I’m So Not Nancy Drew

Although I wish I were sometimes. Especially now that I’ve moved into what could only be described as a “haunted” house with my two “eccentric” aunts. After I got divorced and lost my job as a mystery novel ghostwriter, I’d been looking for a new start. When my aunts offered me the opportunity to help them run their new bed and breakfast inn—some might call it “Dead and Breakfast”—I jumped at the chance for a change of scenery from the city to the Northern California coast.

I soon learned the Blackwood Inn was built by an old sea captain in Pelican Point, back in the late 1800s. Once my aunts inherited the four-story Italianate house, they decided their inn would have a theme—scary movies. They had Noah, the hot handyman, paint it black, with purple and green trim to give it that “gothic” look, then decorated the downstairs with Ouija boards and healing crystals.

Each of the four guest rooms features a spooky movie—”The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (for lovers), “Ghostbusters” (for the spirited), “Scooby doo” (for families) and “The Birds,” an homage to the Hitchcock film set in nearby Bodega Bay. Knowing what a fan of the Girl Sleuth I am, they even turned my room into a Nancy Drew-themed bedroom and included everything from her favorite color (blue), to displaying her iconic outfits (cloche hat, frocks, and vintage trench coat, to a bookcase filled with her mysterious adventures.

I quickly found I love the business of inn-keeping. Granted, the job was a bit overwhelming that first day when I opened up my aunts’ registration book and found it haphazardly jammed with random pieces of paper—old napkins, torn envelopes, the back of recipe cards—all listing information about each of the expected guests. It took me days to properly record everything in my laptop. But once I was organized things went smoothing—until they didn’t…

Until recently, my days consisted of taking reservation, updating the website, balancing the books, and promoting the place. In my spare time I enjoyed trips to the touristy town sampling salt-water taffy and picking up local flowers to dress up the Happy Hour table. As opening weekend approached, I couldn’t wait to meet our guests, serve them a gourmet breakfast prepared by Marnie the housekeeper, and recommend local places to visit, especially the schoolhouse from “The Birds.” I’d even planned a special party for the townspeople the night before opening weekend, hoping to gain their approval and recommendations.

Unfortunately, when one of the guests suddenly died from eating a scone laced with belladonna, I found myself with another task—solving a mystery. Fingers quickly pointed to my Aunt Hazel, who tends a poison garden at the back of the property where she grows belladonna, foxglove, and the like. Luckily I had Noah—did I say the hot handyman?—to help me search for clues and clear my aunt, while trying to figure out whodunnit. Truth be told, I didn’t fully trust Noah—there was something mysterious about the six-feet-two, muscular man with thick dark hair that matched his neatly trimmed beard, and chocolate brown eyes that seemed to look right through me. He has this habit of suddenly appearing—then disappearing—at the oddest times. Almost as if he were a ghost himself…

But thanks to the tips I learned from reading Nancy Drew mysteries, I managed to solve the crime, uncover the killer, save my aunt…and maybe find my own Ned Nickerson.

Murder at Blackwood Inn – A Haunted Dead and Breakfast Mystery, Book 1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: September 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

A haunted house and the occult are the least of Carissa Blackwood’s problems when her eccentric aunts are accused of murder in this cozy series debut by multiple award–winning author Penny Warner.

Ghostwriter Carissa Blackwood is having the worst year of her life. After leaving her cheating husband, she finally takes up the offer to help her two eccentric aunts manage the Blackwood Bed ’n’ Breakfast Inn in Pelican Point, California–a house they only recently inherited from their deceased father, Bram Blackwood. The old man dabbled in the occult, and his daughters haven’t fallen far from the family tree. Aunt Runa is into crystals and plans to hold séances at the reportedly “haunted” house. Aunt Hazel has an herbary and offers herbal cures for everything from headaches to paranormal visions. But it’s Hazel’s poison garden that really concerns Carissa.

When one of the townspeople dies from a poison that could have only come from Aunt Hazel’s garden, the town is quick to point fingers. It doesn’t help that one of Aunt Runa’s charms is found at the scene of the crime. With a little help from Noah, the mysterious and handsome handyman; Aiden, the charming newspaperman—and the ghost of Carissa’s grandfather—it’s up to Carissa to clear her aunts and find the real killer before someone else is checked out for good at the B&B.

About the author
Penny Warner’s latest adult mystery, MURDER AT BLACKWOOD INN, debut on September 23, 2025 (Crooked Lane books.) She’s also the author of the three-time award-winning middle-grade mystery series, THE CODE BUSTERS CLUB, featuring four diverse kids who solve mysteries by cracking codes, as well as the award-nominated, THE OFFICIAL NANCY DREW HANDBOOK, and three other adult mystery series: DEAD BODY LANGUAGE (optioned by Academy Award Winner, Marlee Matlin), HOW TO HOST A KILLER PARTY, and DEATH OF A CHOCOLATE CHEATER. She can be reached at www.pennywarner.com.