The Séance Garden($18.99Value)

Description

After a cheesy ghost tour in one of California’s oldest towns stumbles upon an actual haunting, a skeptical historian of the occult becomes entangled in solving a murder case. When Professor Harper Grae loses a bet with a friend, she finds herself on a local nighttime tour of “haunted” locations in Monterey. Harper’s a lifelong non-believer in the occult, though her academic career is devoted to the historical and societal significance of witchcraft, ghosts, and medicinal poisons of all sorts. But her skepticism immediately gets tested when the tour stumbles on the body of local artist Delilah Mason—who’s found murdered on the grounds of a nearly two-hundred-year-old mansion, once home to the infamous Perles family. On the night Mason’s body is found, Harper catches sight of something in the house that she can’t shake, something that’s impossible to explain, at least not rationally. Soon the murder investigation reveals that this is the second time a woman has been found murdered beneath a sprawling cypress tree in the gardens of the Perles Mansion. And when Harper’s closest friend is questioned by the police, Harper fears the authorities will fail to uncover the real killer. As Harper asks questions around town and digs deeper into the supernatural speculation and rumors surrounding the murders—two women killed in similar circumstances, separated by nearly two centuries —she sees evidence she can’t ignore that the notorious mansion truly is haunted by the ghost of Isabel Perles. What will it cost Harper to rethink everything she’s always believed to admit that the veil between the living and the dead might actually be crossed? “Blackwell returns to the windswept California coast for her latest mystery, seamlessly blending murder, mayhem and ghostly secrets. A shivery story with an colorful cast of characters!” – New York Times bestselling author Laura Griffin “Blackwell excels at creating atmosphere. She weaves Monterey itself into the story, using the city's history to set the tone of the mystery, and writes the supernatural element in such a way that it slowly builds throughout… This enjoyable read, suspenseful and eerie without slipping into horror, will please Blackwell's fans.” –Booklist “Well-developed characters, shrewd plotting, and a dash of romance will keep readers hooked. The author has a promising potential series on her hands.” –Publishers Weekly Juliet Blackwell is the pseudonym for the New York Times bestselling author of The Asylum Hotel , The Paris Showroom , and The Vineyards of Champagne . She also penned three popular mystery series: the Witchcraft Mysteries, the Haunted Home Renovation series, and the Agatha Award–nominated Art Lover’s Mystery series. One Monterey, California Present day As one of the oldest towns in California, Monterey is home to ghosts and ghouls of all types!" intoned the leader of the ghost tour. His voice dropped to a theatrical whisper. "Look around you, and open yourselves up to the possibilities, and you just might realize that ghosts are everywhere." Harper fixed her gaze on the restaurant's shiny brass-framed front door, willing her friend Tariq to walk in. Where the hell was he? He was the reason she was here tonight, waiting for a ghost tour she did not want to go on in the first place. It was her own damned fault. She should have known better than to make a bet after drinking too much sparkling wine at her birthday party. She was no kid, after all. Which was the point: Harper had just turned forty. Forty. Hard to know whether to celebrate embarking on a new decade, or to mourn the too-rapid passing of the years. But she had made the bet, and she had lost, and she was a woman of her word. So now here she sat, in a historic Fisherman's Wharf restaurant, along with the other participants of Joel's Amazing and Wondrous Ghost Tour of Old Monterey. A full moon sent silvery light streaming in through the wall of windows overlooking the glistening, serene Monterey Bay. The incessant barking of nearby sea lions could be heard over the clink of silverware and glasses in the busy establishment, where garish neon lights promoted beers and promised a good time, and tacky Halloween decorations-spiderwebs, jack-o'-lanterns, and witches on brooms-abounded. Harper glanced at her phone. Ten more minutes, and if Tariq doesn't show, I'm out of here. Losing a bet was one thing, but she'd be damned if she would attend this event alone. The other tour participants were abuzz with anticipation at the thought of encountering a ghost, their expressions somewhere between excited and nervous. There was a mother and her teenage daughter visiting from Iowa; a very affectionate couple from France on their honeymoon; an older, retired couple from Arizona; a tall, muscled man with a thick five-o'clock shadow who scowled and seemed as out of place as Harper; and a rather breathless twentysomething blonde who talked a lot about being a "teensy bit psychic." Suc