Maureen 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?
Maureen Ann Doherty

How old are you?
36

What is your profession?
Well, I used to be a sportwear buyer for Bartlett’s of Boston, a grand old department store that like many of them—like Sears and Filenes—closed suddenly. Now I’m (quite unexpectedly) the owner-manager of a century-old inn.

Do you have a significant other?
Definitely!

What is their name and profession?
Ted Carr is the used-to-be-bartender and now executive chef of the inn’s dining room, and my main man.

Do you have any children?
Nope.

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

Are your parents nearby?
No. They are happily retired and living in California.

Who is your best friend?
Besides Ted? Oddly enough, I have to admit that my closest friend so far in this new-to-me city is a glamourous, long-dead movie starlet ghost named Lorna DuBois who haunts my third-floor suite.

Do you have cats, dogs, or other pets?
Yes. My golden retriever Finn made the trip to Florida with me. Along with the inn I inherited two cats—Bogie and Bacall.

What town do you live in?
Haven, Florida. It’s a small, charming, off-the-beaten path (and quite haunted) city on Florida’s gulf coast.

What type of dwelling do you own or rent?
I own a huge, sprawling, hundred-year-old, always in need of repair, inn.

What is your favorite spot in your home?
I love my apartment with its mid-century modern furniture, but maybe my favorite spot in the inn is the cocktail lounge where Ted and I share some late dates.

What is your favorite meal and dessert?
Since my significant other is a talented chef, I have lots of favorite meals. I especially love the breakfasts he prepares. I’m especially partial to his giant blueberry muffins. He also makes a killer prime rib.

Do you have any hobbies?
Using my retail fashion skills, I’ve opened a gift shop on the wide porch of the inn. It’s became both a hobby and a business at the same time.

What music do you listen to?
In my apartment I listen to 80s music. In the lounge I listen to a vintage player piano which seems to have a mind of its own about music.

What is your favorite color?
Pink.

What is your favorite vacation spot?
Ted and I love to sneak away to Key West whenever we have an opportunity.

Are you a morning or night person?
In the hotel business you kind of have to be both, but I like the night.

What is your idea of a really fun time?
A Hawaiian Luau with Tiki torches, and a real roast whole pig and rum drinks with little umbrellas and Hawaiian music and sarongs and ginger leis.

If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
Host to Ghosts

Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
Strictly amateur and I try to cooperate with Haven’s top cop, Frank Hubbard–but it’s not easy.

What is a typical day in your life?
Most of my days begin with a sunrise run on the beach with Ted and Finn. Then breakfast in the inn dining room. I spend some time at the reception desk checking in guests. It’s right next to my office so I can take care of other aspects of the inn business at the same time. Since I’ve opened the Haven House Gift Shop on one side of the big wrap-around porch, I still have a hand in the retail business and it’s beginning to be profitable. We do a good lunch and dinner business too, both catering to locals and vacationers. Haven keeps the many ghosts a secret, so we all steer clear of ghost hunters and the like. I like to end my days with a “late date” with Ted at our beautifully refurbished bar, watching the lighted tank of angelfish and listening to the vintage plinkety-plink music from the old player piano—where sometimes the spirit of long ago bar room pianist Billy BeDoggoned Bailey plays tunes of his own selection.

Haunting License, A Haunted Haven Mystery Book #3
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: June 2024
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link

The latest novel in this exciting supernatural cozy series from the author of the Witch City Mysteries features a New Englander transplanted to a Florida town along the scenic Gulf of Mexico when she inherits a charming, century-old—and very haunted—inn from a mysterious benefactor. Fans of Amanda Flower and Heather Blake will delight in murder, ghosts, and the heroine’s golden retriever, Finn.

It’s June in Haven, Florida, a “between seasons” time in the tourism business, and Maureen’s Haven House Inn is feeling the pinch. There are plenty of ghosts in residence, but Maureen needs living guests to pay the bills.

Inspired by an old brochure she finds in a trunk she inherited along with the inn from her mysterious benefactor Penelope Josephine Gray, she gets the brilliant idea to revive a June fishing tournament from twenty years ago, hoping to reel in anglers who’d love to catch the Gulf Coast’s popular kingfish and take home a trophy.

But one fisherman won’t make it to the tournament. While walking on the beach with her golden retriever Finn, Maureen discovers a body. When Officer Frank Hubbard arrives, he recognizes local charter boat fisherman Eddie Manuel.

Now it’s up to Maureen and her spirited sleuths to sort through the red herrings and bait a hook for a killer before someone else ends up sleeping with the fishes . . .

About the author
Cozy mystery author Carol J. Perry, Salem Massachusetts born, and now happily living on the west coast of Florida with husband Dan, uses the scariest parts of each home state in her two mystery series—Witch City Mysteries and Haunted Haven Mysteries.