The Inn at Holiday Bay: Haunting in the Hamlet

Book 41: The Inn at Holiday Bay

by Kathi Daley

Genres: Mystery; Culinary Cozy Mysteries; Amateur Sleuth; Cozy Mystery; Animal Cozy Mysteries; Female Sleuths

Synopsis

If you love small towns, endearing friendships, food, animals, and a touch of murder, you'll love this cozy mystery series set in the charming seaside town of Holiday Bay, Maine.

In Book 41, autumn arrives with a bang as Holiday Bay transforms into the first-ever Halloween Hamlet, an immersive live role-playing event where ghosts and goblins mingle with the everyday visitors who come to shop, compete in festive contests, indulge in seasonal treats, and dance the night away.

Event planner Piper Halliwell, with help from Abby, Lacy, Georgia, and the rest of the gang from the Inn at Holiday Bay, has packed the celebration with unforgettable attractions, including Halloween Trivia, Ghouls on Parade, and the Monster Mash Mashup. The entire town embraces the spooky fun—until a longtime resident is found dead, and Colt's father, Hank Wilder, becomes the prime suspect.

As Abby works to uncover the truth before an innocent man is arrested, life at the inn remains as busy as ever. Georgia and Haven continue building their partnership, Mylie struggles through the ups and downs of pregnancy, the sale of Colt's parents' home falls apart at the last minute, Hazel celebrates her second birthday, and Bailey is thrown into turmoil when her estranged mother unexpectedly arrives at the inn.

With festive fall fun, lovable characters, adorable animals, and a puzzling mystery, this heartwarming installment is the perfect autumn escape.

Release date: October 6, 2026

Publisher: Kathi Daley Books

Sample

Chapter 1

 

I knew who she was. The tall woman with the thousand-dollar haircut, dressed in varying shades of umber and gray. I’m not sure how I knew, but I did. 
“I think it will work just fine for Abby and Lacy to coordinate directly with Sage and Shelby,” our local event planner and friend, Piper Fairchild, who was conducting the planning meeting for Holiday Bay’s first-ever Halloween Hamlet, an immersive street event that would turn our seaside town into an authentic Halloween village, said. 
“The event is just a week away, so we won’t have a lot of time to make alterations should alterations be needed,” commented Lacy Parker, my best friend next to my inn manager, Georgia Carter-Peyton, who was really more like a sister than a friend. “What do you think, Abby? I feel like we lost you somewhere along the way.”
I glanced at Lacy and shrugged. Since I honestly hadn’t been listening, I wasn’t sure how to best respond. “Whatever you decide is fine with me.” I returned my attention to the busy sidewalk across the street from the Bistro at Holiday Bay. It was a busy Friday in October, just a week before Halloween weekend, and the tourists were out in droves, making it nearly impossible to pick out a single individual in the crowd. 
“Is there something going on down there that has your attention?” Georgia asked. 
“No, nothing’s going on,” I said as I continued to scan the sidewalk.
“Are you sure?” Georgia insisted.
“I’m sure.” I returned my attention to the rooftop table where I’d been meeting with Piper, Lacy, Georgia, the Bistro’s owner, Shelby Morris, and Shelby’s sister, Sage Wilson. “It’s just such a beautiful day that I was distracted for a minute, but I’m back now. We were talking about the costume fittings for the Halloween Hamlet.”
Although Piper had been hired to plan the event on behalf of the merchants’ association, which hoped to pull in tourist dollars over Halloween weekend, the entire town was pitching in to make it a success. Georgia had volunteered to oversee both the chili cook-off and the food vendors who would set up carts offering Halloween-themed food options. Shelby and her fashion-designer sister, Sage, were in charge of the simple costumes for the Halloween Hamlet actors who would wander the streets bringing a feeling of authenticity to the closed-off section of Main Street. And Lacy and I planned to provide the actors who would dress in Halloween-themed garments and haunt the streets during the two nights the festival was scheduled to run. 
“The costumes are simple,” Sage assured us, “and in most cases are a one-size-fits-all style that has been specifically designed to fit anyone of average size. Since I knew that the event’s actors would primarily be students from the middle and high school theater groups, I sized the outfits accordingly. The fitting I’ve suggested is simply a precaution if we need to shorten something or let down a hem in the event we have any really short or tall actors.”
“We told everyone to wear black leggings and a black long-sleeved T-shirt under their costume as you suggested,” Lacy informed Sage.
“That’s perfect. As I previously indicated, given the lack of lead time for this project, the costumes will be pretty basic, but it’s amazing what a simple costume will look like once you add elements, such as hair and makeup.”
Piper gave an update on the special events within the larger street fair, such as Ghouls on Parade, which would feature the high school marching band, floats sponsored by the town, the merchants, and local vendors, as well as various groups, all dressed in costumes walking down the middle of the street and waving. Ghouls on Parade was geared to be of community interest and would take place on Main Street on Saturday morning. A more adult-themed event, Halloween Trivia, would be held in the bar at the Bistro on Friday night. And the annual chili cook-off and Monster Mash street dance would be held on Main Street after dark on Saturday. 
Once everyone in attendance had given an update on the tasks they’d been put in charge of, Piper headed back to Courtyard Bakery where she had an office, Shelby headed back to work, Sage headed home, Lacy headed to the elementary school to pick up the youngest of her six children, Maddie, and Georgia and I headed back to the inn. 
“When Piper first suggested sponsoring a street fair event for Halloween, I wasn’t quite sure how it would all come together, but so far, everything Piper suggested seems really fun,” Georgia said.
I wholeheartedly agreed with Georgia, and I was especially looking forward to Halloween Trivia next Friday. The rules stated that each team must have six players. Our team consisted of Georgia and her husband, Tanner; Lacy and her husband, Lonnie; and my fiancé, Colt Wilder, and me. 
“When Piper first compared the setup of the event to a Renaissance festival where everyone participated, I was somewhat confused about how that would all work. But now that I can see what she meant by that was that both the actors and the attendees would ideally wear costumes and act in character, it makes more sense. Are you bringing Charlee with you?” I asked about Georgia’s ten-month-old daughter. 
“I’m going to bring her for the pancake breakfast and parade on Saturday morning, but Aunt Charlee is babysitting baby Charlee the rest of the weekend. She’s even going to have her spend the night on Friday. This will be the first time I’ve left Charlee anywhere overnight, so I’m a little nervous, but since Halloween Trivia will likely go late, it makes sense to leave her. How about you? Are you bringing Mackey?” 
Mackey Hudson was Colt’s twelve-year-old niece. 
“Mackey plans to spend Friday night with Annabelle since Colt and I want to participate in Halloween Trivia.” I referred to Annabelle Cole, the niece of my full-time employee, Jeremy Slater. “I’ll pick Mackey and Annabelle up early on Saturday morning and bring them into town so they can get ready for Ghouls on Parade and the street fair. I think Jeremy plans to bring Danny into town for the parade, and he mentioned something about staying for the kiddie carnival if Danny wasn’t too tired after the long morning.”
“What about the girls?”
“Haven and Bailey plan to skip the pancake breakfast, but they hope to bring Hazel into town and spend at least part of the day at the parade and kiddie carnival.” Haven Hanson and Bailey Sullivan were my daughters by choice, and Hazel Sullivan is Bailey’s young daughter. “Although, I guess how much time the girls end up spending in town will depend on how busy things will be at the inn with you and me both gone.”
“We’re sold out next weekend,” Georgia responded. “Not only do we have the usual chili cook-off enthusiasts and leaf chasers, but we also have the men from the Holiday Network who will be in town to scout out Holiday Bay as a potential location for the miniseries they’re developing, as well as the guys from the Antique Barn, who will be in town to look at the items Nick and Nikki found in their warehouse.”
Georgia’s sister-in-law, Nikki Peyton, and her live-in boyfriend, Nick Jergenson, bought a warehouse filled to the brim with both trash and treasure. They’d spent the past two months clearing it out, and along the way, they’d stumbled upon some amazing finds.
“And the ghost hunters? Are they still coming?” I asked.
“They are.”
Alistair Blackwell and Corbin Drake were amateur ghost hunters who would be in town this week to chase down Bloomington’s ghost. Buford Bloomington had been an ornery old sea captain who lived in and fished out of Holiday Bay in the nineteen fifties to the early seventies. According to local legend, Buford’s boat was set on fire and sank in the early seventies. Since Buford was never seen again, it was assumed the old sea captain went down with his boat; however, the sinking of Buford’s boat wasn’t the end of the story. According to local legend, while Buford’s body became fish food the day his boat burned, his ghost lived on and still haunts the local waterways seeking revenge against his enemies and their heirs. While I didn’t necessarily believe in the legend of Buford’s ghost, it was interesting. 
When Georgia pulled onto the private drive that led to the inn, she turned her head and glanced at me. “So now that we’ve gone over the guest list for next week, are you going to tell me what had you so distracted during our committee meeting?” 
“It was nothing really. I just saw someone in the crowd below who seemed familiar and momentarily distracted me. Once I thought about it, however, I realized that I couldn’t have seen the person I thought I’d seen, so I moved on.”
Georgia pulled up in the employee parking area behind the inn. “That all sounds rather cryptic. Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
“I’m sure.” I unbuckled my seat belt and opened the passenger’s side door. “Let’s check in with Jeremy. He’ll have an update on the guests who’ve checked in today, and he’ll likely know which helpful family member has Charlee.”
When we’d left for the meeting, Charlee was with Bailey and her daughter, Hazel, in the cottage Bailey and Hazel shared with Haven, but since the entire staff helped with all the kids, someone other than Bailey was likely watching Charlee by this point. 
We found the kitchen, where we expected to find Jeremy, empty, so we headed toward the converted carriage house where Jeremy lived with his wife, Mylie, their son, Danny, and his niece, Annabelle. Mylie was six months pregnant and taking it easy most days. 
“How was the meeting?” Mylie, who was sitting with Danny, Hazel, and Charlee in the kitchen of her comfortable home, asked. 
“It was good,” Georgia responded before she crossed the room to pick up her baby. “Productive, I think.”
“Is Jeremy around?” I asked Mylie.
“He went into town to pick Mackey and Annabelle up from school.”
“I thought Colt was picking the girls up today.” Annabelle was in high school, and Mackey was in middle school, but since the schools let out around the same time, on days when neither girl had an after-school activity, we worked it out so that one person picked up both girls.
“He was, but he called Jeremy a little while ago and said he got held up and wouldn’t be able to pick up the girls on his way home as planned.”
“You should have called me,” I said. “Georgia and I could have picked them up. We were already in town.”
Mylie responded. “I suggested that, but since Jeremy wanted to go into town to grab a few things from the farmers market, he decided to time it so he could stop by the farmers market on his way to doing the school pickups. And before you point out that you could have stopped by the farmers market as well, I did think of that, but I suspect that Jeremy’s getting bored being home all the time now that I’m basically housebound. A trip into town to visit the farmers market will be good for him.” 
“Does the doctor have you on bed rest?” Georgia asked.
“Not bed rest so much as rest in general. She didn’t seem to think I needed to stay in bed, but she did want me to take it easy.”
“So you decided to bake fifty cupcakes.” I nodded toward the cupcakes Mylie had been frosting when we arrived.
“They’re for Hazel’s birthday dinner tomorrow.”
Bailey’s daughter, Hazel, was turning two, and while Bailey didn’t think a party was necessary given all the other activities going on in October, the inn family wanted to do something special for Hazel, so we’d decided to have a birthday dinner on Saturday evening. 
“Fifty cupcakes?” I asked.
Mylie shrugged. “I guess fifty is more than we’ll need, but Bailey mentioned that she’d invited the Parkers as well as Nikki, Eden, Joy, and a few of her other friends. I just wanted to be sure we had enough. Besides, I needed a project. There are times when I think I’m going to go crazy staying around the house doing nothing when I know that there’s actually a lot that needs to be done.”
Eden Halliwell and Joy Christianson worked at Firehouse Books and were part of the Nikki Gang, along with Haven and Bailey. 
“I’m sorry. I know this is hard on you.”
“It is, but I’ve done hard before.”
Georgia, who, along with Tanner and Charlee, planned to attend Hazel’s birthday dinner tomorrow evening, wasn’t planning to be at the inn during the day, so I asked her for a quick update on the state of affairs for this weekend when she announced that she needed to get going. Once Georgia shared what she knew, I helped her gather Charlee’s belongings and then walked her to the door. After Georgia and Charlee left, I sat down on the sofa next to Mylie. I still wanted to find out about the guests who checked in today since I tried to stay on top of that sort of thing to the best of my ability. 
“We had quite a few layovers, and only changed over two suites and one cottage today,” Mylie answered after I asked her about it. “The couple from Miami who are in town for a friends’ reunion arrived just after noon and have checked into the ocean view cottage, and the single gentleman in town for a job interview checked into suite four shortly after that.”
“Which leaves the last-minute reservation we received for suite two,” I said. 
Mylie nodded. “The couple who booked suite two called Jeremy this morning to let him know that their flight was canceled and were still trying to find an alternate flight. They indicated that they likely won’t arrive until tomorrow.”
“Even when the weather isn’t a factor, it seems like canceled flights have been happening a lot.”
“It does seem like flights being canceled are becoming a trend. If the truth were told, I’m not sure I’d want to fly anywhere right now.” She rubbed her growing belly. “Not that I’ll be going anywhere for quite a while anyway.”
I smiled at Mylie. “I know this is hard, but you’ll get through it.”
She offered a weak half smile in response. “I know I will. And I know that I’ll realize that it was all worth it once I hold my baby in my arms. But right now, in this moment, it’s really hard.” She groaned and adjusted her position on the sofa. “But let’s not talk about that. How are you doing? It’s been a while since we had time to chat. Are you heading to the Wilders’ home for dinner tonight?”
“We are.” Ever since Mackey moved to the inn full-time with Colt and me, Colt’s mother insisted on Friday night dinners. Depending on everyone’s schedule, they weren’t always on Fridays, but most weekly dinners were considered mandatory. “It looks like the dinners will continue until Colt’s parents actually leave for California.”
Colt’s parents had put their house in Maine on the market and planned to move to California. 
“And how is the sale of Colt’s parents’ home coming along?” Mylie asked. “I keep thinking that I’ll hear that the sale has been finalized and that the Wilders have packed up and left.”
“The sale should have been finalized weeks ago, but apparently the buyers are having problems with their loan.” 
Mylie frowned. “That’s not good.”
“It’s not ideal,” I agreed. “According to Colt, the real estate agent handling the sale of the property keeps assuring his parents that things will work out, but to tell you the truth, by this point, I have my doubts.”
“It would be a shame if things fell through at the eleventh hour.”
“It would be,” I agreed. “I know the situation is stressful for everyone involved, but it seems that Ruth is feeling the stress more than anyone.”
“Which, of course, makes dinners with the Wilders even more stressful than usual.” 
I agreed that had been the case. I glanced at the clock. “I’ve enjoyed catching up, but I should jump in the shower and change into something Ruth will approve of. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay. Try to have a nice evening. Once you and Colt are married, the Wilders will become your family, so it will be important that everyone gets along well.”
“I know. And I really am working on that.”
While I walked back to my cottage, I considered my choice of clothing for the evening. If I overdressed, Ruth would comment about our dinner being a simple family meal that didn’t require so much effort, and if I underdressed, she’d slip in a comment about dressing like a vagabond. I think that it’s important to note that she never found fault with anything Mackey or Colt wore. Apparently, I was the only one who could never seem to get it right. 
“Hey, Rufus,” I greeted my Maine Coon after he wandered over to say hi the minute I walked in the front door. “Where’s Molly?” I bent over, picked up Rufus, and asked about my little rescue dog who normally greeted me even before Rufus but was curiously absent from the room today.
Rufus didn’t provide any useful information about Molly, but he did start to purr and butt my chin with his head. I scratched his neck for a moment, and then I walked into my bedroom suite and set him on my bed. I texted Haven, who sometimes took Molly with her when she walked her dog, Baxter. Haven texted me back to let me know that she had Molly and would drop her off in about fifteen minutes. I texted her back to let her know I’d be in the shower and to just let her in the front door. 
Once that was settled, I headed to my bathroom and stripped off my clothes. As I stepped into the shower, I mentally took inventory of my closet. It was well into autumn, so perhaps my wool-blend slacks in a woodsy shade of deep brown topped with my new blouse in a color I thought of as cinnamon, but the salesclerk had said was saddle. I had a nice sweater in a neutral shade that would look nice if the temperature dropped and the night air became chilly. 
As I stood in my closet, wrapped only in a robe, looking for the slacks I had in mind, my mind drifted to the perfectly coiffed woman I’d seen in the crowd that day. I wasn’t sure why the sophisticated woman walking among comfortably dressed tourists and fishermen had even caught my eye, and I really wasn’t sure why I felt certain I knew who I’d seen, but deep down, I knew.
“I’m home,” Mackey yelled as she blew in through the front door.
“I’m in the bedroom getting dressed for dinner.”
“Can I come in?”
“Yeah, come on in. You can help me pick out something to wear.”
Mackey trotted into the room. “Didn’t you take a shower this morning?” Mackey asked after she greeted my dog, Molly, who’d followed her into my bedroom suite, and my cat, Rufus, who was lying on my bed.
“I did, but I had a lunch meeting on the rooftop of the Bistro and felt a little sweaty.” I looked Mackey up and down. Blue jeans rolled on the bottom topped with a pumpkin-colored sweater and high-top tennis shoes with no visible socks. “Is that what you’re wearing tonight?”
“Yeah. I didn’t sit in the sun and get sweaty. Is Uncle Colt home?”
“No, he’s running late, but I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”
“Can I have a snack?”
I knew I should say no, since Ruth would have a fit if we didn’t all show up ravenous, but it would be at least two hours before we ate, so I told Mackey to go ahead, but to be sure not to eat anything too filling.
After deciding to wear a new pair of jeans rather than wool-blend slacks, and the blouse and sweater I’d planned to wear with the wool-blend slacks, I got dressed, reapplied my makeup, and joined Mackey in the cottage’s living area. I was excited about the house Colt and I were building on the far edge of the property, and couldn’t wait for it to be done so we could move in, but I was going to miss the cozy intimacy of my little cottage by the sea. 
“How did the Halloween Hamlet meeting go?” Mackey asked. As a member of the middle school drama club, Mackey planned to participate as a character in the Halloween Hamlet. 
“It went well. Sage has the costumes ready. I think we’re going to arrange for her to come to the high school on Wednesday after school for a fitting. Not that the costumes are the sort that will need many, if any, adjustments, but she wants to be sure that the lengths are right.”
Mackey smeared peanut butter on a slice of apple. “Don’t we have soccer practice on Wednesday?” We’d started the season with practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a game on Saturdays, but we’d been doing an extra practice on Wednesdays ever since we started winning and realized we were in contention for the playoffs.
“Not next week. We have a game tomorrow, and then practice on Tuesday and Thursday. There aren’t any games on Saturday next week on account of Halloween and the event on Main Street.”
“I’m excited about the Ghouls on Parade. And I’m really excited that Annabelle, Mary, Meghan, and I were chosen to ride on the Monster Mash float.”
The Monster Mash float depicted a group of Halloween characters at a party. The float’s purpose was to help promote both the Halloween Hamlet and the Saturday night Monster Mash street dance. 
“I’m excited about Ghouls on Parade as well,” I agreed. “I’ve always loved Halloween, and if this event comes off the way Piper has described it, I think it’s going to be really fun.”
“So much fun.” She grinned. 
Colt wandered in as Mackey and I discussed her role as Vampiress, queen of the female vampires, for the festival. As with all the actors, the base of her costume would be black tights and a black long-sleeved T-shirt, but Sage had also made hooded capes for the vampires, black with red lining for the boys, and deep purple with black lining for the girls. 
Annabelle was going to be a witch, and there were costumes for ghosts, goblins, werewolves, mummies, skeletons, and generic monsters that could be adapted to complement a variety of personas. 
“Sorry I’m late,” Colt said as Mackey wandered over to say hi to Colt’s dog, Cody. “Give me ten minutes to wash up, and we’ll go.”
“If you don’t want Grandma to be mad, we can’t be late, so don’t doddle,” Mackey warned Colt as he headed toward our bedroom suite. 

“Don’t you look cute,” Ruth greeted Mackey, who was still dressed in the same clothes she’d worn to school, an hour later. She kissed Mackey on the cheek and then turned to Colt. “And you look as handsome as always.” Colt wore jeans and a flannel shirt as I predicted he would. Ruth looked me up and down, but didn’t comment. Honestly, for me, no comment was much better than any comment I’d received in the past. 
“What smells so good?” Mackey asked after hanging her coat on the rack near the door. 
“Grandpa is making ribs. In all honesty, ribs aren’t my favorite. Too messy if you ask me. But Grandpa has been grilling or smoking something almost every night since the weather turned cooler, and tonight he decided on ribs.”
“Ribs sound good to me,” Colt said.
“Yeah, me too,” I added. “And Hank’s ribs are some of the best I’ve ever tasted.”
Ruth frowned. “Yes, well, I guess we’ll see how they turn out.”
As they always did when Hank was grilling or smoking meat, Colt and Mackey went out to the yard to greet him, and as I always did, I followed Ruth into the kitchen to help prepare the drink and appetizer cart. 
“I need to warn you that Hank is in a peculiar mood tonight,” Ruth said as she loaded the cart with pitchers of tea and lemonade. 
“Peculiar mood?” Hank was one of the most patient, even-tempered men I knew. 
“When he was in town today, he ran into a man we knew a long time ago. A man we used to be friends with when our kids were growing up.”
“Someone who lives here in Holiday Bay?” I wondered. 
“Gordon lives in Holiday Bay now, and he did back when we were friends, but he moved away for a while in the middle, so Hank was surprised to see him.” Ruth’s expression grew contemplative. “I’m not sure why he moved back, although I guess I did hear that his mother recently passed. Gordon and his siblings must have inherited that big old house she lived in for the last hundred years.”
“Hundred years?”
She waved a hand toward me. “I exaggerated, of course. But I suspect the old bat did live in that house for close to eighty years. I seem to remember that she moved into the house with her parents when she was still a teenager, and she lived in that same house until the day she died.”
Unfortunately, following the story was difficult for me, and I really didn’t understand why this man moving back to Holiday Bay would put Hank in a peculiar mood. “I take it that Hank and Gordon no longer get along.”
“No, they don’t. They haven’t since Gordon killed Sarah.” ...