Doom With a View

As blustery Fall winds cool the Oregon coast, Melanie West and her grandmother, Liza, open the Merry Ghost Inn. They didn't expect to have the grand opening so late in the year, but their new business venture was delayed by six months after a fire damaged a large part of the building. With all the repairs and renovations finally completed, Melanie and Liza welcome their first guests, a senior citizen group from Portland. The six seniors are members of a book club and all live in the same retirement community. After just one day at the Inn, things go drastically wrong when one of the group, a cranky troublemaker that none of them really liked, is found dead in the driveway outside. When the police discover that Walter Dexter's fall from show more the second floor balcony wasn't an accident, Melanie, Liza and their assistant, Cindi, start investigating. Who sawed the balcony railings so that Walter would fall to his death? Could one of their seemingly harmless elderly guests be a murderer?

Doom With a View is the second book in the Merry Ghost Inn series. I haven't read the first book yet, but easily followed the characters and plot of this new book. I adore Melanie, Liza and Cindi. They are all different, but very strong, determined and intelligent women. I also enjoy how Liza is sure their resident ghost (they call him Orville) is real....but Melanie thinks it's some defect in the house. That sound of laughter they all hear....Melanie contends it couldn't possibly be a ghost. It has to be the house settling.

The book is a quick read at less than 200 pages. The mystery is fast paced and doesn't bog itself down in fluff and unnecessary details. It gets right down to business with the dead body popping up in Chapter 1. Boom -- dead guest. Right to the point. I have no problem with that. I don't like it when I'm reading a mystery novel and get through almost half of it before there is any mystery. This book cuts to the chase immediately. It doesn't just focus on the deceased guest and investigation though...there is plenty of speculation about Orville the Ghost, quite a bit of character development, interaction with side characters...good story building. I liked the fast pace, and the setting. The characters are quirky and interesting. The mystery had plenty of suspects and surprises. Max the dog is the required loyal fur face, helping his owners solve the crime and barking at empty space -- or is it Orville? :)

All in all, a fun cozy mystery! Once I started reading, I moved book one, Dead and Breakfast, to the top of my TBR pile. I want to enjoy more Melanie and Liza antics while I wait for book 3!

Kate Kingsbury is a pen name used by author Doreen Roberts Hight. She also writes the Pennyfoot Hotel series and Manor House Mysteries under the same pseudonym. For more information on the author and her books, check out her website: http://www.doreenrobertshight.com/

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Opinions expressed are entirely my own.** show less

Sully's Landing, on the coast of Oregon, sounds like a lovely, if rainy place to visit. This well written, briskly paced mystery takes place during the Grand Opening of the Merry Ghost Inn, run by Melanie and her grandmother Llza. The first group of guests are all know each other from a book group in Portland, and hope to attend the local Arts Festival.. The first morning after their guest arrive, Melanie’s friendly dog Max showcases his canine detective skills by sniffing out a dead body.. Although it’s the second in the series, it’s easily read on its’ own. There are a lot of good food descriptions here, and I certainly wouldn't call it paranormal. The ghost seems to be more for ambiance.

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 show more 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. show less

The renovations on the Merry Ghost Inn are complete, and the first group of guests has checked in. Unfortunately, the first night they are in residence, one of the guests falls off the balcony and is found the next morning dead in the driveway. This time, the guests are all suspects, so can not leave the Inn until the case is solved. This leaves Melanie and her grandmother, Liza worried about their next set of guests due in a week. Time to put themselves into investigator mode again.

The storyline is well plotted and the characters were believable with interesting pasts of their own. I love the characters of Melanie and her grandmother, Liza. They love each other and share a very touching relationship. It is a realistic relationship show more with Melanie worrying about her grandma and Liza playing matchmaker. Their bickering and banter were fun to read about and it brought a lot of humor to the book. I love the British expressions that creep into Liza's dialogue. I enjoy the burgeoning romance between Liza and the hardware store owner as well as the one between Melanie and the police detective. Their lighthearted teasing is cute. I can't forget about Orville, the resident laughing ghost. He adds additional humor to the series and drops hints for Liza to interpret. The ladies have found out that his name in life was Arthur, but they like Orville better and it seems he does as well. The plot was smoothly written and well-paced with just enough twists. The mystery will keep you guessing through the entire book. There were several suspects and enough clues to sift through that it was difficult to figure out who the culprit was. I did not figure out the murderer until it was revealed in the story. I am also enjoying the ongoing side mystery of what happened to Melanie's mother. Melanie is beginning to ask questions and I hope this mystery is eventually solved. This is a fun, cozy series that has enough mystery surrounding it to make for an interesting series. I am looking forward to the next book in this series. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it. The narrator does a great job with the story and the voices of the various characters. When she says "bugger" I can see Liza speaking those words. I definitely recommend this book, and if you enjoy audiobooks, this is a good one to listen to as well. show less

The Merry Ghost Inn has its grand opening and 6 senior readers arrive. However, everything isn't smooth sailing because one of the guests is found dead and the other members of the group are the prime suspects. Melanie and Liza still have to have business as usual while trying to find the killer or their B&B will be filled with hold over guests with a murderer among them.

Not having read the first in this series, I was still able to get the character relationships and part of the past history. A fun cozy!

I have not read any of the other books in this series but that was fine. This was a great cozy mystery with all of the criteria that I love in a cozy: setting, quirky but endearing characters and a great mystery. I couldn’t figure out whodunnit! I will definitely read the other books in the series.

cozy-mystery, pacific-coast, Oregon, hospitality-industry, ghosts, murder, murder-investigation, small-business, small-town, verbal-humor, pet-dog, amateur-sleuth, law-enforcement, series,*****

A fun cozy that filled an overbusy time with ease.
The mystery is well done and the characters certainly are. The publisher's blurb gives hints and there is no need for spoilers, just enjoy! I really enjoyed reading it even if it did force me to stay up way too late!
The audio is narrated by experienced voice actor Tavia Gilbert