"Haunting in the Hallway" The Inn at Holiday Bay By Kathi Daley: Review/Giveaway

by Kathleen Costa

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win an ebook copy of this book, and a link to purchase it from Amazon.

The Inn at Holiday Bay...Open for Business!
Renovations at the inn are complete, and guests are being welcomed to enjoy the sea air, the small community, and the various entertaining events. It’s been quite an endeavor, but it’s been the discovery of boxes, letters, messages, and some interesting answers that added to the inn’s “haunting” mystique. Abby Sullivan’s fresh start, after a horrific personal tragedy two years ago, led her to Maine set to make the old Victorian-style house she purchased a premier B&B experience for vacationing guests and to host a variety of themed events on weekends. Georgia Carter, the Inn’s manager, chef, and good friend, is extremely valuable making guests truly welcome as well as creating delicious meals. Abby continues to enjoy all of her new friendships, surrogate family, and with a renewed interest in her writing career, she’s set to embark on a small book tour for her latest mystery. Along with being adopted by a fussy Maine Coon cat Rufus, she has welcomed two delightful “fur” friends, Molly and Ramos, into the family. Her previous life is not far from her memory, but her new life has left her happy and fulfilled. If she could just find relief from happening upon suspicious deaths...

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Haunting in the Hallway earns 5/5 Mazes of Pumpkins...Engaging and Clever!
Abby finds that “art [may just] imitates life” when she suggests to friend and Chief of Police Colt Wilder where the missing bank manager might be found. She had penned a story about a victim found in his own cemetery plot he hoped to use someday well into the future. It’s a long shot that’s worth exploring. The surprise, though, isn’t that the bank manager was found as Abby surmised; the surprise is the other much older body found under his. Her curiosity is piqued with so many angry at the bank manager’s heartless loan refusals and foreclosures and investigating is what she does, but she also has a book tour scheduled, Halloween-themed events to host, and an Inn full of guests who themselves have interesting tales to tell. From seeking a fresh start to getting a new job, from searching for siblings long unknown for fifty years to curious connections to Abby’s late husband, she has a lot to occupy her time. Then there’s the odd, usually after midnight, noises and movement of objects in the hallway reported by guests...Ghosts? Rodents? Tricksters? Being an innkeeper has just become more complex...

There are a few things Kathi Daley does well making her this work a personal favorite. First, she uses vivid descriptions for holiday prep and festivities always putting me into the holiday mood often long before the holiday pops up. It’s October in Holiday Bay, and the Inn is decked out in pumpkins with hints of restless ghosts playing tricks and Halloween-themed events putting smiles on guests, friends, and family. Second, is family! She creates a marvelous group of characters that become intimately connected, and dialogue that illustrates well the different personalities. Abby’s personal tragedy has led her to a heartwarming surrogate family, and Daley does include a bit of a sibling issue (I can relate) between Abby and her sister. But she rarely highlights disfunction or animosity among family and friends...well, unless those are motives for murder. Next, Kathi’s writing style focuses on realistic crimes with creative motives and investigative techniques that always include, not circumvent, law enforcement. Abby is a writer herself, so she sees things others might not, and she uses informal questioning, the internet, and local “in the know” like I would. She also is close friends with the town’s Chief of Police who values her input, but he is an admirable “by the book” detective and often steers her away from danger. Well, he tries. Topping it off...there’s a delightful conclusion to all the mysteries and someone is always carted off to jail! A personal issue is that frequently, I guess like real life, clues and revelations occur “off camera.” I enjoy this series and recommend this fifth book Haunting in the Hallway!

Be a Big Kathi Daley Fan!
Kathi Daley has ten other series offering something for every cozy taste including “fur” friends and close relationship between family and friends. She has a great social media community of fans and can be followed on Goodreads and BookBub. Sign up for her newsletter. Sign up for her newsletter.

Facebook - Kathi Daley Books
Join the Club Kathi Daley Book Club
On the Web Kathi Daley Website
Blog - Random Thoughts and Meaningless Musings

To enter to win an ebook copy of Haunting in the Hallway, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line "hallway,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen September 7, 2019. If entering via comment please include your email address. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section in Kings River Life and in our mystery category here on KRL News & Reviews. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. And check out our new mystery podcast which features mystery short stories and first chapters read by local actors! One of our past episodes features another of Kathi's books. A new episode went up this week.

You can use this link to purchase the book. If you have adblocker on you may not be able to see the Amazon link:

Kathleen Costa is a long-time resident of the Central Valley, and although born in Idaho, she considers herself a “California Girl.” Graduating from CSU-Sacramento, she is a 35+ year veteran teacher having taught in grades 1-8 in schools from Sacramento to Los Angeles to Stockton to Lodi. Currently Kathleen is enjoying her retirement revitalizing hobbies along with exploring writing, reading for pleasure, and spending 24/7 with her husband.

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