Bella sits down for a question-and-answer session with dru’s book musings so that we can learn more about what makes her tick. Let’s see what she has to say.

What is your full name?
Isabella Jordan

How old are you?
Thirty-one

What is your profession?
I used to be a science teacher, but now I run Valley View Guesthouse in Lily Dale.

Do you have a significant other?
I’m widowed, and, um…but, well, I guess you could say I’m…uh, I’m kind of seeing someone. It’s new, but…yes. I am.

What is their name and profession?
Drew Bailey. He’s a veterinarian, and he runs Lakeview Animal Hospital and Rescue.

Do you have any children?
Yes, my son Max is six.

Do you have any siblings?
No, I’m an only child.

Are your parents nearby?
No, my mom died when I was a baby and my dad did about ten years ago. I’m an orphan and widow…and I live in a town where everyone seems capable of talking to the Dearly Departed…except for me!

Who is your best friend?
My next door neighbor, Odelia Lauder. She’s a registered medium here. She’s kooky, bossy, eccentric, and lovable!

Do you have cats, dogs, or other pets?
Two cats, Chance and Spidey. But my son keeps begging for a puppy, and…hmmm.

What town do you live in?
Lily Dale, New York, a lakeside Victorian village entirely populated by mediums–except me.

What type of dwelling do you own or rent?
Valley View is a creaky, three-story Victorian-era guesthouse with at least one resident ghost, according to the local mediums. Do I believe that? Most days, no. But others…let’s just say there have been a few inexplicable incidents.

What is your favorite spot in your home?
The secret passageway behind my closet wall. It’s not necessarily my favorite spot, but it’s been a literal lifesaver because sometimes you find yourself in danger under your own roof!

What is your favorite meal and dessert?
Well, my least favorites are Odelia’s PIna Colada meatballs or her sauerkraut chocolate cake. But shh! Don’t tell her. She’s writing a “creative” cookbook, and recruited me as her sampler.

Do you have any hobbies?
Turns out I’m pretty crafty and handy around the house–I’m helping Valley View’s owner, Grant Everard, with endless repairs, from installing tile to making curtains.

What music do you listen to?
I like rock. My resident medium friends are convinced spirits communicate through songs, so when you hear one unexpectedly, it might be a message. They also believe there are messages in even static on the radio, because spirits can manipulate electronics, which I don’t believe, although sometimes…

What is your favorite color?
Blue. My late husband called me “Bella Blue” because of my eyes. I don’t know how the local medium Pandora Feeney could have known that, but…she did.

What is your favorite vacation spot?
Money is too tight for travel, but I’m lucky enough to live in an idyllic place that draws visitors from all over the globe. They’re all searching for contact with lost loved ones, psychic guidance, or healing, so life in the Dale is never dull!

Are you a morning or night person?
I have a lot of early risers counting on me for daily breakfast: Max, his friend Jiffy, cats, and a guesthouse filled with visitors!

What is your idea of a really fun time?
Relaxing by the lake while Max and Jiffy pretend they’re pirates and dig for buried treasure. Sometimes they actually find…well, I wouldn’t call it treasure. But around here, you never know.

If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
Believe It–Or Not

Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
Amateur, but I often turn to a former professional, retired detective Luther Ragland.

What is a typical day in your life like?
I spend most days caring for Max, wrangling the cats and a houseful of puppies Drew convinced me to foster, cooking and cleaning for the guests, working on repairs, and seeing Drew whenever he has free time. Oh, and solving murders. The local mediums think the most efficient way to catch a killer is to channel the victim’s spirit, but I rely on science and good old-fashioned logic! Together, we get the job done!

Dog Days, A Lily Dale Mystery Book #6
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: July 2024
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link

Do you believe in spirits? A series of strange happenings force Valley View guesthouse manager – and skeptic – Bella Jordan to question her beliefs in the new instalment of New York Times bestseller Wendy Corsi Staub’s heart-warming cozy mystery series set in Lily Dale, New York’s Spiritualist home.

After attending a family wedding in Chicago, young widow Bella Jordan is returning to the guesthouse she runs in Lily Dale – the quirky upstate New York lakeside village famous for its spiritual mediums – when she catches a glimpse of the impossible at the airport: her late husband Sam.

A former science teacher, Bella is grounded in facts and logic. She doesn’t believe in ghosts. But even when she’s back home with the competing distractions of her quirky guests, small son Max, resident pet cats and a very unexpected litter of puppies, Bella can’t find a good explanation for what she’s seen.

The situation gets even stranger when her psychic friend Odelia tells her that she made contact with Sam’s spirit and he shared a significant name: Kevin . . . Bacon!

Bella doesn’t know what to think, but when she glimpses Sam again and things start to vanish around her, she knows she has to get to the bottom of the strange happenings – even if that means letting go for good . . .

About the author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Wendy Corsi Staub has published 100 novels over a three-decade career, under her own name and various pseudonyms including Wendy Markham. The sixth title in her Lily Dale Mystery series is DOG DAYS (Severn House, July 2024) with a seventh under contract, and her psychological suspense novel THE FOURTH GIRL is coming from Thomas & Mercer early in 2025.