Charlene’s is running beautifully for the Fourth of July. The B&B’s guests are all in attendance for a local production of a revolutionary reenactment play when the star seems to have been shot by a musket She dies almost immediately. Charlene had been filming the scene to share with her resident ghost and together they review the footage to try and find the culprit. It brings few clues so Charlene digs deeper and uses her friendships with some of the plays cast to ask questions. This gets her invited to the funeral and right in the sights of the killer.

This is the first book I’ve read in the Salem B&B series. However, it won’t be the last ... and I will go back and read the first three books. The characters are well developed and the setting in Salem, MA is delightful. The book pulls you in from the beginning and keeps you hooked as you travel along with Charlene to find out who the culprit is. The paranormal aspect was actually rather entertaining. I look forward to more adventures with the gang at the Salem B&B.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

For more reviews, please visit my blog at: https://www.msladybugsbookreviews.com/. Over 1000 reviews posted!

I have enjoyed all of the previous books in this series and this one does not disappoint! Not only is it fun to read about Charlene and her interesting B&B guests but, as always, the addition of Jack the ghost elevates this cozy mystery to the next level. The romance between Charlene and the detective is progressing slowly but surely which is definitely a plus. I really enjoyed the twists and turns of this mystery which lead to a satisfying ending. I am eager to read more books in this series.

Eh... I really can only give a half-hearted review on this one. I was hoping for something great being set in Salem and with a gorgeous cat on the cover but what I found was very predictable cozy fodder (amateur detective who doesn't seem to have a reason to be involved in the investigation, policeman who cares for her, a stumbled upon murder) but this one throws in a weird love triangle with a ghost who haunts the B&B? I don't know, it just was kind of weird in a cringey sort of way. So, while I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking for a great cozy, perhaps it's just this one book in the series and I need to read others to "get it". Either way, I'm not rushing out to get this one...

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

t's Fourth of July in Salem, Massachusetts, and B&B owner Charlene Morris is about to witness the shot heard 'round the town when a stunt goes wrong during a film production in the fourth Salem B&B Mystery from cozy writing team Traci Wilton.

Madison Boswell, a beauty recently transplanted from Boston, is starring in the Independence Day play in this New England town full of colonial history--and, of course, witchcraft. Madison may not be a Wiccan, but she does seem to have certain hypnotic powers. And she's left some angry people in her wake, from a fellow actress beaten out for a role to a jealous betrayed wife. Now, as Charlene films the performance for her housemate, Jack--a handsome ghost who shares the Victorian bed-and-breakfast with her and her Persian cat--the drama queen takes a deadly bullet from what was supposed to be a prop gun.
In this one, you will not miss out on the turns it takes and Charlene doesn't disappoint us here! We see her take so many risks all to catch one killer. These just get better and better.

A Salem B&B Mystery Book 4

Charlene and her guests are attending the 4th of July play Salem’s Rebels. In the middle of the play, one of the actors is shot and killed by a real bullet. Who killed Melanie and why did they do it?

📚5 reasons I loved this book:
* Charlene owns a haunted mansion B&B; Jack is a friendly ghost that helps Charlene solve mysteries, clever! Great for paranormal book lovers.
* Wilton adds lots of historical facts throughout the story to make it informative.
* The plot is full of suspense and action.
* There are a plethora of suspects to choose from, my guess was half correct.
* Charlene is active in her community and goes on outings with friends to make the story interesting and relatable.

I would highly recommend this book to cozy mystery enthusiasts!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

An enjoyable enough cozy mystery. Lots of threads to try and keep track of. This is common to cozies, in my humble opinion. They don't want the reader to guess whodunnit.

Hard to beat the setting of Salem, but I would have loved to have even more Salem references in the book.

One thing that confused me though, is the ending of the book. No spoilers, but it was rather abrupt and didn't seem like an ending to a book. I wondered if the ebook was missing a page.

I really enjoyed Mrs. Norris and the Sorceress. This has become one of my favorite cozy mystery series. Every book I hope that Charlene and Sam will become a couple, but it still hasn't happened. I really like their interactions together, even more than her interactions with Jack, the ghost. The murder mystery in this story was very well plotted out. There wasn't a shortage of suspects and they all had good reasons for wanting Madison dead. I was surprised by who the killer was because I honestly never suspected them. I can't wait to read the next book in this series... hopefully Charlene and Sam will finally get together.

This is a cozy mystery, and this is the 4th book in A Salem B&B Mystery series. I really enjoyed the beginning and the ending of this book. I found parts of the middle slow moving and boring. I did wish the Ghost character "Jack" was in the book more. I also wish we got to be in the B & B more in this book. The ending I did not see coming, and the ending alone was more then 5 stars. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Kensington) or author (Traci Wilton) via NetGalley, so I can give honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Mrs. Morris runs a bed and breakfast in Salem,Massachusetts,. She's a widow, and she appreciates the company she finds with her guests, friends -- and a ghost who lives in the mansion she owns. The ghost also helps her with her amateur sleuthing.

In this book, her friends in the local theater scene encourage her to help them track down the killer of a wealthy young actress...who may also be a sorceress.

There are lots of interesting characters with complex intertwining relationships, local color, and details of clothes and meals. It's a fun read.

This is the next book in this series and it is even better then the first. This series has great characters and is set in a wonderful location. I cannot wait for the next book.

Mrs. Morris and the Sorceress by Traci Wilton is the fourth book in the paranormal cozy A Salem B&B Mystery series. Each book in the series holds it’s own mystery that is fully solved so all books can be read as a standalone if choosing to do so. There will be some character development that carries over book to book though for those that follow the series from the beginning.

The first book of the series introduced readers to Charlene Morris who after losing her husband had needed a fresh start in new surroundings so she decided to move from Chicago to New England. Charlene found a wonderful historic mansion in Salem and thought starting her own bed and breakfast in the touristy town would be the change she needed. What Charlene didn’t expect was to have her new B&B come with it’s own resident ghost.

Charlene’s first experience trying to help solve a murder came when she found that her resident ghost, Jack, had been murdered and needed help finding his killer. Now Charlene is faced with her fourth murder to be solved since coming to Salem fittingly coming while celebrating the 4th of July. Charlene is attending a local film production when out of nowhere a real gun goes off and the lead actress, Madison Boswell, is shot in front of the crowd. Charlene of course does everything she can to help the police figure out who really fired the gun killing the actress.

As everyone may know who has read my reviews before I am a big fan of finding a book that crosses genres so I have been following the A Salem B&B Mystery series since the beginning with it having a touch of paranormal. This one has just that right mix of quirkiness, lovely characters, an interesting location with a lot of history and a fun mystery that it keeps me coming back book after book always trying to decide just who I like the most in the stories.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This is the 4th book in the B&B Mystery series and I enjoyed it. I've been a fan of this series since book 1 and I really like the idea of a B&B in Salem. The characters including the guests are always interesting, particularly Avery. Charlene was hit and miss for me in this book. I'm struggling a bit with her feelings for her resident ghost, Jack. Hopefully, that won't get in the way of what I consider a good cozy series.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. I love when the supernatural pops into cozy mysteries and I absolutely love Salem Massachusetts. I found the amateur sleuth to be a bit lackluster. She didn’t do much sleuthing and appeared apathetic about finding the killer. I had a hard time getting into and reading this one, a lot of the middle dragged on and on. I did like the ending. My favorite character is Charlene’s employee Avery. The ghost Jack seemed like the real sleuth of the story but also he was rarely in it. There were aspects like setting and support characters I liked, so I would read another in this series, but it’s not going to be vying for my favorite cozy mystery.

Mrs. Morris and the Sorceress by Traci Wilton
Book #4: Salem B&B Mystery Series
Source: NetGalley and Kensington
Rating: 4/5 stars

**MINI REVIEW**

The Bottom Line: Yet another holiday has come to Salem and Charlene Morris is up to her neck in another mystery. This time, Charlene’s entire guest list is present when a thoroughly unlikeable actress is killed during a local performance at a 4th of July event. With the whole town watching it would seem impossible for no one to have seen anything, but that is indeed the case and Charlene has her hands full trying to unravel the mystery. Perhaps the saddest part of this mystery is the fact no one really seems to mind that the dead girl is gone which means Charlene has a huge suspect list. With the help of her friends, the local sheriff, her guests, and her ghost, Charlene whittles away at the list until she finally exposes the culprit. Yet again, there was a lot going on with this book and while I pretty much enjoyed the read, it didn’t fire me up with enthusiasm for the next book. I think I’ve come to the end of my association with this series; there are simply too many other truly great cozies out there for me to continue on with a series that doesn’t consistently stoke my interest.

Mrs. Morris And The Sorceress is the latest entry in the “A Salem B&B Mystery” series from the duo of Traci Hall and Patrice Wilton. This time the story revolves around a bewitching young woman who is killed in front of an audience. No one is sure what happened, but fingers are being pointed. Charlene is in attendance and filming, She takes the recording home to view with her resident ghost.

I have had a love/hate relationship with this series. A couple of the books have been interesting, and a couple has been unenjoyable. Unfortunately, this is one of the unenjoyable ones. After four books, I would expect the main character to have matured, realized that a relationship with a ghost isn’t ever going to go anywhere, no matter how hard he or she tries, and convince him to move on. But she doesn’t. Selfishly she clings to him and is preventing him from going on to a new life. There is a living, breathing, wonderful man, Sam, who is in love with Charlene. But all she seems to do is keep Sam around as a backup if things don’t work out with Jack or when she wants to get info about a case. Frankly, she is using Sam, and it needs to stop, he needs to put an end to an attraction that is going nowhere. Neither the ghost nor Charlene seem to understand or care that their romance can not go beyond friendship. They are hurting each other and an innocent man because they are not mature enough to accept reality. The B&B doesn’t feel as if it plays a big enough role in any of the books. These are the problems I have had throughout this series from the beginning.

The killer can easily be identified, but the motive may elude some readers. Suspects have a varied and wide range, and many have wonderful reasons for wanting the victim dead; this includes some of those staying at Charlene’s B&B but you could say that the victim had it coming. Charlene isn’t a detective or even an amateur sleuth; she bounces ideas off of Jack, the ghost, pry’s info out of Sam, and gets lucky. Charlene is fortunate not to get hurt or killed in Mrs. Morris And The Sorceress as she gets dangerously close to the killer even after Sam has warned her to stay away. However, alls well in the end, and the culprit is brought to justice.

The writing in this book and series is good and should be coming from two very talented and experienced authors. Having a ghost in the story isn’t unusual and wouldn’t be an issue, but making him the main love interest has made the characters less likable. The setting of Salem and a B&B could be played up more, but I understand how difficult it can be to make a location exciting in a story, and Salem is used all too often for this type of cozy. I had hoped that storylines and characters would become more interesting with greater depth at this point. Jack would move on to a new life, and Sam would finally get the love from Charlene that he deserves, but.. that hasn’t happened, and I find it more and more difficult to have any enthusiasm for this series. If readers choose to read this book, I hope they will start at the beginning of the series. Otherwise, they may be completely lost.

Princess Fuzzypants here: I have loved the first Mrs. Morris books. The relationship between widowed B & B owner, Charlene, and Jack, the ghost of the previous owner whose murder she helps solve was and is delightful. The burgeoning but doomed love they share is bittersweet. There is q gap between them that can never be bridged. But up until now, the local detective with whom Charlene enjoys a testy but respectful friendship has been in the wings to do what Jack cannot. That is until this book when he seems to have lost patience with Charlene’s input in his investigations and has become abrupt and rude to her.

A young starlet is shot and killed during a July 4th theatrical production. This woman has used all her wiles all her life to get what she wants. Victory at all costs has been her mantra. There are numerous people she has trampled on her quest so there is no shortage of suspects from her own family to the people with whom she works.

The reader can forgive her detective friend for losing his patience as Charlene does have a habit of charging head first into situations. But there is no affection in his dismay and therein lies my biggest issue with the book. Rather than enjoying the relationships wherever they may lead, this one misses the mark by just enough to turn this from being above average to average. I hope future adventures can get back on track.

Mrs. Morris and the reader deserve it. Four purrs and one paw up.

I adore the Salem B&B Mystery series by Traci Wilton and it's newest installment Mrs. Morris and the Sorceress didn't disappoint. Charlene Morris is a B&B owner in Salem, Massachusetts, who solves mysteries with the help of her friends and her house's resident ghost Jack Strathmore.

This mystery takes place on Fourth of July weekend and Charlene takes her guests to see a play in the town park based on a historic event surrounding Salem's rebels. During the play the stunning star of the show is gunned down, Madison Boswell. Charlene feels compelled to try and find out why this happened, especially because some of her friends are part of the theatre company involved.

Traci Wilton has created some lovely characters that you can't wait to spend time with. Of course Charlene and Jack are standouts, but there's also Detective Holden and his romantic connection to Charlene, her friends, the B&B staff and even her guests. Salem always provides a fantastical and interesting backdrop to her stories and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Mrs. Morris and the Sorceress continues the Salem B&B saga by Traci Wilton. Charlene observes unpopular beauty and actress Madison shot dead while acting out the Fourth of July story in a play. Charlene has to balance her hostess duties at the B&B with her sleuthing to find out whodunit. Lots of red herrings. Jack her resident ghost and Sam, the policeman, vie for her attention. Amusing cosy.

4th of July in Salem MA just gets as exciting as Halloween with a shot that the whole town is talking about.

A beautiful girl with hypnotic powers has come from Boston to star in the 4th July play held outside so the whole town can turn out for it.

No one expects Madison Boswell to be shot for real, but she has left lots of angry people in her wake.
Charlene has filmed the performance, with the help of her handsome ghost roommate she watches the film over and over and comes up with a long list of suspects. As she goes around asking questions, one ends her up in Jail.

But that doesn’t stop her from finding the killer and helping Sam Holden close the case.

I love this series and can’t wait for the next book in this series!!