The Ghostly Grounds: Vengeance and Dinner (A Canine Casper Cozy Mystery—Book 4)

By Sophie Love

“The perfect romance or beach read, with a difference: its enthusiasm and beautiful descriptions offer an unexpected attention to the complexity of not just evolving love, but evolving psyches. It's a delightful recommendation for romance readers looking for a touch more complexity from their romance reads.”
--Midwest Book Review (For Now and Forever)

THE GHOSTLY GROUNDS: VENGEANCE AND DINNER is Book #4 in a charming new cozy mystery series by bestselling author Sophie Love, author of The Inn at Sunset Harbor series, a #1 Bestseller with over 200 five-star reviews!

Marie Fortune, 39, a successful dog groomer in Boston, leaves the stressful life behind and heads to a small town in coastal Maine to create a new life. She remains intent on renovating the old, historic house her great-aunt left her and giving it a new life as a B&B. Yet there was one thing she couldn’t plan for: the house is haunted. Two things, actually: her great-aunt also left her a dog—and he is far from a typical dog.

When Marie is invited to exorcise a supposedly haunted house, she encounters a twist she never could have anticipated. But before she can wrap her mind around the situation, a man turns up dead—forcing her to solve the case and to clear her own name.

A page-turning cozy, packed with mystery, love, hauntings, travel, pets and food—anchored around a small town and a B&B in need of renovation that will capture your heart—THE GHOSTLY GROUNDS is an un-putdownable cozy series that will keep you turning pages (and laughing out loud) late into the night.

“The romance is there, but not overdosed. Kudos to the author for this amazing start of a series that promises to be very entertaining.”
--Books and Movies Reviews (For Now and Forever)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sophie Love
• Release date: Jan 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094372044

Book preview

T H E  G H O S T L Y  G R O U N D S:

V E N G E A N C E

A N D

D I N N E R

(A CANINE CASPER COZY MYSTERY—BOOK 4)

S O P H I E   L O V E

Sophie Love

#1 bestselling author Sophie Love is author of THE INN AT SUNSET HARBOR romantic comedy series, which includes eight books; of THE ROMANCE CHRONICLES romantic comedy series, which includes 5 books; of the new CANINE CASPER cozy mystery series, which included five books (and counting); and of the new CURIOUS BOOKSTORE cozy mystery series, which included five books (and counting).

Sophie would love to hear from you, so please visit www.sophieloveauthor.com to email her, to join the mailing list, to receive free ebooks, to hear the latest news, and to stay in touch!

Copyright © 2020  by Sophie Love. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Jacket image Copyright  totallyjamie, used under license from Shutterstock.com.

BOOKS BY SOPHIE LOVE

A CURIOUS BOOKSTORE COZY MYSTERY

THE WITCHING PLACE: A FATAL FOLIO (Book #1)

THE WITCHING PLACE: MURDER BY MANUSCRIPT (Book #2)

THE WITCHING PLACE: A PERILOUS PAGE (Book #3)

THE WITCHING PLACE: A VANISHED VOLUME (Book #4)

THE WITCHING PLACE: A TAINTED TOME (Book #5)

THE CANINE CASPER COZY MYSTERY SERIES

THE GHOSTLY GROUNDS: MURDER AND BREAKFAST (Book #1)

THE GHOSTLY GROUNDS: DEATH AND BRUNCH (Book #2)

THE GHOSTLY GROUNDS: MALICE AND LUNCH (Book #3)

THE GHOSTLY GROUNDS: VENGEANCE AND DINNER (Book #4)

THE GHOSTLY GROUNDS: SCANDAL AND SUPPER (Book #5)

THE INN AT SUNSET HARBOR

FOR NOW AND FOREVER (Book #1)

FOREVER AND FOR ALWAYS (Book #2)

FOREVER, WITH YOU (Book #3)

IF ONLY FOREVER (Book #4)

FOREVER AND A DAY (Book #5)

FOREVER, PLUS ONE (Book #6)

FOR YOU, FOREVER (Book #7)

CHRISTMAS FOREVER (Book #8)

THE ROMANCE CHRONICLES

LOVE LIKE THIS (Book #1)

LOVE LIKE THAT (Book #2)

LOVE LIKE OURS (Book #3)

LOVE LIKE THEIRS (Book #4)

LOVE LIKE YOURS (Book #5)

CONTENTS

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 ONE

If this woman asks for cucumber water one more time, I may just drown her in it.

The look on Posey’s face made it quite clear that she meant it. Since Posey had become Marie’s chef and right-hand woman, Marie had come to know all of Posey’s expressions very well. Marie winced at the comment as she looked out to the back yard from the patio, where Benjamin and his growing construction crew were currently at work.

You don’t think you’re overexaggerating? Marie asked.

Not at all. Cucumber water…whoever heard of such? Oh, and did you know she’s deathly allergic to avocados?

Marie couldn’t help but smile at this. Posey was talking about one of their newest guests, a sixty-year-old woman who was by far the pickiest and most high-maintenance guest June Manor had ever seen.

Tell you what, Marie said, looking away from Benjamin and his crew, hard at work on their latest project. Fix up a pitcher and put it in the fridge. Take care of that and I’ll make sure you don’t have to hear from her anymore.

That’s a deal, lady, Posey said, heading back inside.

Marie took a quick glance out to the ocean before heading back inside. It was cold and crisp this morning, the sort of weather she was starting to get used to. It was Marie’s first fall at the beach and it was somehow more beautiful than the summer. While there weren’t many trees to change color and the nip in the air could be brutal at times, there was something about the way the sun shone off of the water in the mornings, coming off of the cold water with its chilled cresting waves—there was something about the mostly undisturbed shore that was more pristine than Marie could ever have imagined.

It was too bad she did not get to experience much of it.

Things at June Manor were quite hectic. She was booked to capacity with no signs of slowing down. This was amazing in terms of business, but it made it very hard to find convenient times to allow Benjamin and his crew to work on the addition on the backside of the property. It had been a decision she’d made with the help of a loan officer and Posey’s sometimes brutally vocal opinions. Completely booked rooms meant there needed to be more rooms. And, according to Benjamin, the back side of June Manor, just off of the patio, would make it easy to add on an extension that should hold two more rooms. It was a tricky business, for sure, as she wanted him to keep the charming gothic qualities, which was something Benjamin admitted was very difficult to do without the help of an interior designer skilled in the niche.

It was currently November 10, and the hope was that the new construction would be rentable before Christmas. Aside from the tricky balance of new construction and keeping all of her guests happy, things had been going remarkably smooth for her. She was caught up on bills, had more money set aside in savings than she’d ever had in her life, and it looked as if she’d be able to pay off the loan for the new construction within just four or five months.

Additionally, it had been five weeks since her last awkward experience with Port Bliss PD. The only time she’d seen Sheriff Miles—given the promotion from deputy to sheriff at the beginning of November—was in town, on her way to the Red Reef Diner. And those five weeks, as sad as it seemed, had been the longest stretch yet without somehow getting entangled in a police investigation.

Marie walked back inside and grabbed her second cup of coffee of the morning. The sight of June Manor being alive with activity had come slowly, a gradual evolution of sorts. She had quickly grown accustomed to it, though; as she walked through the house, to her laptop behind the check-in desk, she took it all in with gratitude.

Two guests were in the sitting room, having a friendly argument over the fate of the post–Tom Brady Patriots. Posey was speaking to a guest who was checking out rather animatedly in the foyer. Behind this guest, Boo was subtly sniffing at their luggage. Behind the check-in counter, Rebeka was rummaging for something—probably another pack of index cards, as she had started taking notes about how to run the place and had been keeping them in her back pocket over the past few weeks.

As Marie took her position behind the desk, she glanced up the stairs and pictured the door to the first room off of the stairs—the room that had been occupied by a man named Atticus Winslow for nearly three months now. He’d been there so long that she was beginning to wonder if she might need to kick him out at some point. Three months…there was something sort of creepy about the way he’d lingered around for so long. But he paid regularly and the consistent pay was nice so she really couldn’t complain.

Seeing Marie come into the house, Posey frowned, seeming to remember that she was supposed to be making cucumber water for their particular guest—a woman whom Marie did not currently see. She was likely upstairs, waiting for things to quiet down before coming back down. It was 8:30 in the morning on a Friday and when the noise of the new construction was thrown in, the place was absolutely thrumming. Marie supposed pickier guests might also see it as being quite loud.

Marie checked out the guests as they gushed over the house and their stay. Better yet, they also went ahead and booked rooms for next summer. She escorted them to the door and stood in the doorway with Boo, waving them off. It was something she had started doing several weeks ago and she found that such a simple, small touch apparently went a very long way if the reviews of June Manor were any indication.

Marie went back to the check-in desk to start going over the list of incoming guests. It was almost overwhelming, keeping up with the ins and outs, the finances, the new construction, and then, of course, the mysteries within the house. It was one of the reasons she’d offered Rebeka more hours, responsibilities, and pay over the past few weeks.

She’d just penciled in a schedule for the order of rooms to be cleaned and linens to be stripped when Posey came back over. Somewhere along the line, the two men arguing over Tom Brady had left the sitting room and the house had fallen mostly quiet again. So when Posey sighed, it seemed a lot louder than it actually was.

Something bothering you, Posey?

Katie Stillson and Shoreline Oaks.

Oh, Posey…are you still on this? I think it’s clear we’re doing perfectly fine despite their efforts.

This was true. The fake reviews Posey had sniffed out had come to a stop, though there were still a few more floating around out there that they had not been able to get removed. And though it also seemed Shoreline Oaks was doing pretty well in the bed-and-breakfast game, Marie was perfectly fine to let bygones be bygones; things were going well at June Manor and she didn’t see the point in upsetting the balance of things.

Well, I personally just hate the idea that such an awful woman got away with such a thing. I think it’s maybe time for some sort of revenge plan.

Posey, I’d really rather not. We made it through that entire ordeal without needing to confront her. So let’s leave it at that.

Posey frowned and let out another heavy sigh. You’re too kind for your own good, Marie Fortune.

Hey, if that’s the worst anyone can say about me, I consider that a win.

Posey gave a defeated shrug and retreated elsewhere into the house. It left Marie wondering not for the first time if there might be some history between Posey and Katie Stillson. Either that or Katie Stillson was the sort of woman who simply didn’t like to see outsiders enter into her hometown and do well. Either way, Marie had all but put the entire situation out of her mind, aside from Posey bringing it up every now and then.

Hearing the sound of a saw outside, Marie wondered if Benjamin and his growing construction crew would like some lunch. She didn’t really need an excuse to go to the Red Reef, but having one looked a bit better. While she and Robbie were still nothing more than friends, she was reminded that she had options every time she saw him.

She turned to head back out onto the patio and nearly screamed when she saw the person standing in the hallway. It was a woman, dressed in a plain T-shirt and a pair of jeans. An older lady with a grin on her face, her gray hair was pulled back in an odd sort of messy bun.

Also, she was transparent.

Marie shook her head, her heart hammering, and smiled.

After all she’d been through it seemed an almost appropriate response to seeing a ghost right in front of her.

Especially when she knew the ghost rather well.

CHAPTER TWO

With her hand over her rapidly beating heart, Marie said: You have to stop that, Aunt June.

The ghost of her great-aunt simply smiled right back, gazing at her still-living great-niece. There was a mild electricity in the air—something Marie was still growing used to whenever she encountered June or any other ghostly presence. It was made all the more awkward by the fact that though she apparently now had no real problem seeing ghosts, she could still not communicate with them. She was pretty sure June heard her when she spoke, but when June opened her mouth to respond, Marie could hear nothing.

This was the fourth time she’d actually seen Aunt June since the night she had somehow expelled a ghost from Everett Inn nearly six weeks ago. The first time, she’d been pretty much terrified, but something about the way Aunt June had looked at her eased her right away. The three times after that had been exceedingly random, making Marie wonder if the gift to see her aunt’s ghost came and went whenever it wanted, or if June was choosing the oddest times to present herself to Marie: on the porch after walking Boo, in mid-sip while drinking hot tea, and after getting out of the shower.

Given Aunt June’s personality, she couldn’t help but think the timing was purposeful—Aunt June, trying to be funny.

This is weird, she said softly, not wanting Posey or Rebeka to hear her. I’m not sure what to say to you.

June nodded her see-through head. It was a little dizzying to watch. The nod seemed to communicate an agreement. Yes, she seemed to be saying. It is rather awkward. But here we are…

June gave a knowing smile, as if she knew a secret Marie wasn’t privy to. She then slowly started to disappear, her shape and form fading out. It caused an acute sort of sadness within Marie, dwarfed by the awe of having just seen a ghost—June’s ghost, at that. And then, under it all, was a rather shaky foundation that she was surprisingly getting used to; it was the almost normal occurrence of seeing ghosts, something she assumed most people would find unbelievable.

But the last few months had changed her, had helped her to understand that she apparently had some sort of gift. And while she still wasn’t clear on whether it was her or Boo that had the ability to expel the spirits, one thing was quickly becoming clear to her: she without a doubt had the ability to see them.

Though, ever since casting out the ghost from Everett Inn, it seemed that the only ghost she could actually see was Aunt June. And that unlocked even more questions, the most prominent of which was: Was she only seeing Aunt June because June was the only ghost residing at June Manor?

She supposed another ghost-expelling job could answer that question, but she’d not had a call for one since Everett Inn.

All of this went parading through her head as she stared at the space where Aunt June had been standing. She felt herself almost trying to summon her back, but of course, it did not work. She was so focused on it that when her phone rang on the check-in desk behind her, she nearly screamed. She looked around, embarrassed, hoping Posey, Rebeka, or any of her guests had not seen her jump. Cheeks flushed red, she picked up her phone. She nearly answered it out of automatic habit but froze a bit when she saw the name on the caller display: Brendan.

They hadn’t spoken in four days, which, while it did not sound like a lot, was quite a stretch for them. In the six weeks that had passed since they’d worked together at Everett Inn, they’d only seen each other one time—a quick lunch as Brendan came back through to get some last-minute information on Everett Inn to help sell the pilot he’d put together for his new show.

Whatever romantic energy had existed between them had pretty much fizzled out as far as she was concerned. She feared that it was because her initial worries had come true—that Brendan had been more interested in her because of her help with his show than anything else. She did not think he’d done this intentionally, though; they were great friends who just happened to have gotten caught up in the moment and kissed a few times. Nothing more than that.

When she answered his call, she did her best to keep this in mind. Hey there, she said. You running that network yet? You calling to offer me a television show about how to properly run and maintain a previously haunted bed-and-breakfast?

Hi to you, too, he said.

God, she hated how much she liked to hear his voice. Admitting she liked him as more than a friend several weeks ago had been hard enough. Now admitting that she was going to be fine maintaining the friendship without the possibility of romance was even harder.

No joke, she said. How’s everything going?

Well, you weren’t too far off the mark, he said. And I hate to do this, but I really don’t have too much time to talk. I wanted to catch you before I head into this meeting.

Good meeting or bad meeting? Marie asked.

Potentially very good, he said. There’s good news to lead off, though, and I wanted you to be the first person to hear it.

You got it? she asked, growing excited already.

"We got it. There’s a bit of a bidding war going on right now. Two networks want the show. This meeting is to sort out which is the best fit."

So…either way, the show is a go? she asked.

"The show is a go. And we know for a fact that one of the networks would want

Reviews for The Ghostly Grounds

[Deborah Glover · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It will be interesting to see what that is that they found underground