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.