Be Our Ghost is the third book in the Merry Ghost Inn Mystery series by Kate Kingsbury. I have only read the first book in the series, and somehow missed the second. I feel like I was able to pick up the characters and larger story pretty quickly and think that newcomers to the series will be able to jump in fairly easily.
Melanie West, her grandmother, Liza, and their beloved sheepdog/wolfhound mix, Max, are rapidly getting the hang of running their charming bed-and-breakfast inn on the rocky Oregon coast. Not that business goes without a hitch when your hostelry boasts its own laughing resident ghost, you’d better be expect the out-of-the-ordinary. But Melanie and Liza take it all in stride…until a hotshot real estate developer arrives in Sully’s Landing, touting his plans to build a tacky amusement arcade smack dab in the middle of the tasteful cliff-side town. No one in Sully’s Landing can stand the gaudy developer, but it’s still a shock when he ends up murdered. It’s even more shocking when Liza’s friend, Doug, emerges as the chief suspect. Melanie and Liza put on their sleuthing caps yet again and set out to clear Doug’s name. They nearly check into accommodations six feet under when, en route to the crime scene, their brakes give out and they narrowly miss plunging over the cliffs to the beach below. Meanwhile, the merry ghost who haunts the inn tries to help by dropping clues for Melanie to find, but her mind is otherwise preoccupied when the killer kidnaps Liza and holds her prisoner. Now, it’s up to Melanie to piece together the ghost’s clues, save her mother, exonerate her friend, keep her guests happy, and make sure Max gets his walkies.
Be Our Ghost is an entertaining cozy mystery with a splash of paranormal and some interesting secondary stories. I thought the mystery, and the involvement of Doug was very engaging and entertaining. I enjoyed the exchanges between Liza and Doug. I though the closer look at the town and the community was very well done and the details of the players were revealed slowly and in fun ways. There were neat little hints and clues as the story progressed, that left me thinking about several possibilities for the guilty party. I do have to admit that I was a bit bothered by the amount of time poor Max spent stuck in a car. Regardless of the weather I think that leaving animals or children unattended in a car is generally a bad idea. I felt like the romance between Melanie and Ben is unnecessary, and it felt thrown in there because some romance seems expected. However, I would have been fine without that ingredient to the story since there was more than enough going on already. It was not badly done, but just felt like it was included because it as 'supposed' to be there rather than being important.
Be Our Ghost is a good cozy mystery with a little bit of everything. Fans of the author and the series will not be disappointed, although I felt that there was some more potential here.
