Mrs. Morris and the Ghost
A grieving young widow, Charlene needed a new start, so she bought a historic mansion sight unseen and drove from Chicago to New England to start turning it into a bed-and-breakfast. On her first night in the house, she awakens to find a handsome man with startling blue eyes in her bedroom.
Terror turns to utter disbelief when he politely introduces himself as Jack Strathmore—and explains that he used to live here, when he was alive. He firmly believes that someone pushed him down the stairs three years ago, and he won’t be able to leave until someone figures out who. If Charlene wants to get her business up and running in time for the Halloween tourist rush and get this haunting houseguest out of the way, she’ll have to investigate. Though truth be told, this ghost is starting to grow on her.
Series: A Salem B&B Mystery – Book #1
Author: Traci Wilton
Genre: Cozy Mystery/Paranormal
Publisher: Kensington Books
Page Count: 336
Rating: 
A new cozy book mystery series “A Salem B&B Mystery” from Kensington Books https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/ comes Mrs. Morris and the Ghost from the seasoned writing duo of Traci Hall and Patrice Wilton.
Moving to a new town and a new home comes with its problems. But when you add in the ghost of the former homeowner who believes he was murdered, moving to a new place is no longer the biggest concern. Newly widowed, Charlene finds that she can’t ignore the ghost or the list of suspects.
Charlene, like many people who have gone through the loss of a loved one, is sad, lonely, and determined to start over. This makes her likable but vulnerable on many levels. Other characters, such as the ghost, Jack, are interesting. I would prefer to have seen more of the future returning characters in this first book. The setting of Salem is natural to believe when it comes to ghosts and holds a true fascination for people, but for a paranormal story, it is also somewhat cliché.
Mrs. Morris and the Ghost is technically well-written prose with twists but is a bit slow and tedious at times. The premise behind the story has been used as a plot for many other books in many other genres, and it is difficult to make new and exciting. The twist in this book is that Charlene becomes romantically enamored with Jack, the ghost.
Unfortunately, this does not work in the long run. For a story to suspend disbelief, it must be plausible to the reader, and I did not find this story credible. It becomes difficult to believe that a recent window that was and is still in love with her deceased husband would become romantically involved with anyone so soon. But a romantic entanglement with a ghost is even more farfetched. Ultimately, a relationship with a ghost would lead nowhere, romantically, emotionally, or physically. And this is what made the story hard to enjoy, knowing that no matter how much the characters liked or loved one another, it would, in the end, be unfulfilling and bring nothing but unhappiness. For this reason, I cannot say that I enjoyed this cozy book.
The outcome of Charlene’s investigation uncovers the killer, and the person’s identity and motive may come as a surprise to some readers. With additional development of characters and a bit less of the ghost romance aspect, the series could become popular and entertaining. But for me, the romantic interest did not hold up and detracted from the overall story and my enjoyment.
Readers may enjoy other cozy books such as “A Haunted Guesthouse Mystery” https://www.thecozyreview.com/the-hostess-with-the-ghostess/ by E. J. Copperman http://www.ejcopperman.com/ or “The Maid, Mother, and Crone Paranormal Mystery” https://www.thecozyreview.com/the-innocent-dead/ written by Jill Nojack https://jillnojack.com/.
About the Author:
Traci Wilton is the pseudonym of Traci Hall and Patrice Wilton. From contemporary seaside romances to cozy mysteries, USA Today bestselling author Traci Hall writes stories that captivate her readers. As a hybrid author with over fifty published works, Ms. Hall has a favorite story for everyone.
New York Times, bestselling author Patrice Wilton, knew from the age of twelve that she wanted to write books that would take the reader to faraway places. She was born in Vancouver, Canada, and had a great need to see the world that she had read about. She has more than forty books published on Amazon and is best known as a popular romance author.
Contact Patrice – https://patricewilton.com/contact/
Contact Traci – https://www.tracihall.com/contact-traci-hall/
Find the Authors on Social Media:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/traciella/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Patrice-Wilton-Author-306394436131223
Twitter – https://twitter.com/tracihallauthor
Twitter – https://twitter.com/PatriceWilton
Contact The Cozy Review
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