Shadows and Spells: A Cozy Haunted House Mystery

By Alice Stone

In a world of bewildering hauntings and paranormal mischief, my inheritance soon becomes my gateway to a magical deadly game in the shadows…

 

Inheriting my grandmother's old mansion was meant to be a fresh start, but I never imagined my new home would be a haven for all sorts of paranormal creatures. A clumsy werewolf and a fairy that bites? Talk about interesting obligatory roommates.

 

Hours after I show up to claim my inheritance, one of the vampire tenants is gruesomely incinerated. A reluctant amateur sleuth with magical abilities to see my paranormal roommates, I delve into a spine-chilling investigation, uncovering a sinister plot that's targeting my grandma's house. And me.

 

Time is slipping away, and I must confront malevolent forces and ruthless vampire hunters who are determined to annihilate my new friends, including the handsome, stoic vampire Vincent and my ghost cat companion.

 

Can I master my new magical abilities, shield my friends, and escape the hunters' clutches? If I don't unravel the dark enigmas lurking within my newfound inheritance, I may not get out of this one with my life…

 

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Alice Stone
• Release date: Jan 20, 2024
• ISBN: 9798223923831

Book preview

Shadows and Spells

A Cozy Haunted House Culinary Mystery

Alice Stone

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MM Innovative Creations

Copyright © 2023 by Alice Stone

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Contents

1.Haunted Beginnings

2.More Surprises

3.Curiosity Killed the Cat

4.A New Job

5.Muffins and Coffee

6.The Good Inn

7.Killing Bears

8.The Witch's Doll

9.Reflections

10.Invisibility

1

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Haunted Beginnings

W hat are you doing, Katie? I muttered to myself as I stared up at the huge mansion.

Was this really the place I was now going to call home, sweet home? I could more easily imagine the Addams family living in the old mansion with its gray clapboards, ornate window casings, and a turret jutting up beside the mansard roof like a tower room that might hide away a long-forgotten ghost. 

Or a dead body. 

I blinked. Wow, that went dark fast. 

But there was no way around it. This place was spooky. And it probably wasn’t the wisest choice to arrive after dark. 

No, I need to stop these fantastical thoughts. I was going to be living here now. It wasn’t as if I had any other choice, really.

And at least it seemed that someone had left the lights on for me. Probably Mr. Simms, my grandmother’s solicitor. He had made arrangements for things to be ready for me. 

See, that’s a good start. 

I pushed my thick, brown hair behind my ear and glanced at the turret windows again. Did the curtain up there just move? 

I grimaced at myself. Stop, you’re just being dramatic. 

But I made sure not to look again. 

I hadn’t known my Grandma Hallingsworth as well as I wished I had. But from what I did know, she was a sweet, kind, and okay, sure, somewhat eccentric woman. But she certainly wouldn’t have left me a haunted house… 

Like you believe in haunted houses anyway, I said to myself, trying to sound more certain than I felt.

The house was huge, especially for just little old me. But the truth was, I didn’t have many other housing options at the moment. I just lost my job in marketing after four years due to downsizing, and I broke up with my boyfriend of three years at the same time. It had been an amicable split. I think we had both known for a long time we weren’t right for each other.

So, this house had come at exactly the right time. Truth be told, given the choice between moving into a potentially haunted house or moving back in with my parents, I’d choose a haunted house all day long. I loved my parents but moving back to my high school bedroom after years on my own? Absolutely not.

Think of all the money you’ll save! I smirked, mimicking my mother’s objections. 

Plus, it would be nice to have lots of space for myself. I’d been living in an insanely expensive, small studio apartment in New York City. This much room would be amazing.

I studied the house again. Okay, a mansion might be more space than I needed or could ever possibly use, but maybe I could start offering it as an Airbnb or something?

I desperately needed an income—and the house was mine, free and clear.  A house like this in Salem? I could probably make a killing. 

I frowned. Maybe that was a bad choice of words. The lawyers had made one of the stipulations in the paperwork clear.

Your grandmother specifically stated that in order to sign the house over to you, you must not put it on the market for one year.

It felt like a weird promise to extract from me, but I wasn't sure I wanted to sell, anyway. I was excited for this change. 

And Salem seems like an interesting place. 

I’d always wanted to come here. This is where my mother had grown up, although she never showed any signs of wanting to come back. We never even visited. Grandma had always come to see us. And to say that Mom and Grandma had a complicated relationship was putting it mildly. 

Salem, Massachusetts. I’d done some research and it looked like a cool place to me. A good place to start over. 

I took a deep breath and began to drag my large suitcase up the front steps. I paused again as I pulled my keys out of my jeans pocket and looked for the house key. It wasn’t hard to locate. The keys to the house looked like those old skeleton keys from nearly a gazillion years ago. 

Okay, the house was old, but a gazillion was probably pushing it.

I slid the key into the lock, and it clicked open easily. Grateful, I grabbed my suitcase and I stepped into the foyer, fully expecting the old place to smell musty with motes of dust swirling around me as I entered.

Instead, the cozy scent of lemon and oil soap greeted me. Did Grandma have a cleaning service? She must have had to for a house this size. I threw out a silent prayer, hoping I could afford to keep them. I wasn’t a fan of cleaning even my tiny studio, so this place would be a nightmare. The dusting alone. Yikes.

The decor of the house was just what I had imagined, though. Antiques and interesting odds and ends in each corner. Old paintings and ornately framed mirrors decorated the walls. I admired the slightly worn but beautiful Oriental carpet that covered the hardwood floor. This house was going to be amazing to go through—if the front hallway was any indication of the rest of the secrets hidden inside.

I rolled my suitcase to the bottom of the stairs that curved elegantly up to the second floor, then started to turn to go back to my car to get the rest of my meager belongings, when I heard something.   

Is that her? 

I froze. My heart sped up in my chest. Who was here? My grandmother's lawyer had made it sound as if the house had been empty since my grandmother’s passing.

Do I have squatters? I immediately reached for my cell phone in my back pocket. I should creep back outside and call the police. 

But instead, I found myself carefully tiptoeing toward the room on my right, where I thought the voice had come from.

I paused, holding up my phone as if it was some sort of weapon blocking my face. Then, I quickly stepped through the double doorway of the room.

The room was a formal sitting area, and I got a quick impression of floral-papered walls, Queen Anne furniture, and scenic oil paintings. 

But my attention turned to the people gathered there. 

Not one person. 

Or even two. 

I did a quick headcount.

Five people. There are five people just hanging out in my grandmother’s supposedly empty house. No, wait, in my house. What the heck? Who are they?

Well, a tall, and very handsome man who stood by the ornate black and white marble fireplace said in a deep voice, I think it’s safe to say she can see us.

Yes, of course, I could see them. 

Who—who are you? I waved my phone