Kelly Redvers travels to the Magic Mermaid Inn at Half Moon
Bay and is warmly welcomed by the inn's owners, Addie and
Bill O'Mally. She wants to buy the inn and they immediately
agree that she be the next owner. It's time for them to
retire and pass over the reins -- and besides, Addie says,
Kelly is their very own "mermaid."
While she doesn't understand the analogy, Kelly is relieved
to finally be a business owner and is determined to be
successful. But part-time maintenance man Nick McClure
obviously has no idea how to work efficiently and she
really has to consider finding better help. But for now,
she needs to learn the ropes and that means meeting all the
regulars. Including the handsome, wealthy Eli Larson, whose
visit with his new fiancée is not going well.
As Kelly adapts to her new life, she begins to hear of a
woman's mysterious disappearance several years before.
Curious, she pokes around, enjoying her curiosity and
looking for clues. But she finds more than she expects and
her life is suddenly complicated with Eli, Nick and a guest
connected to the missing woman.
There is a certain haunting air to this first-person novel
that reminds me of writers from days past -- particularly
Victoria Holt. While missing some of the leaden
atmosphere that hung over Ms. Holt's books, this one
certainly can hold its own in the eerie department. I found
that mysterious atmosphere a little too much at times, and
found myself feeling distant from the characters, despite
the first-person telling. But I also was intrigued to see
how the book ended and certainly kept reading. Fans of
those older British-style of books will like THE INN AT
HALF MOON BAY.
Sprawled across a bluff overlooking the sea, The Magic
Mermaid Inn embodied the simplicity and ambiance of times
past. Cozy and inviting, the Queen Anne farmhouse and its
surrounding cottages enchanted Kelly Redvers into
purchasing the property, in spite of her better judgment.
But when Kelly finds herself besieged by bizarre,
unsettling events, it becomes clear that someone has
developed an unhealthy obsession with her-an obsession
tied to the inn's ominous past.
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