Death by Haunted House

Book 0: Hayley Powell Mystery

by Lee Hollis

Genres: Holiday books; Culinary Cozy Mysteries

Synopsis

When new neighbors move in next door, Hayley Powell is finding the Halloween spirit a little too close to home this year in coastal Bar Harbor, Maine . . .
 
Once upon a time, food and cocktails columnist Hayley Powell used to be married to a man named Danny. They lived quite the cozy life together in rugged Maine. And for two years, their closest neighbor was an abandoned house that only seemed to add to their picture-perfect life. Even if the owner had died under mysterious circumstances.
 
Now, the Salinger family has recently taken possession of the property, but the realtor behind the deal has vanished—after a very public and angry argument with Damien Salinger. If Bar Harbor’s newest neighbors are murderers, and Danny is convinced they are, Hayley will haunt them until they confess.
 
Includes delectable recipes from Hayley’s kitchen!

“An enjoyably twisty mystery laced with the heroine's equally entertaining foodcentric newspaper columns.”
—KirkusReviews on Death of an Italian Chef

 

Release date: July 26, 2022

Publisher: Kensington Books

Print pages: 150

Sample

The only upside in Danny’s mind was that he was at home during the day when the kids got home from school, which allowed him to hang out with them, watching TV or playing video games, or teaching their new puppy, Leroy, how to fetch a ball. Hayley had gently suggested he help them with their homework too, but he just sort of chuckled at the idea, and quickly moved on. Danny had never been a good student, so he felt if he tried to guide them in their assignments, their grades might actually suffer. Hayley finally accepted this logic and stopped hounding him.

Danny was especially excited as they barreled toward October 31 on the calendar because he could help the kids carve pumpkins and find the perfect Halloween costume. He loved Halloween just as much as Hayley did and she knew at the end of the day that she had married a big kid at heart.

Danny had been calling Hayley at the office several times a day, once to ask where she kept the scissors to adjust Dustin’s Jack Sparrow outfit. Then, just a few minutes later, he called from a yard sale to excitedly inform Hayley that he had found the perfect blond wig for her Marilyn Monroe costume. Later, when Hayley was on the phone with a local restaurant owner trying to place an ad for his business, Danny blew into the office with an armful of pumpkins, hoping she would sign off on the two best ones he could use to carve into Batman and Harry Potter, Dustin and Gemma’s traditional choices for what kind of pumpkins they wanted lit up on the front porch. When Danny wasn’t working, he seemed to forget that there were other people in the world, including his wife, who actually had jobs to do.

At four minutes to five, Hayley’s quitting time, her phone rang and she scooped up the receiver as she reached under her desk to grab her bag. “Island Times, this is Hayley speaking.”

“You are never going to guess where I am,” Danny said breathlessly.

“Danny, I’m really trying to get out of here. Can’t this wait until we both get home?”

He didn’t seem interested in answering her question. “Al Foley’s house.”

Al Foley was one of Danny’s buddies from high school. They used to get into a lot of trouble together, which included a two-week suspension after releasing a live skunk into the chemistry lab of the teacher who failed both of them their junior year.

“Well, say hello for me. I’m heading home now.”

“Wait! You have to hear this! You know Al is a Blue Knight, right?”

The Blue Knights was an international motorcycle club for law enforcement officers.

Hayley sighed. There was no way she was going to get out of this conversation. “No, I didn’t. I thought you had to be a police officer to be in the Blue Knights.”

Al was a garbage collector.

“You do,” Danny answered. “But Al’s brother Del is a cop and kind of fibbed and sponsored Al by telling them he was a reserve officer here in town.”

“Lying to a gang of cops doesn’t seem like the smartest idea to me,” Hayley said.

“That doesn’t matter!” Danny yelled. “That’s not the most important part of the story.”

“Then why are you telling me all this?”

He ignored her. “Anyway, Al’s little girl Samantha is old enough to ride on the back of his bike and for her birthday last summer he had this adorable helmet custom made for her. It’s pink and white!”

“I’m so happy for her,” Hayley quipped, rolling her eyes and making a confused face even though there was no one in the office to see it.

“Don’t you get it? A pink and white helmet! It’s perfect for Gemma’s Power Rangers costume!”

The point of all this was slowly coming into focus.

“Al said we can borrow it for Halloween! Gemma is going to freak out! It will look so good with the matching bodysuit I found at Kmart!”

Danny really needed to find a full-time job.

“That’s great! Tell Al I sure appreciate him lending it to us,” Hayley said. “Now I’m going to stop by the Shop ’n Save and pick up some Halloween candy, and then I will meet you at home for dinner. I’ve got a stew in the Crock—Pot that’s nearly done so don’t be late.”

Before Danny could talk her ear off some more, she hung up. As office manager, she was in charge of locking up the building at the end of the workday, which meant making sure all the reporters and photographers were gone before she left and accidentally locked one of them inside for the night. She breezed through the bullpen, scanning the row of empty offices, including her boss Sal’s corner office and crime reporter Bruce Linney’s office, which was located right next to it. Those were the only two who tended to hang around past five o’clock. On her way back, she happened to see Hattie Jenkins still sitting behind her desk.

Hattie was well into her eighties and had been the Island Times cooking columnist since the 1960s, long before Hayley was even born. Hattie was a staple at the newspaper and everyone in town diligently copied all her recipes, handed down for generations in her family, dating as far back as the ones who had endured the first Mayflower crossing.

Hayley popped her head in and noticed that Hattie’s head was slumped over on her chest and her eyes were closed.

“Hattie, it’s time to go home,” Hayley whispered.

Hattie didn’t respond.

“Hattie?” she said a little louder.

Hayley’s heart jumped into her throat. She feared Hattie might have died sometime during the afternoon after eating her hard-boiled egg for lunch that she reliably put every morning in the office refrigerator along with a stern note that warned, DO NOT EAT! THIS EGG BELONGS TO HATTIE!

Hayley moved slowly into the office, and gently shook Hattie’s shoulder.

Still nothing.

The tip of Hattie’s glasses hung precariously over the bridge of her nose.

Hayley shook her again, this time harder. “Hattie, are you okay?”

Suddenly Hattie let out a loud grunt. Her eyes popped open and she sat straight up in her chair and let out a scream at the sight of Hayley, who stumbled back.

“Hayley, what are you doing sneaking in here like that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“I am so sorry, Hattie. It’s five o’clock. I need to lock up. You were asleep at your desk.”

“I most certainly was not.”

“Yes, your eyes were closed and—”

“I was thinking. That’s what writers do. We think about how we are going to compose our next sentence before we actually write it.”

Hayley glanced at Hattie’s desktop computer screen. She had fallen asleep watching a cat video.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your creative process.”

“Now you made me lose my train of thought,” Hattie said, shutting down her computer. “I might as well call it a day.”

In her mind, Hattie had saved face. She didn’t like admitting she was getting old.

After helping Hattie on with her coat and finally sending her on her way, Hayley was finally able to lock up the office, swing into the supermarket to pick up some candy, and head home for the day. When she arrived, she walked through the back door that led into the kitchen and found twelve-year-old Gemma already modeling her Power Rangers he. . .