The Stranger Vanishes

The Stranger Vanishes is part of a delightful series in which Bella, a widow with a son, bought a B and B in a rather haunted town. Surrounded by mediums and fortune-tellers the mysteries always feature humor.

In this book it is the evening of Juneteenth. A black man appears in clothes from another era. Bella sees him but doesn't interact one on one. The next day she can't find him anywhere and wonders who he was - was he real or perhaps a ghost.

Bella's medium friend tells her to watch out for Barry. She can't imagine who this Barry would be. Until the thought that she might be misinterpreting the word and it really means bury.

The mystery and characters that solve it are delightful. If this place existed in the real world I would spend every vacation there. Or, maybe it does.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC

I absolutely love Wendy Corsi Staub's books and this was another great one. Wonderful mystery author.

The residents of Lily Dale have talents that people come from all around partake in. While Bella Jordan isn’t one of those talented people, she is a Lily Dale resident and trusts her instincts. When a lodger comes late at night and disappears the next morning, her friends tell her it sounds like she saw Spirit…but Bella doesn’t believe in ghosts and believes the man was a real as she is and didn’t run out without paying, especially when he leaves behind his satchel and a very old journal. But when she reads the journal, Bella starts to question whether it was a real man or not.

As she and her friends, both psychic and not, dig into the mystery of the missing lodger, they begin to find out more about the local history and soon connect it to a local family. But first she needs to determine whether the lodger was spirit or human…and what happened to him. With her friends worried her her safety, Bella takes heir help and refuses to give up until she has answers, whether human or spiritual.

I remember reading the first book in this series and I was hooked from the get go. The story of a young widowed mother finding a new place to call home and new friends to call family along with the specialness of Lily Dale make this one you cannot put down and eagerly await the next entry in the series. If you like paranormal cozies, this one is for you!

Lily Dale, a quirky town where the residents talk to the dead. Young widow, Bella Jordan runs a B & B with her son, Max. Bella has her doubts until it happens to her. Good solid mystery. Quirky characters. A great fun read! Thanks #netgalley and #SevernHouse for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

I thought this was a good twist on the typical paracozy! Instead of having a magical witch or someone coming into their powers, you have a regular person, sans supernatural abilities, trying to navigate in the magical world. But not over the top magical. Just ghosts. It reminded me a lot about Ghost Whisperer where there's just enough magic to make it special but not too much where it's just ridiculous.

I'm definitely going to read the second book!

I thoroughly enjoyed Staub's book The Other Family, and was excited to be approved to read her next novel The Stranger Vanishes. Set in Lily Dale, a silly little town where the residence talk to the dead. Bella Jordan, widow, runs the local B&B with her son. Bella is skeptic of this "talking" until she herself talks to the dead. The characters are quirky and likable. Such a fun read and a solid mystery.

Thank you to Severn House and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital arc

This series is a delightful paranormal series with likable interesting charcters, fun setting and always a well crafted sleuth. This is the fifth in series. Thank you to the publisher, Net Galley and the author for the opportunity to review. My review opinions are my own. The paranormal aspect is done in this series to perfection.

Lily Dale is the picturesque town setting which is a unique place where the residents talk to the dead. Bella Jordan is not a belliever. She runs a B & B with her son, Max. When someone enters the B&B and disappears soon after Bella does not believe its a ghost but the townspeople are convinced. The mystery deepens and soon Bella is involved in solving this mystery and learning to believe that ghosts do exist. This was a fun return to the series with quirky charcters, a delightful cat and a well crafted sleuth. I look forward to the next in series.

A cozy mystery full of surprises and maybe a ghost or two. Lily Dale is a lakeside retreat where everyone talks to the dead but skeptic Bella. When a guest enters her inn and suddenly disappears everyone tries to convince her it could have been a spirit but Bella still questions it.
The characters are eccentric but most are likeable and willing to help solve the problem of the missing guest. An enjoyable read and I can't wait to read more about Lily Dale and her residence.

This was my first visit to Lily Dale after a recommendation, I didn't really know what to expect. What I did get was a cozy village setting with well developed characters. The characters themselves are interesting and likeable, I can certainly see how the humour would develop once you getting to fully know them.

Bella is a really relatable character and the skeptic in a village of believers adds a realistic touch. I am interested to know more of Bella's back story and I hope by picking up earlier books, as this is 5th in a series will provide further depth.

The plot naturally develops as you move through the book which keeps me engaged and although you are introduced to numerous characters it is easy to follow and keep up.

The setting of Lily Dale is warm and inviting, and the author has done a really good job os painting the scene with a vivid description and you can really picture the small told feel as you read along.

I can see how this series could easily become a cult classic and I will certainly be visiting Lily Dale again in the very near future.

Thank you Netgalley and Severn House for the chance to review

Quirky setting and characters, along with plenty of cats, make this a fun read. Liked the historical connection to the underground Railroad.

This is the fifth book in a fun mystery and romance series. It says for young adult but I’m not that and I still love this series. Love the cover and the cats.

Bella accepts a middle of the night guest at her guesthouse only for him to have disappeared the next morning. So thought he was a spirit others thought he skipped out on his bill, but Bella didn’t believe either. She felt as if something happened to her guest. As time and investigation goes on it seems spirits want to provide help for Bella and her friends to solve the mystery.

When I saw this book available on Netgalley for review I didn’t know it was book five in a series and the description was interesting. I was happy I requested the book. I had no problems enjoying this book as a stand alone mystery. I am sure there are some backstories that would be helpful but I never felt confused about what was going on. The characters are likable, interesting, and relatable. There are a large number of secondary characters that have gifts of seeing spirit, however, the main character Bella isn’t one of them. Bella is smart, accepting of others, and caring. The setting of Lily Dale gives you a welcoming small town feeling. The mystery is well plotted with plenty of surprises. I recommend this book to cozy and paranormal cozy mystery fans.

All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I have not been influenced by anyone.

Charming Series…
The fifth in the Lily Dale mystery series takes the reader back to the town where people can talk to the dead. Bella Jordan is alone on being a non believer in the phenomenon, despite acknowledging that people there often know things that are quite frankly unbelievable. A strange event is about to befall her which she will have no explanation for - will she find a logical cause and get to the root of the latest mystery to befall the quirky town? With a cast of colourful and eccentric characters and a fun storyline this is another entertaining addition to this rather charming series.

This is one of my favourite paranormal series and this latest does not disappoint. Great characters, a great setting of Lily Dale and a whodunit that is top notch.
I highly recommend this series and look forward to reading more books in the series.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

Bella’s B&B will be fully booked from tomorrow, but she lets a late night arrival stay overnight. He’s a young black guy, dressed for the 19th century. Next morning he’s gone before Bella wakens, possibly just gone for a walk because he’s left behind his satchel, also like something from the 19th century. When he doesn’t show up she looks for a clue to his identity, but the only thing in the satchel is a diary dated 1863. Ordinarily one might assume that he was just an eccentric traveller, possibly a hobo, but this is Lily Dale a gated lakeside village in New York State – “the place where people talk to dead people”. Almost everyone here is Psychic, except Bella, her young son, the local vet and a retired detective. Visitors come from all over to get messages from their deceased relatives. So was the visitor, Lemuel, an apparition? Bella doesn’t see ghosts, and anyway he was a solid three-dimensional man and the satchel and diary are real. All possible say the mediums and mystics but Bella remains sceptical, even in the face of apparent clues from beyond. The diary was written by a young farmer’s wife – does it contain a clue to the disappearance? Is there a connection with Juneteenth, the annual commemoration of the Emancipation of Slaves in 1865, since that was the day Lemuel arrived? Or perhaps with the Underground Railway, the secret organisation which had helped escaped slaves to travel from the South to Canada before that event? By coincidence a local celebrity, David Slayton, is preparing to stand for Congress, partly on the back of his famous ancestor John who had been a hero of the Railway. So a complex background to the mystery. Assuming there is a mystery.
Although based in what would seem to many to be a fantasy village, and hence detecting things by supernatural means, this is not the case. The identification of a crime, it’s detection and resolution by Bella, is absolutely normal; it could have happened anywhere. The setting makes it an entertaining story in the cosy crime genre. This is the 5th outing for Bella and I anticipate there will be more. The author is one of the most prolific and versatile writing today, producing standalone stories, different series, collaborations, adaptations, sometimes three or more a year and in different genres. This is, I think, her 81st book, and number 82 is already on the way. There is no real challenge in the story for mystery addicts, but it fits together smoothly and efficiently and I enjoyed it.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

An interesting mystery wrapped in a magical place nearby, Lilydale. I believe!! The atmosphere of Lilydale is truly magical, and so well described for those who have never had the good fortune of visiting. Wendy does another great job with characters and the location, along with the true mystical surroundings of this little town.

My thanks to Severn House for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Stranger Vanishes’ by Wendy Corsi Staub.

While this is Book 5 in her Lily Dale Mysteries, there was enough background provided for new readers that I didn’t have any difficulty.

The picturesque lakeside community of Lily Dale is populated by people who speak to the dead. Young widow Bella Jordan is the lone skeptic among believers. She currently manages the Valley View Guesthouse, living there with her young son Max and two gorgeous cats.

Then a Black stranger, dressed in old-fashioned clothing, arrives unexpectedly at midnight on Juneteenth. The next morning he has vanished as if he'd never existed. Yet Bella is sure there has to be a logical explanation. Her eccentric friends offer various explanations - could he be Spirit, a visitor from the past, or did he just skip out?

He has left behind a satchel and in it Bella finds a small, old book marked Diary 1863, written by a farmer’s wife named Lottie. Will this hold the secret to the stranger?

This gentle mystery was a delight, filled with quirky characters and a few wonderful cats. I also admired that it addressed historical issues linked to the Civil War, the Underground Railroad, and racism. So more than an average cosy….

While ‘The Stranger Vanishes’ was my first experience of Wendy Corsi Staub’s writing, it certainly won’t be my last.

The Stranger Vanishes is part of a series in which Bella, a widow with a son, bought a B and B in a rather haunted town. Surrounded by mediums and fortune-tellers the mysteries always feature humor. I love the series so was really excited to get a n ARC for this. The author has done a really good job of painting the scene with a vivid description and you can really picture the small told feel as you listen.

Bella may live in the town of Lily Dale where it seems like everyone is a psychic of some kind but that doesn't mean that she has to believe it. Even if she has seen a lot of unexplainable things in the last year that has often been involved with crimes that have occurred that she unfortunately gets entangled with. Now, the night before the opening of the summer season a man dressed in old fashioned clothes and a formal way of speaking begs to spend the night. But then he just mysteriously disappears without any trace leaving behind a satchel and an old diary. Was he a spirit or has something more sinister occurred.

The author has interwoven historical details, the possibility of paranormal occurrences, and the elements of a cozy into a good story with sensitivity to past injustices and the strength of the human spirit.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest opinion.

The Stranger Vanishes by Wendy Corsi Staub.
In the quirky, picturesque lakeside community of Lily Dale, where the residents can talk to the dead, young widow Bella Jordan is the lone skeptic among believers. She doesn't believe in ghosts . . . but after a year in the village, she would admit that her new friends do sometimes seem to know impossible things. Still, when a Black stranger dressed in old-fashioned clothing arrives unexpectedly at Bella's guesthouse at midnight on Juneteenth, only to vanish the next day as if he'd never existed, Bella's sure there has to be a logical explanation. One that has nothing to do with the strange warning Odelia, the medium next door, delivers from the Spirits: Beware of . . . Barry?! Bella doesn't know a Barry, and she has enough people in her life already, what with her young son Max and their two kitties, handsome vet Drew, a plethora of kind but nosy neighbors and a full house of summer guests. But as the mystery of the missing stranger deepens, she starts to wonder: did the Spirits really mean Barry? Or did they mean bury . . .
A great read. I love a good mystery. Solid characters. 4*.

It's been some time since I fell in love with this series. Lily Vale is an interesting place full of quirky characters and there's always some paranormal side that makes the mix more exciting.
Bella, Max, the cats are as lovely as usual and I liked this well plotted story that kept me guessing and turning pages.
Even it's not the first in the series it can be read as a stand alone as there's a lot of explanations.
An entertaining and compelling mystery, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I enjoyed coming back to this unique town. They mystery kept me guessing and I liked how their was a past mystery as well as a current one. I like the characters as well.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is book 5 in the Lily Dale series. It is an enjoyable read that explores the past of runaway slave from the Civil War era. Bella is making a success of running the guest house in the spiritualist community and summer season is about to begin. People from all over come to meet the local mediums and speak to ghosts. When a stranger arrives late one night she rents him a room to have him vanish. I think if you have read previous books in the series, you'll enjoy this story but Wendy does a pretty good job of giving background for first time reader. I have visited Lily Dale and it is certainly a unique community.

Bella Jordan and her son, Max, have enjoyed the last year as they settled in and became part of the community of Lily Dale--the birthplace of modern spiritualism--as a result of taking a wrong turn. Bella now manages the Valley View Guesthouse and has made a number of friends. Max, now seven, has a best friend and finds living with his mother in a community composed of shamanic healers, psychic consultants, registered mediums, and other talents to be perfectly normal. Bella on the other hand is a skeptic but she does believe there are some people who occasionally seem to have information that seems to come from some source she has yet to determine.

Things take a weird turn when Bella forgot to lock-up and a man dressed in a historical costume arrived needing a room for the night. There are no openings beginning the next day so she gives him the room under the condition he moves out early the next morning so she can reset the room. Only, the next morning he is gone but his satchel is left behind. There's no car on the street that doesn't belong there. Searching his satchel for any clue yields only a diary that is quite old. Bella is warned to "beware of Barry" and that her missing guest was probably a ghost. Bella is convinced he is a real person who is now missing.

The area is also currently upset by David Slayton, a TV medium with a big following, chosen to assist in the festivities for Juneteenth. He was chosen over the local congressman Terry Truman. Slayton is trying to leverage his family's ties to the underground railroad to offset the fact he hasn't actually lived in the area for many years.

It's always interesting to read the interplay between the skeptic Bella and the residents of Lily Dale. The interactions between the believers, want-to-be-believes, and those who accept that it is what it is--keep me engrossed in this series. The stories always have multi-layered mysteries, interesting and quirky characters, and some interesting concepts to think about after closing the book on the final page.

The mediums, good police work, a wealth of local knowledge, and several very interesting bits of American history tie all the threads together to solve the puzzle of the stranger who vanished.