The Ghost and Mrs. Mewer by Krista Davis: Guest Author, Review & Giveaway

The Philip Experiment, by Krista Davis

When I was researching ghosts for THE GHOST AND MRS. MEWER, I ran across something called The Philip Experiment. In the 1970s, a group of parapsychologists in Toronto got together and invented a ghost. They named him Philip and made up a life story for him. They knew details of his life and his death. One of them even made a sketch of him.

Then they tried to contact his ghost through a séance. Remember, this guy was fictitious! He never existed. The participants sat around a table with their hands on the top of the table. In the beginning, nothing happened. But over time, Philip responded with raps on the table!

As time went on, when they called out to him and sought to make contact, the table levitated. Over and over again, the table lifted off the floor and even traveled short distances.

I know, you’re thinking I’ve lost my mind. Luckily, they were wise enough to record it. They even took exceptional steps to be sure no one was pushing the table. But how could they contact someone who never existed? It’s really quite mindboggling.

In THE GHOST AND MRS. MEWER, the ghost hunters visiting Wagtail make an effort to reproduce the effect, except they call out to real ghosts, in fact – to the ghost of a murderer! No spoilers here. You’ll have to guess what happens!

Bio: New York Times Bestselling author Krista Davis writes the Paws & Claws Mysteries for animal lovers that debuted in December with MURDER, SHE BARKED. The sequel, THE GHOST AND MRS. MEWER, will be in bookstores on December 2nd. She also writes the Domestic Diva Mysteries. Her 8th Domestic Diva Mystery is THE DIVA WRAPS IT UP, a Christmas mystery in bookstores now. Like her characters, Krista has a soft spot for cats, dogs, and sweets. She lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with three dogs and two cats.

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Giveaway: Leave a comment by noon eastern on Wednesday, December 10th, for your chance to win a copy of The Ghost and Mrs. Mewer. (US entries only, please.)

Blurb: Wagtail, Virginia, the top pet-friendly getaway in the United States, is gearing up for a howling good Halloween—until a spooky murder shakes the town to its core . . .

Holly Miller doesn’t believe in spirits, but the Sugar Maple Inn is filled with guests who do. The TV series in development, Apparition Apprehenders, has descended on Wagtail’s annual Halloween festivities to investigate supernatural local legends, and Holly has her hands full showing the ghost hunters a scary-fun time.

But the frights turn real when Holly’s Jack Russell, Trixie, and kitten, Twinkletoes, find a young woman drowned in the Wagtail Springs Hotel’s bathhouse—the spot of the town’s most infamous haunting. The crime scene is eerily similar to the creepy legend, convincing Holly that the death wasn’t just accidental. Now she’ll have to race to catch a flesh-and-blood killer—before someone else in town gives up the ghost . . .

Tortie Shorties

Book reviews that are short and sweet...just like Truffles!

If such a town as Wagtail really existed I would move there in a heartbeat. It's a pet lover's paradise that caters to tourists and their pets where animals are welcome everywhere, even restaurants with special menus for the furry patrons.

In this second book in the Paws & Claws Mystery series, Holly has officially moved to Wagtail (with Jack Russell Trixie and calico kitten Twinkletoes) to help her grandmother run the Sugar Maple Inn. It's Halloween (or "Howloween as it's known in Wagtail) and TV ghost hunters the Apparition Apprehenders are investigated rumored paranormal activity. Holly befriends ghost debunker Eva, and Twinkletoes befriends her Siamese cat Mrs. Mewer after a bit of a rocky start. Then a friend of one of the ghost hunters is found drowned in a mineral spring near the Inn and Eva appears to be the killer. A secondary storyline features Clementine, an old friend of Holly's who is being followed by a strange man. Who is behind the evil doings in Wagtail...live human beings or ghosts?

I really enjoyed the historical aspect of this mystery involving Becca Wraith, who along with her 2 suitors each met a tragic end, allegedly haunt the abandoned Wagtail Springs Hotel. In addition to the Halloween festivities in Wagtail: a hayride through haunted woods, a bonfire, apple bobbing for dogs and people, canine and feline trick-or-treating, ghostly feather agility games for cats, a celebration in the creepy old cemetery, and a costume ball, made this book quite atmospheric and chilling.

Even though we're past Halloween don't let that stop you from reading this book right away. It's a wonderful story filled with fur and frights!