This is the second book in the Gray Whale Inn series by Karen MacInerney. I’m really loving this series and plan to eventually continue reading in it. I had read this book last year as well, but fortunately Goodreads lets you count rereads (I didn’t realize that till recently). One of my Facebook book clubs is discussing the book later this week. I really enjoyed it and hadn’t remembered a lot of what happened, not even the killer!
My Goodreads review:
Dead and Berried by Karen MacInerney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I’ve read this again, so I’m revising my original review. Even though I read it before, it was still a book I couldn’t put down.
Nathalie Barnes has her hands full. More developers are threatening her beloved island, her ex-fiancé is trying to get her to move back to Texas with him by tempting her with getting her a B&B there, an annoying guest is supposedly wanting to open her own B&B while picking Nat’s brain for ideas, not to mention there are a couple of murders, one of which Nat and Charlene are prime suspects.
In the meantime, Nat’s bestie, Charlene has a new boyfriend, the local pastor named Richard. Nat wasn’t really crazy about him which made Charlene mad, so she didn’t speak to Nat for awhile in the book. We got to meet Charlene’s teenage niece Tania who sometimes ran the store for her. Besties can’t stay mad forever, so of course they shook hands and made up.
I read this book late in 2017 for a book club and have reread it for another book club since I wasn’t really staying very clear on who the killer was along with other details. I didn’t really guess it this time around either until the reveal which was pretty exciting. John once again got to show how sweet of a guy he is by being at Nat’s side when she was (again) in the hospital at the end.
The very ending was cute with a hint of a ghost being put to rest. Earlier in the book, Nat had been hearing things in the attic, but that turned out to be something tangible. There was an old murder case from the 1800s that was solved by Nat finding a diary in the parsonage. I think the girl’s ghost was just trying to say thank you for finding out the truth behind her death.
There are some more recipes that Natalie made in this book. They can be found at the end of the book. The picture above was the closest I could find to Vanilla Flan.
Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery 