Ghouls, Ghouls, Ghouls
Read Ghouls, Ghouls, Ghouls Online
Authors: Victoria Laurie
Tags: #Fiction, #Mystery & Detective, #General
Table of Contents
Praise for the Ghost Hunter Mysteries
“[A] hauntingly good whodunit filled with plenty of action.” —
BookReview.com
BookReview.com
“[A] fun, suspenseful, fast-paced paranormal mystery. All the elements combine to make this entry in the Ghost Hunter series a winner.”
—The Romance Readers Connection
“A lighthearted, humorous haunted-hotel horror thriller kept focused by ‘graveyard’-serious M.J.”
—Genre Go Round Reviews
“Ms. Laurie has penned a fabulous read and packed it with ghost-hunting action at its best. With a chilling mystery, a danger-filled investigation, a bit of romance, and a wonderful dose of humor, there’s little chance that readers will be able to set this book down.”
—Darque Reviews
“A bewitching book blessed with many blithe spirits. Will leave you breathless.”
—Nancy Martin, author of the
Blackbird Sisters Mysteries
Blackbird Sisters Mysteries
“Victoria Laurie continues to excite and entertain with her ideas and characters and also inform John Q. Public in matters metaphysical. Cannot wait for the next from Ms. Laurie!”—
AuthorsDen.com
AuthorsDen.com
“Perhaps what makes this story and this series so good is that Victoria Laurie is actually a professional medium. She knows what she’s talking about, and she sure can write a good story.”—A Bibliophile’s Bookshelf
“A great, fast-paced, addicting read.”
—Enchanting Reviews
“A great story.”—
MyShelf.com
MyShelf.com
“Laurie’s new sleuth, M. J. Holliday, is a winner. ... Laurie makes everything that her characters do ring true, which can be a feat in a paranormal story. This highly entertaining book has humor and wit to spare.”
—
Romantic Times
Romantic Times
Praise for the
Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye Mysteries
Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye Mysteries
“Victoria Laurie has crafted a fantastic tale in this latest Psychic Eye Mystery. There are few things in life that upset Abby Cooper, but ghosts and her parents feature high on her list ... giving the reader a few real frights and a lot of laughs.”—Fresh Fiction
“Fabulous. ... Fans will highly praise this fine ghostly murder mystery.”—The Best Reviews
“A great new series ... plenty of action.”
—
Midwest Book Review
Midwest Book Review
“An invigorating entry into the cozy mystery realm. ... I cannot wait for the next book.”
—Roundtable Reviews
“A fresh, exciting addition to the amateur sleuth genre.”
—J. A. Konrath, author of
Cherry Bomb
Cherry Bomb
“Worth reading over and over again.”
The Ghost Hunter Mystery Series
What’s a Ghoul to Do?
Demons Are a Ghoul’s Best Friend
Ghouls Just Haunt to Have Fun
Ghouls Gone Wild
Demons Are a Ghoul’s Best Friend
Ghouls Just Haunt to Have Fun
Ghouls Gone Wild
The Psychic Eye Mystery Series
Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye
Better Read Than Dead
A Vision of Murder
Killer Insight
Crime Seen
Death Perception
Doom with a View
A Glimpse of Evil
Better Read Than Dead
A Vision of Murder
Killer Insight
Crime Seen
Death Perception
Doom with a View
A Glimpse of Evil
OBSIDIAN
Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto,
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published by Obsidian, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
First Printing, January 2011
Copyright © Victoria Laurie, 2011
eISBN : 978-1-101-47664-2
All rights reserved
OBSIDIAN and logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
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Acknowledgments
I’m gonna get right to the important part this time, which is to thank the many people who make up Team Laurie and in general make me look good—far better than I’d appear on my own, that’s for sure!
First, to my editor, the amazing, astounding, awesome, wonderful, (Shall I go on? Maybe just one more ...)
glorious
Ms. Sandra Harding, who is simply fabulous to work with! Sandy, your enthusiasm, your engaging attitude, and the encouragement and free rein you’ve given me to explore ideas and just run with what feels good to me are so very much appreciated. It takes a lot of courage to simply trust that I’ll come up with something decent when all I’ve given you at the start is the tiny seed of an idea, and for that trust, I genuinely, genuinely thank you.
glorious
Ms. Sandra Harding, who is simply fabulous to work with! Sandy, your enthusiasm, your engaging attitude, and the encouragement and free rein you’ve given me to explore ideas and just run with what feels good to me are so very much appreciated. It takes a lot of courage to simply trust that I’ll come up with something decent when all I’ve given you at the start is the tiny seed of an idea, and for that trust, I genuinely, genuinely thank you.
Next, to my glorious agent, Jim McCarthy, who seven years ago reached into the agency slush pile and pulled
my
query letter out of the trash. ... How do you thank someone for giving you a second chance when no one else would? For literally being
the
person responsible for making one of your closest-held dreams come true? For believing that you’d get there and congratulating you when you did? For simply being the best agent and most amazing friend in the whole freaking world? You can’t, because there aren’t words to describe the gratitude I feel and how blessed I am to have you in my corner, honey. So, Jim, you’ll just have to settle for another “thank you” but know that the feeling of profound gratitude from me is much, much more.
my
query letter out of the trash. ... How do you thank someone for giving you a second chance when no one else would? For literally being
the
person responsible for making one of your closest-held dreams come true? For believing that you’d get there and congratulating you when you did? For simply being the best agent and most amazing friend in the whole freaking world? You can’t, because there aren’t words to describe the gratitude I feel and how blessed I am to have you in my corner, honey. So, Jim, you’ll just have to settle for another “thank you” but know that the feeling of profound gratitude from me is much, much more.
Also, huge thanks go to the rest of my NAL team, including, (but not limited to) Michele Alpern, who has once again delivered an outstanding copyedit! Claire Zion for her unending faith in both Abby and M. J., and my publicists Megan Swartz and Kaitlyn Kennedy, who do amazing things for me behind the scenes.
A set of very special thanks to my .com team: Katie Coppedge, who has been utterly invaluable to me of late and who keeps my clients organized, me on track, and the Web site looking all faaaaabulous! Heart you fierce, pretty lady! Also to my sistah from another mistah, Hilary Laurie, who is my very own Dear Abby and one of my very favorite people on the planet. Thank you for always being there and providing that voice of reason and good sense. Oh, and thanks for the laughs too. Methinks I like that part best!
Finally, I would like to thank my friends and family who have continuously stepped up to the plate to offer support, love, and unending encouragement. A few special mentions here and they are: Mary Jane Humphreys; Nora, Bob, and Mike Brosseau; Leanne Tierney; Karen Ditmars; Neil and Kim Mahoney; Dr. Jennifer Casey; Betty and Pippa Stocking; Shannon Dorn; Silas Hudson; Juan Tamayo; Thomas Robinson; Susan Parsons; Molly Boyle; and Martha Bushko. You guys rule!
Chapter 1
For the record, I am not a morning person. Especially not this morning, because, technically, I believe it was so early, it still might have qualified as being the middle of the night. Still, the hour did nothing to dampen my producer’s enthusiasm while discussing the next shooting location for our cable TV show,
Ghoul Getters
. “I know you guys don’t want to hear too much about the history of the place we’re investigating,” Peter Gophner—aka Gopher—was saying as the entire cast and crew were seated around a table at a small café in the airport, “but in this case, I really think it’s necessary.”
Ghoul Getters
. “I know you guys don’t want to hear too much about the history of the place we’re investigating,” Peter Gophner—aka Gopher—was saying as the entire cast and crew were seated around a table at a small café in the airport, “but in this case, I really think it’s necessary.”
I felt something heavy hit my shoulder, and when I turned, I saw my best friend’s head resting on my shoulder.
“Gil,” I whispered, nudging him with my elbow.
“ZZZZZZZZZ ...,” he snored.
My fellow ghostbuster, Heath, laughed quietly. “He’s out cold,” he said. “He looked pretty wiped out when we left the hotel.”
“ZZZZZZZ ...,” Gilley agreed.
I sighed, yawned, and tried to focus on the map Gopher was laying out on the table. “As you know from your tickets, we’re heading to Ireland. From the airport we’ll travel by car to the village of Dunlee and check in at our lodgings. Once we get a little rest, we’ll head here.”
Blearily I followed Gopher’s finger, which had zipped over the map to rest on a small
X
that seemed to be just off the coastline of the channel that ran between Scotland and Ireland. “Are we going scuba diving?” I asked.
X
that seemed to be just off the coastline of the channel that ran between Scotland and Ireland. “Are we going scuba diving?” I asked.
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