Review: Tides of Betrayal (Witches of Willow Cove Book 2) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 4⭐️

Tides of Betrayal, the second book in the Witches of Willow Cove, is another excellent read. It has a great magical mystery that involves the community, increasing nightmares and possible curses.

Rowan Page, her familiar, Moss and all the other Willow Cove inhabitants who are starting to become involved with Rowan in her inherited bookstore, Quill & Tide, are really developing their own roles and engaging personalities. With their unique backgrounds and their involvement in the community as each new disaster unfolds. 

I enjoyed this mystery and most of the magical aspects surrounding it. There was a few twists and the villain, while being blatant,  was truly cold about the ramifications of their actions, not a morally grey character. Unusual for this kind of story.

My slight issues are with the Cal, the Sheriff who, had a history with Rowan’s aunt. Now he still figures only minutely into cases that have a high impact on the community. Cal has a strong sense of something extraordinary going on but leaves it alone. 

Then there’s the librarian, Jude, whose personality is as problematic as his name. I find Jude unlikable. He’s that person that makes you think, hmmm, he’s was voted the last person picked for just about everything. Justifiably so. 

I thought leaving the story with an even bigger mystery was a great idea. Loved it and can’t wait for the next book to come.

Witches of Willow Cove (2 book series) 

A Novel Death #1

Tides of Betrayal #2

Buy link

        Tides of Betrayal (Witches of Willow Cove Book 2)

    

Blurb 

Rowan Page would like to believe things at Quill & Tide are finally settling down, but the books have other plans. When a prominent local collector dies in what looks like a tragic sleepwalking accident, Rowan notices something the police can’t explain.

People all over town are having nightmares.

Moss wants nothing to do with the cursed books turning up across Willow Cove, Aunt Oona’s ghost is more cryptic than helpful, and the closer Rowan gets to the truth, the clearer it becomes that some old betrayals were never buried.

They were shelved.

July 20, 2026

Accessibility

Learn more

Language

‎English

File size

648 KB

Screen Reader

Supported

Enhanced typesetting

Enabled

X-Ray

Not Enabled

Word Wise

Enabled

Print length

261 pages

Page Flip

Enabled

Book 2 of 2

Witches of Willow Cove

Review: A Novel Death (Witches of Willow Cove Book 1) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 4.5⭐️

I love Sara Bourgeois’s many different paranormal murder mystery series, whether it’s situated in the Arizona desert mountains or in a small NW Pacific coastal town.  Whether a woman has inherited a ghost filled desert ranch or a seaside bookstore or witchy herb shop that’s accompanied by a cat familiar, whatever the location or inheritance, the characters and community are intriguing, plot and character development well written, and the series one that expands into a ever deeper layered narrative and leads to wonderful relationships and even more mysteries. 

This is our introduction to Rowan Page, her inherited bookstore, Quill & Tide, the familiar, cat Moss, and the very interesting seaside town of Willow Cove, where things are brewing. Murder and plenty of mystery to go around with the charm and quirky community.

Her aunt’s presence is still there, and magic is winding its way into Rowan’s life. 

Bourgeois has, through her other series, kept her characters layered, even the murder mysteries, from victims to villains, have dimensions that have a reader feeling about them from multiple perspectives. There’s a sense of realness in their behaviors that makes us able to understand them, if not condone their actions. 

Even for a urban fantasy or paranormal murder mystery novel, having the author write characters that a reader would find engaging and relatable, even while we laugh at the “nosiness” make this a series I can’t wait to continue. 

Plus I want to visit any bookstore with the name Quill & Tide. I’m sold. 

Another winner I’m happy to share. 

Witches of Willow Cove (2 book series) 

A Novel Death #1

Tides of Betrayal #2

Buy link

 Book 1 of 2: Witches of Willow Cove 

Blurb 

Rowan Page has a plan.

It is not a good plan, but it is technically a plan. She’ll come to Willow Cove, sort out the seaside bookshop her late aunt left behind, sell the property before the money runs out, and move on with her life.

Quill & Tide has other ideas.

The shelves are beautiful but impossible to navigate. The bathroom mirror keeps leaving messages in her dead aunt’s handwriting. And Moss, the sea-glass gray cat who came with the building, keeps glowing every time someone lies.

Rowan would love to pretend all of that is normal.

Unfortunately, denial gets harder when a bestselling thriller author drops dead at the town’s Masques & Manuscripts festival, right in front of half the waterfront.

The police have a suspect. The town has gossip. Moss has strong feelings about everyone involved, most of them unflattering. And Rowan has questions she really should stop asking, especially once they lead to a stolen grimoire and secrets Aunt Oona apparently took to the grave.

Willow Cove is charming, magical, and very bad at minding its own business.

Rowan was supposed to sell the bookshop and leave.

Instead, she may have inherited a murder mystery and one extremely judgmental cat.

Publication date

June 15, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

213 pages

Book 1 of 2

Witches of Willow Cove

Review:  The Bone Charm (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries #8) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 4.75⭐️

The Bone Charm brings the beautifully written paranormal mystery series , The Haunted Ranch Mysteries by Sara Bourgeois to a heartwarming, richly satisfying conclusion. 

Through 8 books, nine of you count the prequel, Claire’s development starting from a woman who has fled failures in her life back in Chicago, fired from her job and dumped by her fiancé to arrive in a small town in Arizona and a ranch left to her by a aunt.

Slowly she’s accepted that the dusty, weird town of Perdido Springs and her desert life out on Whispering Saguaro Ranch is where she belongs. The ranch becomes an animal sanctuary in odd scenarios, each a memorable character themselves and, the ranch is inhabited by ghosts, fully realized and completely a part of Claire’s life and the series. 

Each book has a murder mystery, the casualty one that leaves a wound upon the community in multiple ways. Physically and emotionally and metaphysically damaging the magic that surrounds the desert and town. 

That happens here. 

The townspeople, like Buddy Kern feel incredibly real, as part of the landscape that the author describes so realistically and with such great detail.  They’re believable in their crustiness and weariness from the everyday realities of ranch life in the heat of the desert. 

And don’t get me started on how much I love Oso the livestock guardian dog lost in his grief while still watching his flock. 

The thoughtful investigation, the way the case was resolved, both of them, because there was several aspects to this particular murder mystery that needed to be finalized. 

And Sara Bourgeois brought Clair’s journey to a close with her role being tied to her land and town in a way that makes sense. She’s grown and become grounded, by her ranch, the animals, the land itself. And her magic has evolved as she has.

The end acknowledges her journey, her growth, and her future there. It’s all tied up together beautifully. And I’ve feel so thrilled and happy for this series to end like this.

One of my favorites.  Highly recommended. As is the author. 

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries (8 book series)

Last Call in Chicago #0.5 prequel 

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 8 of 8: The Haunted Ranch Mysteries 

Blurb 

Claire Caldwell’s life at Whispering Saguaro Ranch is never quiet. Between escape-artist goats, a rooster with a personal grudge against her wedding ring, and a spirit fox who disappears every night on business of his own, she’s learned to expect trouble in feathers, fur, or both.

Then Socorro Vega, the elderly herb seller from the farmers market, is found dead on a desert trail.

The county blames the heat. Claire might have believed them if she hadn’t gone to rescue Socorro’s goats and her grieving Great Pyrenees, Oso. One touch of a carved bone charm in Socorro’s kitchen shows Claire what really happened. A dark room. Hands pressed over an old woman’s face. A desperate voice begging her to sign a piece of paper.

Plenty of people wanted what Socorro owned. Her forty acres include one of the last live springs in a drying valley. Her handmade charms are worth a fortune to the right collector. Even her closest relative has debts he can’t outrun. Unfortunately, the sheriff has already closed the case, and visions from a dead woman’s necklace aren’t evidence.

While Claire and her friends search for something they can prove, Perdido Springs begins coming apart in ways no one can explain. Animals panic without cause. Lights wander through the cemetery. Ghostly cowboys flee into the desert. Socorro wasn’t simply gathering herbs all those years. She was tending a hidden boundary around the town, and her murder left part of it wide open.

Finding Socorro’s killer is only the beginning. If Claire can’t finish the work Socorro died protecting, whatever is pressing against that broken boundary may soon find its way through.

July 28, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

154 pages

Book 8 of 8

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries

Review: Drop of a Hat (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow Book 6) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 4.5⭐️

I love this so much. Where to start. 

Drop of a Hat sort of epitomizes why I love this author’s writing style so highly.  In 213 pages, Sara Bourgeois concisely delivers a story that is intriguing, quietly compelling, with elements that manage to be puzzling,horrifying, poignant, occasionally funny and sometimes exceedingly terrifying. And end up with a solid warm hearted note. 

All while leaving the characters where they belong , for now, and the reader satisfied but needing the next book. 

That’s when there’s multiple mysteries, only one of which is resolved, the villain’s story and resolution will likely keep you thinking, and the latest addition to the family, a zombie raccoon, is absolutely one of the most heartwarming aspects of the story! 

Not all but one! Then there’s Moira back from the dead. 

Such an incredible story. Ok off to reread it now. 

If this prolific writer isn’t on your radar, she should be. I’m reading two of her series now. Read the books in the order they are written. 

I’m highly impressed by this one and recommending it.

Love the author and series. Can’t wait to read the next book.

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

Drop of a Hat #6 

Veil of Doom #7 – September 29,2026

Buy link

        Drop of a Hat (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow Book 6)

    

Blurb 

Sometimes the dead don’t stay buried

Blythe Fairfield finally has her life together. A tea shop with her name on it. A talking cat who runs the place from the windowsill. A sheriff who just told her exactly what she means to him… right before her dead great-aunt knocked on the door.

But the real trouble starts when one of Cauldron Hollow’s oldest witches is found dead. The poison? Brewed from a recipe out of the Tallowmere family collection. The suspects? Start with the witch who just walked out of her own grave, and work your way down to the niece who took her in.

Blythe has solved murders before. This one is different. The victim had secrets. The suspects have more. Every clue she follows leads somewhere she doesn’t want to go. Every alibi has a hole in it, and one person who might be innocent refuses to account for herself.

Meanwhile, the witches of Cauldron Hollow are muttering about the old ways, the mundane authorities are circling a case they can’t be allowed to understand, and Blythe’s own familiar is taking sides… against her.

The clock is ticking. The town is watching. And the killer is closer than anyone thinks.

Turns out some hats never go out of style. They just come back.

July 13, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

213 pages

Review: Bear Many Hats (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow Book 5) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 4⭐️

The author sets many different plots in motion with Bear Many Hats, the fifth book in the fantastic Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow series.

One storyline, the main plot that centers around the wandering bear in the town, is the one that carries the most interesting elements while also being the most easily solved mysteries of the story.  It’s a carryover from the previous book and you could pretty much see it even then.

What keeps the reader engaged is the new characters, the dry, layered dialogue between Blythe Fairfield and her familiar, Pippin, either when commenting on customers in her shop or events in their community. It’s warm, well written, and even the smallest interaction is beautifully executed.

The mystery, who shot the sheriff, is more emotional than much of a mystery. The author introduces a ex-girlfriend who I expect to add further drama and the ending is a bit of a shock for all. A definite cliffhanger of sorts. That’s extremely well done.

Love the author and series. Can’t wait to read the next book.

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

Drop of a Hat #6 – Sept 22,2026

Buy link

        Bear Many Hats (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow Book 5)

    

Blurb 

Blythe Fairfield was just starting to settle in.

She has a tea shop on Main Street. A talking cat who critiques her blends. A boyfriend who runs a fever nobody can explain but kisses her like he means it. And a town that’s almost stopped whispering about her.

Then someone shoots the sheriff.

Paine is found on the side of a country road with a bullet wound and no explanation for how he got there. The town is terrified. Deputy Dewey is in over his head. And Blythe is not going to sit in a hospital waiting room while whoever did this walks free.

Between an ex-girlfriend who keeps calling the hospital, a parolee who won’t explain where he was that night, and an elderly woman loudly telling everyone at the post office that the sheriff had it coming, Blythe has too many suspects and not enough answers.

But something about the case doesn’t fit. The evidence points in too many directions. And Paine, when he’s awake long enough to talk, keeps mentioning dreams he’s been having. Vivid ones. The kind that feel real.

Pippin says the dreams mean something. Pippin says a lot of things. And Baba Grimm has started showing up with gifts that aren’t entirely safe and advice that isn’t entirely free.

Some mysteries are about who did it. Some are about what’s been hiding in plain sight. And some answers change everything, including the person you thought you knew best.

date

June 7, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

216 pages

Book 5 of 6

Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow

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