Phantoms & Felonies - a Haunted Mansion Mystery (#2)

It absolutely sucks when you find a new series that you enjoy, with a writer that you find has created some engaging characters and a world full of great mysteries, and then have that rug pulled right out from under you after only two or three books when you discover that - oh, guess what?!  The series is over, the publisher and/or the writer has decided not to do any more books in the series.  It has happened to me more time than I care to admit.  The Change of Fortune series by Jesica Estevao ended after only two books.  The Lilly Long series by Penny Richards ended after only three books.  The Devlin Quick series by LInda Fairstein ended after only three books.  And the list goes on and on.... And now, here I have yet another wonderful series to add to this list - the Haunted Mansion Mystery series by Lucy Ness.  I came into the game a little late, picking up both the first and second book in this series after the second book was published.  I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, and so as time came around and I picked up the second one to read, I did a search to see when the next one was coming out.  Only ... there is no "next" book for this series.  (sigh)

But that did not dampen my enjoyment of this second trip into the world of Avery Morgan and the Portage Path Women's Club.  Phantoms & Felonies finds Avery getting ready for the murder mystery party that the women's club is hosting, and resident ghost Clementine Bow (or "Clemmie" as she likes to be called) is eager to help Avery get the former speakeasy in the basement ready for the event.  A local theater troupe is going to be staging the interactive play, in which the guests at the club will have the opportunity to solve the murder that is going to take place.  But, as fate would have it, a real murder is on the menu for the evening as the local banker, Bob Hanover, who is playing the lead role in the play, turns up dead in the speakeasy - and Avery's aunt, Rosemary Walsh, is found standing over the body, a bloody knife in her hand!  Boy, does Avery have her work cut out for her!

Ness cooks up quite the little murder mystery with this one.  It turns out there were any number of people who were actually out of the dining room when the murder took place and could very well have gone down into the basement and done the deed.  The banker's wife, who was fearful that her husband was cheating on her ... the banker's ex-wife who never liked the fact he left her for his secretary ... the playwright who believes the banker stole his play and intended to sell it as his own ... the local landscaper whose was put out of business when the banker refused to give him a much-needed loan ... then there's the overly nervous waitress who takes the heat off of Aunt Rosemary when she confesses to the crime!  But Avery as well as the police do not think she did it.  Which begs the question - who really killed Bob Hanover?

The story is filled with suspects, clues, and secrets galore, and poor Avery has to make sense of them.  Clemmie tries to help, but she's in danger herself of being exposed, because Aunt Rosemary is almost certain she can feel a presence in the Portage Path Women's Club, and she is determined to ferret it out, even if that means calling in reinforcements to hold a seance.  The only problem is, when you start messing with the other side, you just never know what ... or in this case, who! ... you manage to reach.  This book definitely ups the ante when it comes to ghosts and the other side, as Avery does everything she can to keep Clemmie's presence a secret, as well as her own ability to see and speak with spirits.  All of this, plus solving a murder, definitely keeps our amateur sleuth busy.  

It's truly a shame that Ness is not continuing the series.  I would love to see more Haunted Mansion Mysteries.  Avery Morgan is a fun character, and her interactions with the self-absorbed playwright, Fabian LaGrande, are priceless!  (And let's face it, she picked the right surname for the character!)  Who knows, maybe if I'm lucky, Ness will shop the series around and find another publisher that will pick up on the series.  In the meantime, I would definitely recommend this and the previous book for anyone who enjoyed a good murder mystery with some ghosts thrown in the mix.

RATING:  9 pale aqua beads spotted with gold out of 10 for mystery, ghosts, and fun all rolled into one!