Tag: author Sara Bourgeois

Review:  Hat Trick (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow Book 4) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 4.75⭐️ 

Well, if that wasn’t just an excellent book.  The mystery was one where you knew who did it after a while. But the investigation takes Blythe and her familiar, along with Anya, on a path that leads towards many places and players. So the plot winds up being poignant, character driven and layered with smaller pieces of other mysteries . 

The author meaningfully scattered bits of information about the community throughout in new ways that knowledge of who did the murder early isn’t as key as you think. 

And there’s another stranger mystery brewing that will lead to the next book in the series. 

Sara Bourgeois is another autobuy/autoread for and this series is a great example why. 

Highly recommended. Love the author.

Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow (4 book series)

If the Hat Fits #1

Under The Hat #2

Hat Out of Spell #3

Hat Trick #4 

Bear Many Hats #5 – July 21,2026

Buy link

        Hat Trick (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow Book 4)

    

Blurb 

Blythe Fairfield is finally getting the hang of her weird new life.

She owns a tea shop on Main Street. She’s dating the sheriff. Her late great-aunt’s notebooks are slowly teaching her what kind of witch she is, and her familiar has mostly stopped acting like tolerating her is a personal sacrifice.

Mostly.

Then the Cauldron Hollow Fall Festival rolls into town, and a dead body turns up behind the vendor trailers before the booths are even open.

The victim was a quiet leather worker traveling with the festival vendors. No enemies. No debts. No obvious connection to anyone in town.

At least, that’s the story everyone wants to tell.

As the festival barrels forward with tourists, bear sightings, and town gossip, Blythe starts tugging at threads nobody else seems to see. And somewhere between the funnel cake, fake smiles, and festival chaos, someone decides Blythe needs to stop asking questions.

Permanently.

It doesn’t help that Sheriff Paine is pulling away for reasons he refuses to explain. Or that Pippin keeps insisting being a Tallowmere should be enough to solve every problem, intimidate every enemy, and possibly improve Blythe’s posture.

But Cauldron Hollow has secrets it doesn’t show the tourists, and this one has been waiting twenty-four years to come due.

Blythe is about to learn there’s a big difference between a man running from his past and a man waiting for it to find him.

Sometimes the trick isn’t what’s in the hat.

It’s what’s been hidden in plain sight all along.

May 18, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

218 pages

Book 4 of 5

Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow

Review:  Hat Out of Spell (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow Book 3) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 4.5⭐️ 

Hat Out of Spell took the main character of Blythe Fairfield, her family history as well as the paranormal nature of the community of Cauldron Hollow to new levels. 

The author does this using the complicated murder of a recently returned and detestable man, using the investigation to examine darker, more intriguing areas of Blythe ‘s ancestry, that of the cemetery she’s renovating, and in-depth interviews into the community of witches and craftsmen who support them.

It’s small town dynamics but powered by a strong paranormal force, The Veil and old laws that Blythe has no understanding of. 

I just love this story, all the many complex plots threaded together, some resolved, but many more intense storylines that are just getting out there for Blythe to think about and accept. Like her Aunt Moira, and what her future might look like. 

Now to wait for the next book to be released. 

 What a fantastic series and group of characters. 

Just terrific. Great storytelling. 

Highly recommended. Love the author.

Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow (4 book series)

If the Hat Fits #1

Under The Hat #2

Hat Out of Spell #3

Hat Trick #4 – June 23,2026

Bear Many Hats #5 – July 21,2026

Buy link

        Hat Out of Spell (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow Book 3)

    

Blurb 

Blythe Fairfield was just starting to feel at home.

She has a job at the local grocery store. A talking cat who insults her daily. A date with the sheriff that actually went well. And a cemetery full of dead relatives she’s been restoring one headstone at a time.

Then one of those headstones gets a new neighbor.

Griffin Midnight, a witch with more charm than sense, came back to Cauldron Hollow after breaking Blythe’s best friend’s heart. Now he’s dead in the Tallowmere family cemetery with a bottle of wine and two glasses, and the whole town is looking at the two women who had the most reason to want him gone.

One is Anya, Blythe’s best friend, who screamed at Griffin in public. Twice.

The other is Blythe, whose family graves someone turned into a crime scene.

Between a grandfatherly tea shop owner hiding a secret, a council member with a grudge against her house, and a killer whose magic is so subtle nobody knows it’s there, Blythe is running out of time and suspects. Pippin says the answer has been in front of her the whole time. Pippin says a lot of things.

But when Blythe opens her great-aunt Moira’s notebooks, she finds more than clues. She finds a secret that will change everything she thought she knew about her family, her best friend, and the familiar who’s been keeping his mouth shut since the day she arrived.

Some spells you cast. Some spells you inherit. And some hats are harder to take off than they are to put on.

April 27, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

211 pages

Book 3 of 5

Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow

Review:  Under The Hat  (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow #2) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 4.5⭐️

I really enjoyed Under The Hat more than the first story. The author is really defining her characters and the unique universe of Calderon Hollow here so we get a real sense of the nature of the town, and the magical strength of the powers of the families who live there.

Blythe Fairfield has made her choice to live in the house, accepting the magic and learn her role, whatever it may be. But the unstable Veil and shifting perspectives of the townspeople make it hard for Blythe to get a better sense of them and her new community.

I really liked how the different relationships are evolving here, between Blythe and the magical family on the other side of the ancient power feud, and even more so, between her and the Sheriff who “knows” instinctively that there’s something about her and the town that he can’t see or be involved with but also realizing it’s no less true. 

The details, the history behind the old feud, the darker aspects of the town, it’s slowly getting revealed. 

And it all gives depth to her and the series. 

Just terrific. Great storytelling. 

Highly recommended. Love the author.

Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow (4 book series)

If the Hat Fits #1

Under The Hat #2

Hat Out of Spell #3

Hat Trick #4

Buy link

 Book 2 of 4: Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow 

Blurb 

Blythe Fairfield chose to stay in Cauldron Hollow. She’s not sure the town has chosen her back.

Her relationship with Sheriff Paine Wilder is in ruins. Her bank account is worse. The only job she can find is running a cash register at the local grocery store, where her boss is a conspiracy theorist, her customers include a woman who screams about paying for eggs, and the one friend who made it all bearable keeps talking her into things she shouldn’t do.

Then a reclusive prepper turns up dead on his rural property, and Blythe finds more than a body. Buried beneath the man’s unfinished root cellar is a book of spells that should not exist, magic that breaks every rule Blythe has been taught to follow. She can’t leave it for the police. She can’t destroy it. And she definitely can’t stop thinking about what’s inside.

Someone killed a man for this book. And Blythe just brought it home.

Review:  If the Hat Fits (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow #1) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 4⭐️

I love this author’s Haunted Ranch Mysteries series, so while I was waiting on the next book in that series to be released, I noticed that she had started another series, different location and perspective on a similar type of female character. 

The author has a real fondness for older women starting over. I can get behind this.

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries series has the beauty of the Arizona desert and the unique nature that enhances the atmosphere and fantastic storytelling. 

I’ve yet to find a similar surrounding landscape here that has the same feel or that is so striking that it acts as a compelling backdrop.  

So it’s a nondescript setting that depends heavily on character development and storytelling. Luckily, it delivers on both accounts. 

Where certain characters in other series are stereotypical personalities, here Bourgeous takes them outside of the usual configuration into something interesting.

The sheriff and townspeople all have characters that surprise the reader with their depth of personality and the growth they exhibit during the story. This continues throughout the series. 

The overall magic system is one that is slowly evolving and being defined as each situation arises, and it’s an unusual one that envelops the entire town. 

There’s an ancient witch family feud, a cat familiar, and of course, a sentient house, to go along with the main character of Blythe Fairfield, a woman who is restarting her life after divorce.

The language is one of someone quietly reviewing their past and present options, no panic but a sense of resolve to make things work. You immediately understand Blythe, the circumstances that brought her to Caldron Hollow, and the thought processes as each event comes her way. However, increasing wild each one is. 

It ends with Blythe staying true to her values, at the beginning of her journey and a long way to understanding what’s ahead. The author has started to set much in motion but there is so much more that’s needs a foundation or exploration, especially with regard to the town and witch families. 

I’m definitely going forward with the series. And recommending this. Great read!

Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow (4 book series)

If the Hat Fits #1

Under The Hat #2

Hat Out of Spell #3

Hat Trick #4

Buy link

 Book 1 of 4: Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow 

Blurb 

Welcome to Cauldron Hollow!

Sometimes the worst day of your life is just the beginning.

Blythe Fairfield has officially failed at adulthood. Divorced. Fired. Broke. When she inherits Gallows Gate House in the small town of Cauldron Hollow from her allegedly unhinged great-aunt, she decides it’s a temporary stop. Renovate. Sell. Leave.

Then her cat starts talking.

Cauldron Hollow isn’t just quaint. It was founded by two rival witch families. The Stoneharts stayed. The Tallowmeres were driven out.

Guess which family Blythe belongs to.

Between a house that hums with old magic, a violet streak suddenly appearing in her hair, and a snarky familiar named Pippin who keeps saying “Obviously,” Blythe barely has time to process her new reality before she stumbles over a dead body behind Merlin’s Diner.

The victim made enemies. Unfortunately, Blythe just made the suspect list.

With the town’s frustratingly handsome sheriff watching her every move and a killer determined to protect their secrets, Blythe must decide whether she’s still running from her inheritance or finally ready to claim it.

Turns out, if the hat fits… you might have to wear it.

If the Hat Fits is the first book in the Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow cozy mystery series. Expect humor, heart, magic, and a clean read with no swearing or explicit content.

Cauldron Hollow is an alternate universe to Coventry. You’ll see hints and shadows of our original wicked witches, but this book and series can be read and enjoyed on their own.

March 9, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

207 pages

Book 1 of 4

Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow

Review:  Skulls and Sunlit Secrets (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 7) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 4.5 ⭐️

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries is my first dive into the writings of Sara Bourgeois but I just love what she’s accomplishing here with her characters, location and overall mystical aesthetic.

Skulls and Sunset is one of the best books in the series so far, combining the all the great elements of the series and the haunting emotional aspects of the story into one beautifully crafted tale of motherhood and obsessive love. 

This novel moves Claire’s powers and abilities forward as well as resolves a previous storyline about that huge dark mysterious creature that’s seen flying over the desert in the past story.

But the anchor of this tale is the human being who has lost her life. One we meet briefly and yet immediately becomes someone we know and identify with. Amelia Sanders, so happy and bright. 

That’s what is so impressive about this author is her capacity to make a character have such impact on the reader and story in such a short time. Like Amelia does. We are heavily invested in Claire’s investigation and want to know what happened.

 

It’s a heartbreaking mystery, with absorbing side stories to go along with it. And the ending is just as it should be, poignant and moving. 

I love this series and story. It’s not a standalone. Each builds upon the previous one .

Highly recommended! Excellent read!

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

 Book 7 of 8: The Haunted Ranch Mysteries 

Blurb 

Everyone in Perdido Springs was looking up when Amelia Sanders died.

A total solar eclipse has turned the little desert town into a tourist destination, and Claire Caldwell just wants to survive the weekend without someone asking if her ranch does birthday parties. But when the moon covers the sun, Claire sees things the darkness reveals… creatures, pathways, and the outline of something vast moving through a world layered on top of her own.

Then the light returns. Amelia is dead outside the bar. The sheriff calls it a scorpion sting. Her friends call it impossible. A massive owl that shouldn’t exist keeps circling a house on the edge of town. And Claire is starting to realize that the murder and the owl might have nothing to do with each other, which means she has two problems, not one.

April 20, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

198 pages

Book 7 of 8

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries

Review:   Death Waits at Dead Rock (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 6) by Sara Bourgeois

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Death Waits at Dead Rock was actually so different because the reader became familiar and fond of the victim, as did Claire. Which made what follows so personal and upsetting. A very different experience from every murder and investigation prior. 

When a invitation to a weekend at a vineyard for influencers and potential clients turns into a murder investigation the story ventures into a new realm of acceptance of Claire’s abilities from those closest to her and an investigation into someone she’d grown close to.

Death Waits at Dead Rock ends with a new paranormal mystery rising about the land and Claire, an old mystery solved sort of about the town, and on moment for all that was both moving and bittersweet depending upon what character was the focus. 

A different but equally great story.

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 June 23,2026

The Bone Charm #8 – Aug 18,2026

Buy link

        Death Waits at Dead Rock (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 6)

    

Blurb 

A wine tasting. A viral treasure hunt. A body at the base of Dead Rock.

Claire Caldwell thought she’d seen every kind of weird the desert could throw at her. Ghosts in her kitchen, omens from a spirit fox, and the occasional town scandal that required a very large cup of coffee. What she did not expect was a swarm of influencers descending on Perdido Springs for a luxury “Desert Vines Weekend,” complete with ring lights and sponsored smiles.

The big gimmick is supposed to be harmless fun. Collect the special labels, piece together the artwork, and you get a treasure map to a legendary stash hidden near Dead Rock. 

Content gold. Tourist bait. Everyone wants in.

Then the weekend’s headliner turns up dead at sunrise.

Claire would love to let law enforcement handle it, but Buster is… Buster. Rosa’s ghost has opinions, Rusty is tracking something no living person can smell, and the closer Claire gets to the truth, the clearer it becomes that the “treasure” isn’t just old wine and a cute story. Someone in town has been protecting what Dead Rock is hiding for a long time, and they’ll do anything to keep it buried.

Now Claire has to sift through secrets, suspects, and a trail of clues disguised as a party favor, before the killer strikes again… and the next toast becomes a death sentence.

March 2, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

205 pages

Book 6 of 8

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries

Review:   Body Beneath the Wither (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 5) by Sara Bourgeois

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Body Beneath the Wither brings several things to a head in Claire and Sam’s relationship that’s needed to be resolved, the fact that she’s been hiding so much of herself and what actually happens around the ranch from him. 

That definitely becomes a factor when a podcaster comes to town chasing ghosts and ends up being his own story, among other mysteries on an ominous ranch hiding many secrets.

I liked that this eventually moved Claire and Sam’s story forward. Plus the darkness of the Wither is one that seems to be one that’s not fully resolved for a reason. 

The author always has multiple storylines going on and each one is different and weaves fully into the narrative and series arc. 

The animals are great characters and the desert is so beautifully written that it’s feels as though you can step into the town and find each place without hesitation. 

Another 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

        Body Beneath the Wither (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 5)

    

Blurb 

A dead tree. A dead podcaster. A desert that remembers everything.

Claire Caldwell was ready for wedding planning, not another corpse.

But when her fiancé’s vet call takes them down a lonely road outside Perdido Springs, Rusty blocks their path and leads them straight to Broken Acres, a long abandoned farmhouse with a twisted tree locals call the Wither.

Beneath its dead branches lies Craig Dooley, better known to his listeners as Stone Coldwell, the loudmouthed host of The Cold Files. He came chasing ghosts, chasing fame, chasing the thrill he’d lost… and now he is the newest spirit the desert refuses to forget.

His unhinged ex turns up screaming and clawing at the body, a will is found in the dirt, and two siblings are suddenly at each other’s throats over a secret fortune that should have died with their father.

Then the whispers start.

A grieving woman in old fashioned clothes begs Claire to help the man she has waited a hundred years to see, and the Wither’s shadow seems to sink into everyone nearby, feeding paranoia, greed, and old resentments until even the living feel haunted.

Claire has solved murders before, but this one is different… because Sam is watching, and he is finally noticing the things Claire has been hiding.

To catch a killer, Claire will have to face what waits under the Wither.

And she might have to tell her fiancé the truth… before the desert takes someone else.

February 10, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

273 pages

Book 5 of 8

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries

Review:   Tombstones with a View (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 4) by Sara Bourgeois

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Tombstones with a View is great and really expands on the series with several new characters and insights into established ones.  I absolutely loved it.

We’ve met Mavis, owner of the Desert Rest Motel before.  Primarily because that place is full of Mavis’s antique doll collection, hundreds of dolls everywhere throughout the motel, in every room. Staring at you. In prior stories.

Here Mavis is the center of the story. Her dolls too. Which makes for a unique investigation when Mavis goes missing. We and Claire learn about her in her absence.

Claire’s long time friend, Sara, a journalist from Chicago ,arrives to spend time together. There’s someone who is cutting fences and leaving threatening notes at the Sanctuary. And Sam’s still trying to propose. 

Tombstones with a View accomplishes several things along with a terrific mystery. It brings in a new, actually 2 new connected characters and develops an established minor character into one who looks to become one of the found family that Claire is forming around herself.

This also gives Buster, a deputy Sheriff who’s normally shown as useless, a chance to demonstrate extra depth, something I appreciate. 

The ending not only ties up all the various plot threads giving us a couple of interesting elements and terrific surprises, but a lovely note for Claire and Sam. 

Sara Bourgeois continues to give us a realistic sense of the beauty and atmosphere of the Arizona desert while layering it with the most interesting of mysteries and engaging characters. This series is a real treat!

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

        Tombstones with a View (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 4)

    

Blurb 

The dolls are always watching.

Claire Caldwell learned that the hard way in Room 7 of the Desert Rest Motel. But now their owner has vanished, and those glass eyes might be the only witnesses to what happened…

Sheriff Dobson isn’t concerned. “Woman finally got tired of those creepy dolls and skipped town. Can’t blame her.”

But Claire knows Mavis would never abandon her collection. Those hundreds of Victorian dolls aren’t just decorations… they’re her life. Her family. Her obsession.

With the sheriff refusing to investigate, Claire finds herself drawn into the dusty rooms of the Desert Rest, surrounded by glass eyes that follow her every move. The dolls saw what happened to Mavis. If only they could talk.

Meanwhile, someone is stalking Whispering Saguaro Ranch. Cut fences. Threatening notes. A shadow in the barn at midnight. Claire’s made some enemies, and one of them wants what she has… no matter the cost.

As Claire searches for answers, she discovers that Mavis has secrets of her own. The Pioneer Cemetery behind the motel holds more than old bones. The dolls hold more than sawdust and porcelain. And the eccentric woman everyone dismissed as harmless may have been hiding something worth killing for.

Now Claire must untangle two mysteries at once, with help from an unlikely source: her veterinarian fiancé Sam, whose rounds through the desert bring whispers of things people don’t want known. Together, they’ll learn that in Perdido Springs, the strangest people often have the darkest secrets.

And some collections are worth more than anyone imagined.

January 11, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

283 pages

Book 4 of 8

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries

Review:  Spirits of the Saguaro (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 3) by Sara Bourgeois

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

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries

Review:  Bones and Cactus Blooms (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 2) by Sara Bourgeois

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Bones and Cactus Blooms , the second book in The Haunted Ranch Mysteries by Sara Bourgeois, is exactly what I hoped for in the series. It’s the potential I saw in the first book fulfilled and more.

The author has a fantastic mystery and story here. Shes developing Claire , the ranch which is now a thriving animal sanctuary and those who are a part of it, as the mystical heart of Perdita Springs. Or maybe the land upon which all of it stands. 

The beleaguered citizens of the town, under siege by developers and the bank, have our sympathy and emotional connection. Each one feels believable and raw. And Claire, as she continues to make her way into this town and its pain, is an interesting empathic woman who wants to make things happen. In their lives and her’s.

So of course, there’s a murder.

It’s a complex story with lots of interesting elements around the person who is killed. 

And the side stories, especially the one about Claire and Sam Redhorse, the vet, is very well written . Slow developing with stumbling blocks that, again,  are ones that any person can easily understand and relate to. 

It is wrapped up emotionally with layers that are so powerful. Sad but necessary. And the author adds an extra twist that shows another layer of the story and series going forward. 

Fantastic work and highly recommended. 

I’m onto the next.

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

        Bones and Cactus Blooms (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 2)

    

Blurb 

Claire Caldwell has finally found her footing. Six months after solving her first murder, she’s turned Whispering Saguaro Ranch into a thriving animal sanctuary and embraced her ability to see the dead.

But the desert has more secrets to reveal.

When volunteers preparing for the Cactus Bloom Festival unearth human bones that have been hidden for thirty-five years, the whole town starts whispering about old scandals and vanished souls. Then one of the most powerful man in Perdido Springs turns up dead in his office, and everyone Claire knows had a reason to want him gone. The man who foreclosed on half the town… dead. The festival meant to save local businesses… in chaos. The ghosts in Claire’s kitchen… warning her that death isn’t finished yet.

As Claire digs into both the old bones and the fresh corpse, she discovers the two deaths are connected by threads of family, loss, and long-buried grievances that someone would kill to keep hidden. With her fox, Rusty, bringing ominous warnings, the ghost of a long-dead librarian helping her research, and her relationship with Sam strained by family obligations, Claire must navigate a town full of desperate people harboring deadly secrets.

In Perdido Springs, old wounds never heal… and some debts can only be paid in blood.

Welcome back to the desert, where the past never stays buried.

November 10, 2025

Language

‎English

Print length

282 pages

Book 2 of 8

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries