Novella Review: Death by Haunted House by Lee Hollis

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Fun story and characters

Cons: The characters behave stupidly at times

The Bottom Line:

Mystery next door

What are the neighbors hiding?

A fun novella

A Haunted Flashback

I have yet to read any of the full novels by Lee Hollis, although I have read several of the novellas from their popular Hayley Powell series.  “Death by Haunted House,” which originally appeared in the anthology Haunted House Murder, is one of those, and it’s fun.

This novella flashes back ten years to 2009 and a time when series protagonist Hayley Powell was still married.  A new family has moved to town and moved in next door to Hayley and her young family into a long-abandoned house that is rumored to be haunted.  When they move in, they are unfriendly and obviously keeping secrets, and Hayley’s husband, Danny, is certain that they are hiding something.  When a dead body turns up in the woods behind their neighborhood, Danny is certain they are involved.  Is he right?

I found the story here very entertaining, although I did guess a couple plot points early.  Still, the solution to the mystery was a surprise, and I had to laugh at some of the events along the way.  On the other hand, I found Danny extremely selfish and annoying, and Hayley does something extremely stupid, with is ironic since she complains about Danny’s behavior at times.

As always with this series, you’ll find recipes to enjoy after you are done.  Overall, this story is about 100 pages, so it is a quick read.

If you’ve already read the anthology, there’s not reason to read this book.  But if you have missed “Death by Haunted House,” you’ll enjoy this short visit to Bar Harbor.

NOTE: I received an ARC of the original collection.