Dead & Breakfast

Dead & Breakfast (2025) Kat Hillis & Rosiee Thor

Arthur and Sal moved to Trident Falls, Oregon to run the Bed & Breakfast Arthur remembered visiting as a child–a place where he had happy memories.

Arthur had visited Trident Falls many times as a boy, and it had seemed a slice of idyllic peace, tucked away near the mountains. His father had always insisted on taking Arthur to do all manner of unthinkable things like hiking and fishing and kayaking.

Unfortunately, Trident Falls has a strong anti-paranormal streak, and it’s possible their business will fail before it ever has a chance to start–especially after the anti-paranormal town mayor is found dead in their garden.

The mayor’s assistant was hardly an expected guest, considering she worked for a man whose supporters abhorred Arthur’s and Sal’s very existence, but perhaps this was a sign the mayor had accepted Nora’s invitation.

This story fell flat for me. Possibly because it was trying a little too hard.

He turned to Nora, acknowledging her existence for the first time. “Is your husband inside?”

“I’m not married.” Nora’s brow furrowed, as though she was trying to ascertain if she should be offended. Arthur rather thought, yes, she should.

“Oh, sorry.” But McMartin didn’t sound in the least bit apologetic. “Your boyfriend, then?”

“I’m staying here alone.” Nora crossed her arms and lifted her chin.

This was written in 2025 not 1995, and the speaker was not a man who had been born in the 1800s.

It has some interesting concepts, such as vampires getting stuck in a bit of a rut during their first lifetime.

“I’ve never trusted cars. If you’re in one of those things doing more than thirty-five miles per hour and crash, you’re dead.”

Nora blinked at him. “That’s not true. Maybe it was a long time ago, but cars these days have seat belts and airbags and crumple zones—”

…

Modern people might be used to the danger of automobiles, but he’d grown up seeing the damage they could do.

More frustrating, it felt pretty obvious to me who the murderer was when the body of the mayor was found, while it never seemed to occur to Arthur.

At all.

So I kept reading to see how long it would take Arthur to figure it out.

The answer was: a very long time.

Cover art by Liam Eisenberg

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Rating: 5/10

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