One thing I can tell you for sure—there’s a big difference between a day in my life in Boston Massachusetts and one in Haven, Florida! I’m Maureen Doherty, thirty six and single. Back in Boston, not long ago, I had a corner office in a high-rise department store building and a great job as a sportswear buyer. Suddenly, the store was out of business and I was out of work. My golden retriever Finn flunked his guide dog test for being too friendly and easily distracted, so he was unemployed too. Then a strange thing happened. Somebody named Penelope Josephine Gray died and left me an inn in the town of Haven, Florida. Never heard of Ms. Gray and never heard of Haven, Florida either. But Finn and I didn’t have many options, so we packed up the old Subaru and hit the road.

Now I’m managing the Haven House Inn—“an historical inn in a quiet, scenic town on the Gulf Coast of Florida.” That means an old, run-down building in constant need of repair in a place the theme parks passed by a long time ago. But hey, it’s a roof over my head and there’s even an operating restaurant of sorts in the building, so Finn and I won’t go hungry. Some of the rooms here were already rented year ‘round to an assortment of folks who had an arrangement with Ms. Gray trading work for rent. I haven’t had the heart to evict anyone—besides they’re an interesting bunch.

I still have no idea why Haven House Inn was given to me, but I’m beginning to get the hang of this hotel management thing and little by little I’m making some improvements. Turns out Ms. Gray had quite a fortune invested here at one time but the money is about to run out and I need to get the place on a solid financial footing or Finn and I and my eclectic inherited staff will be homeless.

I suppose I should mention that we share a lovely suite of rooms at the top of the building with two cats—Bogey and Bacall—and a resident dead blonde movie star. I have a nice office suite too—I got that mostly because nobody else wants it because of the scary ghost in the closet. But it’s not all bad here. There’s Ted—the bartender-cook who’s turned out to be a helpful friend—maybe even a bit more than just a friend—we’ll see.

Haven—and I mean the entire town– has a bit of a reputation of being—well, haunted. Yep. Ghosts all over the place, but we try to keep it quiet. Nobody wants a bunch of those TV ghost hunters running around with cameras and sound trucks and all. As a matter of fact, the day I arrived in Haven I found a dead ghost hunter on my newly acquired front porch. That was a bit of a problem but with the help of my staff including Ted and a few of the inn’s everlasting tenants we actually solved a murder.

A typical day for me in Haven involves a morning meeting with the “staff.” We gather in the dining room of “Elizabeth’s”—our restaurant named for the Queen—for coffee and whatever treat Ted has prepared. Molly, Gert, George and Sam make up my in-house housekeeping and handy-man crew, supplemented, when necessary, by a few high-school kids. We’re trying hard to build our restaurant business so there are local ads to place and flyers to distribute. Most days Finn and I take a walk down Beach Boulevard to drop off our “daily specials” menus to the neighboring businesses. I’ll visit with Aster at the bookshop for tea and a shortbread cookie. She bakes them every day, hoping her departed husband will stop by. She’s near the L&M bar, where the juke box plays after closing hours. .They say Babe Ruth hangs out there after the Rays and Yankees games. There’s a Thrift Store where the voice of a long-gone opera singer rings out after midnight. (She’s not very good.) Then there’s the old movie house and the Quik-Stop market, the Haven casino and Doctor D’s Drug Store and Eyeglasses R Us—more than likely all haunted one way or another.

I may man the front desk for a while, greeting new guests and bidding goodbye to departing ones. Our advertising is beginning to pay off and it looks as though the Haven Inn may stay in business for a while after all. Finn and I hope so. It’s beginning to feel like home.

Be My Ghost, A Haunted Haven Mystery #1
Genre: Paranormal Cozy
Release: August 2021
Purchase Link

Maureen Doherty and her golden retriever Finn have taken possession of a charming old inn—only to discover that it’s already possessed by tenants whose lease on life already ran out . . .

Maureen’s career as a sportswear buyer hits a snag just before Halloween, when the department store declares bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Finn’s lost his way as a guide dog after flunking his test for being too friendly and easily distracted. Sadly, only one of them can earn unemployment, so Maureen’s facing a winter of discontent in Boston—when she realizes she can’t afford her apartment.

Salvation comes when she receives a mysterious inheritance: an inn in Haven, Florida. A quaint, scenic town on the Gulf of Mexico hidden away from the theme parks, Maureen believes it’s a good place to make a fresh start with a new business venture. But she gets more than she bargained for when she finds a dead body on her property—and meets some of the inn’s everlasting tenants in the form of ghosts who offer their otherworldly talents in order to help her solve the mystery . . .

About the author 
Carol J. Perry is the author of a new paranormal series from Kensington Publishers: Haunted Haven Mysteries. Be My Ghost is the first book in the series. The action takes place in Haven, Florida. Carol J. Perry was born in Salem, Massachusetts and is the author of the Witch City Mystery series. She makes her home in the Tampa Bay area of Florida with her husband and best friend, Dan.

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