High spirits / Carol J. Perry.

Greetings from Haven, Florida, a quaint, scenic old town on the Gulf Coast where Massachusetts transplant Maureen Doherty and her excessively friendly Golden retriever are the newest proprietors of the charming local inn...along with its many ghostly tenants! Now the paranormal crime investigations continue with the second installment in bestselling author Carol J. Perry's Haunted Haven Mystery Series, as Maureen is preparing for her first holiday season in her haunted century-old inn...

Christmas lights on palm trees and Santa hats on plastic pink flamingos are far from the snowy landscape Maureen and her beloved golden retriever, Finn, are used to. But Maureen is determined to make this a holiday to remember-which means finding a way to promote Haven House on a shoestring. Fortunately, Haven's vintage movie theater, the Paramount, has come up with a great "Twelve Days of Christmas" idea. They'll feature an impressive list of the best classic Christmas movies ever made-shown by one-time movie actor-turned-projectionist Decklin Monroe . . .

But nobody bothered to tell Maureen that the Paramount is haunted by the ghost of a man who was murdered a few years back. Haven's top cop Frank Hubbard doesn't believe in ghosts but, believing that Decklin Monroe was somehow involved, he wants a reluctant Maureen's help.

That plan is derailed when, on the first day of the festival, a fresh murder victim is found at the theater. Now Maureen has to defend her staff and guests, while trying to keep her high-spirited resident ghosts out of the picture-before they have company for the holidays . . .

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In Perry's charming sequel to 2021's Be My Ghost, Maureen Doherty decides to promote Haven House, the hundred-year-old inn she has inexplicably inherited in Haven, Fla., by creating a themed event to tie in with the town's Christmas holiday film festival at the Paramount Theater. During the opening night's screening, a guest at the inn, projectionist Decklin Monroe, "who knows how to show the old two-reel movies," is shot dead. Local law enforcement suspects that Decklin's death is related to the unsolved murder of Buddy Putnam, an old pal of Decklin's who was shot at the Paramount 50 years earlier. Maureen along with Lorna Dubois, "a long-deceased movie starlet" who haunts the inn and remembers that Buddy was a small-time crook who used to hang around Haven, try to put the pieces together to see whether the murders are connected. Digging deeper, Maureen finds out more of the history of Haven House and the mysterious benefactor who left her the inn. Ted Carr, Maureen's live-in executive chef, lends some welcome romantic interest. Paranormal cozy fans will get their money's worth. (Nov.)

Kirkus Review

A Florida innkeeper's latest attempt to build her haunted business is hampered by a murder. Just because the circumstances under which she inherited the Haven House Inn in the Gulf Coast town of Haven are shrouded in obscurity doesn't mean that Maureen Doherty won't try her darnedest to make her new career as the inn's owner and manager a success. And while she may not know the mysterious Penelope Josephine Gray who willed her the property, that doesn't absolve her of the responsibility to the town's locals to keep the century-old community hub alive. Christmas is the perfect time to build on the inn's ongoing programming through a creative connection with Haven's vintage theater, the Paramount, for a Twelve Days of Christmas extravaganza. Maureen gets her second-in-command, executive chef Ted Carr, to plan themed menus to complement the Paramount's offerings in a sort of dinner-and-a-movie special. Maureen and Ted get into a groove of working with Paramount projectionist Decklin Monroe, whose history at the theater enables him to tell all the old stories, including a doozy about a patron shot midway through a flick 50 years ago. If the theater is still haunted, it's in good company, for fashionista and ghost (but fashionista first) Lorna, Maureen's unofficial roommate at Haven House, is accompanied by a rotating cast of spectral characters, including some of her dates. Though Ted and Maureen want to know more about the paranormal at the Paramount, a modern murder disrupts their digging. Has the past come back to haunt the present? This ghost-infused cozy has all the pieces but just doesn't stack up. Blame the spirit world. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Library Journal Review

Maureen Doherty, owner/manager of Haven House Inn on Florida's Gulf Coast, is ready to participate in her first Christmas celebration since inheriting the inn. She has a dinner and a movie plan to go with the nearby Paramount Theater's showing of old Christmas movies for the "Twelve Days of Christmas." She meets the projectionist there and orders centerpieces from Petals and Kettles, the tearoom/florist. But Officer Frank Hubbard is following her around town. He's investigating a cold case from almost 50 years earlier when a small-time hood was shot to death at the theater, and he suspects either the projectionist or the father-in-law of the tearoom owner. Both men were suspects at the time, and both are back in town. Maureen's live-in ghost, a deceased movie starlet, has stories of the men and possible money laundering. When there's a second murder at the theater, Maureen's dragged into the cold case. VERDICT The charming sequel to Be My Ghost will delight readers of paranormal cozy mysteries who enjoy quirky characters and a Christmas setting.--Lesa Holstine

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Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Library Journal Review