and still serve up delicious Bed & Breakfast meals on time in Kate Kingsbury’s delightful second Merry Ghost Inn mystery, Doom with a View.
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Melanie West and her English-born grandmother, Liza have the grand opening of the Merry Ghost Inn on the Oregon coast. Walter Dexter, a guest is found dead the next morning and Melanie and Liza start to investigate the murder. I listened to this as an audio book and like how I was able to hear the difference of all the characters. This was suspenseful with humor and that provides lots of suspects, family problems, and a hint of romance to come.
The Merry Ghost Inn located on the coast of
Oregon has finally opened. The opening had
been delayed because a fire had destroyed
part of the Inn. With renovations completed,
the Inn is open for business.
The first visitors are a book club from Portland.
It is a group of six senior citizens who all live in
the same retirement community.
What could mar the new business….how about
the dead body of one of the book club?
Max, the Inn’s dog alerts them to his find. What
happen to the man??
The police discover the man fell from the upstairs
balcony. They also discover the railings were cut.
Who would want this man dead? It seems to be a
pre-meditated.
Melanie and Liza are warned to steer clear of
investigating the crime by the ill tempered detective.
Will his warning prevent them from investigating??
No way!!! They need to clear their names and save
the Inn’s reputation.
A well written mystery with a cast of colorful, vivid,
well created characters. Even the laughing ghost
finds it’s way into the story.
Great antics, anticipation, adventure, suspense
with twists and turns moving at a fast pace.
This is book # 2 the Merry Ghost Inn Mystery
series. It can be read as a stand alone.
I volunteered to read Doom with a View. Thanks to
the author via The Cozy Mystery Review Crew for
this book. My opinion is my own.
Doom With A View by Kate Kingsbury is the second in the Merry Ghost Inn series and was a very enjoyable read. I love visiting the inn set on the Oregon coast and would love to book a visit myself to the inn.
Melanie and her grandmother, Liza, have finally opened the inn. Ms. Kingsbury has developed these characters well and it was great to get to know them better in this book. There first group is a seniors book club and on the first night one of their members is pushed from a balcony. Inspector “Grumpy” Dutton (as Liza calls him)is back to solve the case. The plot was smoothly written and quickly paced with twists and turns. Ms. Kingsbury’s descriptive writing has built a world that makes me want to visit Sully’s Landing and meet the other citizens that live there. There is mystery arc regarding Melanie’s mother who disappeared when Melanie was a child that I am completely intrigued by and hope to learn more about with each additional book in the series. All in all, a lovely afternoon read and I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book provided by Crooked Lane Books. All of the above opinions are my own.
Doom with a View by Kate Kingsbury is the second tale in A Merry Ghost Inn Mystery series. Melanie West and her grandmother, Liza Harris own the Merry Ghost Inn in Sully’s Landing, Oregon. They are open and booked with six guests from Portland who all belong to the same book club. The guests are currently being entertained by Cindi’s (their assistant) magician boyfriend, Nick Hazelton. Walter Dexter, though, is not enjoying Nick’s act (continuous heckling and complaining). The next morning, Melanie hears Max barking (like he is upset) outside and goes to investigate. She finds Walter dead from where he fell from the balcony. Officer Ben Carter is the first responder and discovers someone tampered with the balcony. Which one of their guests disliked Walter enough to kill him? Detective Tom Dutton (aka Grumpy) is assigned the case and issues a stern warning to Melanie and Liza not to investigate. They have no intention of listening to him. The pair, with the aid of their resident ghost-Orville, set out to nab a killer.
Doom with A View is a cute story with a subtle paranormal element. I found the book easy to read and it has a nice, steady pace. I had not the opportunity to read Dead and Breakfast (first book in series) prior to picking up Doom with a View. I was a little confused in the beginning because the author starts introducing the main characters along with all the guests (ten people, one dog, and a ghost). Once I got all the characters straight, I was fine. I was surprised that Melanie and Liza had hired an assistant. You would think they would wait until they started turning a profit. I thought it was strange that the owners did not share news with the guests themselves. Instead, they would send out Cindi to announce activities and such. It seemed odd and out of place (especially with Cindi’s appearance). I am rating Doom with a View 3.5 out of 5 stars. The mystery was not complicated and I thought the killer stood out (eliminate the obvious). The author does provide some pointed clues that will aid readers in solving the murder. I wish there had been more sleuthing or active investigating (instead of them just asking questions). I loved the ghost, Orville. He would laugh and move items around the house. Quite a bit of the book is devoted to cooking and eating (wanted less of this and more mystery). One thing I am extremely tired of in cozy mysteries is grumpy, mean detectives. Detective Dutton did nothing to enhance the story. Instead we get numerous mentions of his grumpiness. Doom with a View is an appealing cozy mystery. It has good main characters, quirky inn, a ghost, and a dog. A little fiddling and A Merry Ghost Inn Mystery series would be delightful.
This was the second book in this series but the first one that I have read. It works perfectly as a stand alone mystery but it was so capturing that I will read the first installment as well.
Melanie and her grandmother Liza, the owners of the Merry Ghost Inn are welcoming their first group of guests to the B&B. The body of one of their guests is discovered outside the next morning and everyone becomes a suspect. There are many twists and turns in this smoothly told story that kept me on my toes. Some characters seem more suspicious than others but the reveal is a big surprise.
Orville, the ghost in the B&B is a fun addition that doesn’t interfere with the mystery and makes for a nice part of the subplot. I am sure he will provide some interesting shenanigans in the future. Also the banter between Doug, the owner of the uncommon hardwarestore/bar combination and Liza made me chuckle. I hope we can look forward to some more interactions between those two.
This is an easy read with wonderfully drawn characters that will make you longing for more.
I requested this book from NetGalley and am thankful that Crooked Lane Books and the author provided me with a copy.