by Krista Davis
Praise for the New York Times bestseller
Murder, She Barked
“Krista Davis has created another charming series with a unique setting, an engaging heroine in Holly Miller and her furry sidekick, Trixie, and a wonderfully quirky supporting cast of characters—two- and four-legged. I’m looking forward to my next visit to the Sugar Maple Inn.”
—Sofie Kelly, New York Times bestselling author of the Magical Cats Mysteries
“Krista Davis has penned a doggone great new mystery series featuring witty, spirited Holly Miller and her endearing canine sidekick, Trixie. The adorable, pet-friendly setting of Wagtail Mountain will appeal to animal lovers and mystery lovers alike and the intriguing plot twists will keep you guessing to the very last page.”
—Kate Carlisle, New York Times bestselling author of the Bibliophile Mysteries
“Krista Davis has created a town that any pet would love—as much as their owners do. And they won’t let a little thing like murder spoil their enjoyment.”
—Sheila Connolly, New York Times bestselling author
“A charming blend of small-town eccentrics and big-city greed, Murder, She Barked touches all the bases of the cozy mystery—including a bit of romance—and does so with style.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch
“Well-written dialogue, fun characters, and romantic complications that never go as the characters—or the readers—expect. . . . Readers will enjoy this skillfully plotted mystery and its biting humor.”
—Kings River Life
“Davis has created a charming little town with a unique character, a town that caters to pets. . . . If you’re looking for quirky characters, wonderful animals, and a charming setting, you don’t have far to look.”
—Lesa’s Book Critiques
“This action-filled book will have you rooting for Holly and her friends as they dig deep to find a killer within their reach. . . . [Davis] did a good job in keeping this light and airy whodunit fresh, entertaining, and engaging.”
—Dru’s Book Musings
“This was a fun, fast-paced read. The plotting is top notch, and I love the quirky characters. I could not put this book down. The story will keep you guessing until you find out whodunit. The author has plenty of dogs . . . I mean red herrings to keep you turning those pages. I am looking forward to reading more books in this delightful new series. So if you like your mystery with a tail, then you should be reading Murder, She Barked.”
—MyShelf.com
Praise for the Agatha Award–nominated Domestic Diva Mysteries
“The quirky characters are well developed, the story line is as crisp as a fall apple, and the twists and turns are as tight as a corkscrew.”
—AnnArbor.com
“Davis finely blends mystery and comedy . . . entertaining and alluring.”
—SeattlePI.com
“This is not your run-of-the-mill cozy; the characters are real to life, interesting, and keep you wondering what will happen next. Krista Davis writes one enjoyable read.”
—The Romance Readers Connection
“[Davis] handles this tricky tale with aplomb and fills it with a cast of eccentrics.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch
“[Davis’s] novels are every bit as good as Diane Mott Davidson’s Goldy Schulz mysteries.”
—Shine
“[An] enjoyable mystery that includes decorating tips, a few pets, an unusual bequest, and recipes. . . . Once again, Krista Davis brings us interesting, fun characters.”
—Lesa’s Book Critiques
“A mouthwatering mix of murder, mirth, and mayhem, nicely spiced by new author Krista Davis.”
—Mary Jane Maffini, author of The Icing on the Corpse
Berkley Prime Crime titles by Krista Davis
Domestic Diva Mysteries
THE DIVA RUNS OUT OF THYME
THE DIVA TAKES THE CAKE
THE DIVA PAINTS THE TOWN
THE DIVA COOKS A GOOSE
THE DIVA HAUNTS THE HOUSE
THE DIVA DIGS UP THE DIRT
THE DIVA FROSTS A CUPCAKE
THE DIVA WRAPS IT UP
Paws & Claws Mysteries
MURDER, SHE BARKED
THE GHOST AND MRS. MEWER
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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penguin.com
A Penguin Random House Company
THE GHOST AND MRS. MEWER
A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the author
Copyright © 2014 by Cristina Ryplansky.
Excerpt from The Diva Steals a Chocolate Kiss by Krista Davis copyright © 2015 by Cristina Ryplansky.
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
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eBook ISBN: 978-1-101-59309-7
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Berkley Prime Crime mass-market edition / December 2014
Cover illustration by Mary Ann Lasher.
Cover design by Diana Kolsky.
A Paws and Claws Mystery logo by Alpimages/Shutterstock.
Interior text design by Kelly Lipovich.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reactions to the recipes contained in this book.
Version_1
To Buttercup, Queenie, and Little Miss Sunshine
Acknowledgments
People often ask if I do any research for my books. I learned a lot about ghosts for this book. It was fascinating to hear about ghosts that people have encountered. Thanks to all of the lovely people who shared their ghost stories with me. It was equally interesting to learn how some people have manipulated situations to make us believe in ghosts. The Apparition Apprehenders took me into the believers’ side of the paranormal, and Eva’s position led me to examine the scientific position. I have learned a great deal, mostly that there is no grand conclusion.
Special thanks to Shawny Darby for answering my questions about ghost hunting. And also to Kathleen Joyce, who suggested the name Apparition Apprehenders. As always, I couldn’t do this without my editor, Sandra Harding, and my agent, Jess
ica Faust. I thank Susan and PJ Erba for taste-testing the recipes for me. And my dear friends Betsy Strickland and Amy Wheeler for always being so supportive. I can’t forget my mother, my first reader and biggest fan. As always, any errors are my own.
Contents
Praise for titles by Krista Davis
Berkley Prime Crime titles by Krista Davis
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Epigraph
List of Characters
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Recipes
Sneak Peek at The Diva Steals A Chocolate Kiss
Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people, who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate.
—Sigmund Freud
APPARITION APPREHENDER GHOST TEAM
Felix Fischbein and Casper (Weimaraner)
Brian Anderson
Mr. Luciano and Gina (bulldog)
Eva Chevalier and Mrs. Mewer (Siamese cat)
Grayson Gatewood
Mark Belinski
Mallory Gooley
OTHER SUGAR MAPLE INN GUESTS
Lillian Elsner
Parker Colby
SUGAR MAPLE INN STAFF
Liesel Miller
Holly Miller
Zelda York
Casey Collins
Shelley Dixon
Mr. Huckle
Marisol Rodrigues
Gingersnap—canine ambassador (golden retriever)
Trixie (Jack Russell)
Twinkletoes—feline ambassador (calico kitten)
RESIDENTS OF WAGTAIL
Doc Kilgore and Siggie (black Labrador)
Officer Dave Quinlan
Clementine Wiggins
Rose Richardson
Holmes Richardson
Aunt Birdie Dupuy
Val Kowalchuk
GHOSTS
Elmer Dupuy
Dr. Ira Wraith
Becca Wraith
Dr. Hiram Montacue
Obadiah Bagley
One
“There is no such thing as a ghost.” Eva Chevalier turned her pointy nose up in the air and chortled. “It’s preposterous. Nonsense, folderol, fiddle-faddle.”
No sooner had she spoken than the automatic sliding glass doors to the parking lot whooshed open. A gust of wind blew in, bringing dried leaves with it.
A grey Weimaraner with startling blue eyes stepped away from the doors and growled. Gingersnap, the Sugar Maple Inn’s canine ambassador, simply wagged her tail. In typical golden retriever fashion, she continued kissing the guests gathered in the reception area.
The doors closed again as if a person had passed through. I felt the chill of a late October wind pass by.
“I bet there’s a ghost in here now,” Casey Collins whispered, gazing up at the ceiling and shoving his glasses to the bridge of his nose with his index finger. Casey worked at the inn as a desk clerk but seemed more like a little brother than an employee. At twenty, he still looked boyish and reminded me of the young Harry Potter, with similar glasses, a shock of dark hair that always fell over his forehead, and sweet, innocent eyes.
Five guests who were part of the Apparition Apprehender ghost hunting team had arrived a few minutes ago and were waiting to check in. They had come to town to shoot what they hoped would be a pilot episode for a potential TV show about ghosts. Wagtail had plenty of them, but the most well-known allegedly haunted the creepy old Wagtail Springs Hotel. At the mention of a ghost, the guys dived into their luggage and pulled out assorted handheld machines. The chatter behind Eva stopped as they concentrated on their gizmos, apparently trying to prove the ghost’s existence through technological devices.
I raised my voice a little to get their attention. “Welcome to the Sugar Maple Inn. I’m Holly Miller. If you need anything during your stay, please let me know.” I smiled broadly, but they were intent on their machines. Oh well.
Eva turned her eyes toward the ceiling and shook her head in amused disbelief. The doors were automatic, but I had to admit that opening on their own had been odd. Probably the result of that gust of wind.
Only the day before, I had moved to Wagtail Mountain permanently to join my grandmother, Liesel Miller, as her partner in running the Sugar Maple Inn. Halloween was nearly upon us and the first thing I had seen at the outskirts of town was a huge orange banner over the road that proclaimed Welcome to Howloween in Wagtail, where spooky things are afoot! A cat with an arched back adorned one side and a howling dog decorated the other.
The inn’s Halloween decorations only added to the fun. Pumpkins clustered at the base of the doors on both sides. Spiderwebs clung to the walls with a parade of faux spiders marching along them. The sinister figure of a grinning vampire hanging upside down in a black cape was enough to give anyone a chill. Two skulls lay at rakish angles on top of the registration counter, and vultures peered at us from the large antler chandelier overhead.
My grandmother, whom I called Oma, German for grandma, had flitted off to a meeting of some sort, leaving me to keep an eye on the Apparition Apprehenders when they checked in.
Not that I minded. I welcomed any excuse to leave my apartment on the top floor. Boxes upon boxes cluttered my quarters. My entire life was still packed, except, of course, for my calico kitten, Twinkletoes, and my Jack Russell terrier, Trixie, who sniffed around the back of the reception desk in search of the treat jar.
Zelda, another desk clerk, had called me when the ghost hunting crew arrived. I hadn’t expected any major problems, but here I was, already thinking that I would have to have a little talk with Casey about arguing with guests. After all, Eva was paying to stay with us, and if she didn’t believe in ghosts, that was her business.
“That was not a ghost.” Eva took a deep breath and watched the antics of the guys behind her. She turned back to Zelda and me. “I’m a university professor and have students like them. What frightens me is not ghosts, but the fact that my students and people like these ghost hunters believe ridiculous claims of spirit sightings. If these gentlemen would think it through, they would understand the absurdity of believing in ghosts.”
Eva wore thick glasses in pink cat-eye frames that accentuated the odd paleness of her skin. Clearly vintage, a boxy coat of drab green wool hung on her, at least two sizes too large. A wide pink hairband pulled her dark hair back—very 1960s. She was thirtyish, like me, I guessed.
A Siamese cat on a leash jumped onto the registration counter, startling Trixie. She yipped at the cat and danced around
to the lobby side. When she saw the open bags, she lost interest in the cat and buried her nose in a duffel bag.
I glanced at Eva’s reservation. She’d been booked as part of the Apparition Apprehenders group. Obviously an error on our part. She should be in the cat wing. An easy fix.
“I’m sorry. It appears we’ve made a little mistake. I have you down as one of the ghost hunters. But no matter, we can—”
“Your confusion is understandable. My reservation was made by Mr. Luciano, the producer who is in charge of the ghost hunting expedition. I’m the ghost debunker whom he hired.”
Ghost debunker? She definitely shouldn’t be staying near the ghost hunters. Her cat would be happier in the Cat’s Pajamas, our cats-only wing, anyway. I made a quick room assessment based on her apparent love of vintage clothing. “Zelda, let’s put Ms. Chevalier in Pounce.” Unless I missed my guess, she would love the pink cabbage drapes and the old-fashioned feel of the room. “Ms. Chevalier, what is your cat’s name?”
“Mrs. Mewer.”
“Like The Ghost & Mrs. Muir? That’s cute.”
Eva smiled. “Thank you. It’s M-E-W-E-R, of course. I have a fondness for both 1960s TV shows and puns. The name came from Mrs. Mewer’s tendency to talk.”
“Mrs. Mewer will enjoy Pounce, I’m sure.”
Zelda nudged me. “Where should I put Mr. Fischbein?”
“Move him to Hike.”
“What peculiar names for rooms. Do you have an aversion to numbers?” inquired Eva.
“Like the town of Wagtail, the Sugar Maple Inn is pet-friendly, so we’ve changed all the room names to reflect pet-related activities,” I explained.
A small man whom I’d barely noticed separated himself from the other ghost hunters, stepped closer, held up his forefinger, and murmured softly, “I . . . I’m Felix Fischbein. I . . . I brought my dog? I was told that was okay?”
Eva turned to him with a devilish expression. “Mr. Fischbein, we meet at last.”
Fischbein’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He stuck out a stiff hand to shake hers, his shoulders pulling tight as though he was cringing inside. He forced a smile, one corner of his mouth twitching with doubt. “I’ve heard a lot about you.” Fischbein shot a glance at one of his friends, a pudgy man who glared at Eva.