Rating: 4.5⭐️
Spirits of the Saguaro, the terrific third book in The Haunted Ranch Mysteries by Sara Bourgeois, sees the small Arizona desert town of Perdito Springs still trying to recover from the death of bank manager, Robert Harrison. Harrison was a man who was hated by the town’s residents for his crimes and cruel treatment.
Now a well known artist is coming to town and several people are hoping that her popularity will help them recover their losses and rebuild.
But artist Aurora Brightwater brings more than popularity, she brings antagonism, old hatred’s and divisions with her. And that leads to murder.
Spirits of the Saguaro is a fabulous book. The story went in different directions than I had anticipated, the characters were very well drawn and the side plots are great.
There’s a side story about a filmmaker as well as the plot that’s following the slow burn romance between Claire and Sam.
The entire community, the shops and their owners are very involved, and we’re getting to know each one better as the mysteries play out.
The mystical world of Perdita Springs, which includes the Fox guardian, the ghosts of the ranch, and the mysterious past of the area and mines is a developing element.
This excellent story and series is one I’m very excited about. And one that’s hard to stop reading once you’ve started.
Highly recommended! A real winner.
Cover by Book Covers by Melody
The Haunted Ranch Mysteries (8 book series)
Death Rides The Desert #1
Bones and Cactus Blooms #2
Spirits of the Saguaro #3
Tombstones with a View #4
Body Beneath the Wither #5
Death Waits at Dead Rock #6
Skulls and Sunlit Secrets #7
The Bone Charm #8
Buy link
Spirits of the Saguaro (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 3)
Blurb
Claire Caldwell has finally settled into her strange new normal. Two months after the Robert Harrison incident, she’s learned to trust her spirit fox’s warnings and Rosa’s ghostly advice as she runs her animal sanctuary in the desert.
But some visitors bring their own darkness to Perdido Springs.
When famous artist Aurora Brightwater arrives to paint the “desert spirits,” she brings more than just her canvases and her sparkling laugh. She brings grudges, theft, and a cruelty that hides behind flowing scarves and talk of universal energy.
Then Aurora turns up dead in her studio, a palette knife through her heart, and everyone she’s wronged becomes a suspect. The artist who steals others’ work… dead. The documentary filmmaker who seems cursed… filming everything. The exhausted ex-husband she abandoned… watching from the shadows.
As Claire investigates with her veterinarian boyfriend Sam, she discovers Aurora left a trail of destroyed careers and stolen dreams across the Southwest. But in a town where the dead talk, the dolls in the motel have their own agenda, and something that used to be human roams the desert at night, finding the truth means distinguishing between those who wanted Aurora gone and whoever actually made it happen.
In Perdido Springs, the veil is thin, the spirits are watching…
Welcome back to the desert, where inspiration can be deadly.
December 15, 2025
Language
English
Print length
315 pages
Book 3 of 8
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 