Not worth it. The series is getting rather stale. The personal engagement subplot is ridiculous. The suspects are barely in the book. This one was a miss.

Maureen inherited her Florida (haunted) inn from a woman named Penelope, someone she'd never met. Now settled in with the crew who came with the inn, she's more than involved with Ted, the head chef. The two are moving forward with their romance, which is pleasing her other employees.

She's also looking for ways to make the inn more profitable, as she's barely making ends meet right now. While visiting her friend Aster, who owns the local bookshop, she sees that a group of mystery writers are meeting and she finds their remarks about an author who writers 'how-to' books are not flattering. Curious, she purchases his latest book and sees that it is certainly useful, and learns that this particular book was more than likely written by a ghostwriter. But when the author, Terry Holiday, is supposed to arrive for a signing at the bookshop, he never shows up.

Later, Aster finds his body in the flower garden behind her shop, and tells everyone that the ghost of her husband Peter told her it was there. Detective Frank Hubbard thinks Peter's appearance is a trick, and now Aster is a suspect, along with everyone who knew Terry. With the bookshop a crime scene, Aster moves to the hotel with her cat, Earl Gardner...and the spirit of Peter, supposedly. The writers' group is now meeting at the inn, and a couple of other guests show up, along with a man who claims to be a ghostwriter, but is charming everyone around him.

With a murderer on the loose, people are cancelling reservations. No one knows who to trust, and even Frank is asking Maureen for help on this case. What is going on? Can she solve a crime while still trying to find time to spend with Ted? It seems as if she'll need the help of her ghostly roommate Lorna, and Lorna's beau, a late Scotland Yard detective named Reggie. But how will she explain it all to Frank, who doesn't believe in ghosts?...

This is the fourth book in the series and I have read them all. I have also loved them all. To tell the truth, I do love books with 'friendly' spirits, and especially learning about their backgrounds as well. I love the relationship between them and Maureen, and it adds to the attraction of the book. Along with her dog, Finn, who has a lively time with the ghosts as well.

Maureen's efforts are not unrewarded, but she has a lot of people to sift through -- the guests at the hotel, and the writers' group -- she refuses to believe that gentle Aster could be a murderer, even if Frank isn't quite convinced. The clues that she finds are intriguing, and it isn't easy deciphering them, but I love a challenge.

I will not give anything else away, and hope that I didn't give too much (basically, I expanded on what the blurb states, so there's that), but I will say that the ending left me as stunned as it did Maureen. I was hoping for a different outcome, but murderers have their own ideas, and it's never reasonable nor logical. It was a tad humorous, though. I look forward to the next in the series and highly recommend this book.

Admittedly, I was confused when I started reading this book between the third person POV and the already-established storyline, but that was not my fault for realizing this was book four in the series. Even so, this was a truly fun concept. The mystery begins when a local writer, one of course not well loved by the other locals, meets an untimely death, and it’s up to the hotel proprietor to solve the mystery. I love the idea that a secret haunted hotel exists in my hometown of Central Florida—one haunted by celebrities! I do feel like I would have benefited by starting with book 1 because I did feel like I was missing certain aspects of the story, but even so, it was a great mystery!

"The Spirit Moves (A Haunted Haven Mystery #4)" by Carol J. Perry has Maureen quite comfortably established in the Inn she inherited. Not much was really developed on the side of the history of the inn for this book. However, there are some major love life developments for Maureen. She is also adding a Tiki Bar and making some other business driving aspects to the inn.

The mystery starts with the death of a local writer that the local murder mystery writing club all dislikes. The new long term (living) resident of the inn also has a connection to the victim. I jumped around a little with who I suspected. The culprit did end up being one of my top picks.

The ghost aspect was a little less in this one. There were two particular ghosts that kept being talked about. Only one actually seemed to get addressed and really it was more of a confirmation they were actually there by Maureen. The other one seems to have been forgotten about towards the end despite them causing the inn staff to have to relocate and provide incentives to keep guests happy. Unless it was a brief mention that I missed somehow.

#TheSpiritMoves #NetGalley is another fun addition to this new series by Carol J. Perry.
Maureen became the new owner of Haven House, and though she's still unclear on how she inherited her beautiful home, she's living her best life.
There are quite a few surprises in store for Maureen in this story, so grab your favorite drink and settle into your comfy chair and enjoy visiting with all the wonderful characters in this story.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of #TheSpiritMoves #NetGalley