A new series with a MC who has made a couple of semi-voluntary life changes (divorce, back to family, open a B & B, a little bit of ghostliness, murder, amateur sleuth, and some sly humor. Wonderful start!
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected digital galley from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Pub Date Sep 23, 2025 **** review #NetGalley @bookbub @goodreads #LibraryThing
#MurderatBlackwoodInn by @pennywarnerink @HauntedDeadandBreakfastMysteryBk1 @crookedlanebooks #cozymystery #newseries #storygraph #smalltown #familydrama #suspicion#ghostwriter #murder #seance #ouija #amateursleuth #secrets #quirkycharacters

Cozy mysteries are just ok to me half of the time. And unfortunately this was one of those times. There wasn't anything really wrong with it. I just felt detached from the story and there was nothing interesting about the characters. Maybe if you typically like cozy mysteries, you'd like this too.

I recently finished "Murder at Blackwood Inn" by Penny Warner, and I couldn't put it down! From the very first chapter, I was drawn into the mysterious atmosphere of Blackwood Inn. Warner's vivid descriptions brought the setting to life, making me feel like I was right there, experiencing the tension and intrigue.

The characters are incredibly well-developed, each with their own secrets and motives that kept me guessing until the very end. I particularly loved the protagonist's clever approach to solving the mystery, and her interactions with the supporting cast added depth and humor to the story.

Warner has a talent for crafting intricate plots, and the twists and turns in this book were both surprising and satisfying. I appreciated how she wove in red herrings and kept the pacing just right—there was never a dull moment!

Overall, "Murder at Blackwood Inn" is a fantastic read for anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries with a touch of suspense. I highly recommend it to all mystery lovers, and I can’t wait to read more by Penny Warner. Definitely a five-star experience!

I couldn't resist the opportunity to read a cozy mystery with a haunted house. This book has so many things that intrigue me! I love stories with secret passages and hidden rooms; there is so much to explore in this story!

The author has a writing style that makes the story atmospheric and I really enjoyed the main character, Carissa and her aunts. The plot was well done and the mystery is neatly wrapped up by the end.

I would love this one to become a series. How about it?

WILL UPLOAD IT ON INSTAGRAM CLOSER TO PUB. DATE.

Murder at Blackwood Inn marks a promising and delightfully quirky start to a new cozy mystery series by Penny Warner. Set in the charming (and slightly spooky) town of Pelican Point, California, the story introduces us to Carissa Blackwood, a ghostwriter who retreats to the newly inherited Blackwood Bed ’n’ Breakfast Inn after a painful divorce—only to find herself entangled in a murder mystery with more than a hint of the paranormal.

Carissa’s two eccentric aunts, Runa and Hazel, are instantly lovable in their own strange ways: one want to host séances, the other runs a herbary with a rather alarming poison garden. When a local is found dead—poisoned by something from Hazel’s garden and with one of Runa’s charms nearby—Carissa is drawn into the investigation to clear her aunts’ names. Along the way, she gets a little help from the ghost of her own grandfather, Bram Blackwood.

The mystery itself is engaging, with just enough red herrings and secrets to keep you turning pages. The paranormal touches—ghostly sightings, spiritual charms, and eerie family secrets—are well-balanced, adding a fun and cozy gothic flair without veering into horror. The inn itself, steeped in history and occult rumors, is the perfect setting for a mystery of this kind.

While Carissa is a likable and relatable protagonist, her detective work sometimes feels more like casual sleuthing than true investigation. Much of her progress comes from chatting with locals rather than deep digging or clever deductions.

Overall, Murder at Blackwood Inn is a fun, atmospheric, and slightly spooky read that hits all the right cozy notes. With a unique cast of characters and a mystery wrapped in family secrets and spectral whispers, it’s a great choice for fans of paranormal cozies. I’m already looking forward to checking back in at the Blackwood Inn for the next installment.

3.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This cover just pulled me right in . It's giving all the cozy Halloween/fall vibes that I'm craving right now
I really enjoyed the first of this series and will absolutely be keeping an eye out for the next I need to continue !

Give me a cosy mystery and I will not be putting it down in a hurry.
I absolutely loved this novel, cosy, slightly spooky and a great start to a series that i can't wait to delve into. Thank you for letting me read this!

Carissa is going to help her aunts set up their B&B after she divorces her husband (the cheater) and loses her ghost writing job. Her aunts are lovably quirky. Aunt Hazel has a poison garden and grows and uses all kinds of herbs. Aunt Runa is an expert on crystals and their properties. They have turned the old home into a spooky-themed B&B, but when murders are tied to the house, the guests quickly check out. Now Carissa is delving into the history of the place to clear her aunts and keep the B&B going.
This is a fun cozy mystery with fun characters, a handsome handyman, and a spooky house. There were plenty of suspects and the solution was a surprise.
Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Murder at Blackwood Inn is a decent start to a new mystery series with a very promising premise. My main issue was how repetitive the writing was. We'd get the same information over and over as if the author thought the reader might have developed amnesia while reading. The premise really does sound fun and intriguing though. Of course this was an ARC so I'm not sure if maybe the repetitive issues were addressed during the editing process. One can only hope. I'll definitely read the next book in the series to see if the writing gets better.

A delightful start to a cozy mystery series about a bed and breakfast with a spooky aesthetic that may or may not be fake. Full of the customary delicious food descriptions, roaming cats and small town secrets that many of us love in these kinds of stories, perfect for low key nights with a blanket.

When Carissa Blackwood goes to help out at her Aunt Runa and Hazel's new venture in California she is pulled into a murder mystery that happens right after an opening reception and seems to point towards her eccentric family. I enjoyed the Blackwood sisters, they are a little bit kooky but caring. I do wish there was more interactions between them and Carissa and anticipate future books will show more of their growing bond. I also would love to see more of Carissa and her book writing knowledge come into play, this was only vaguely mentioned and didn't seem to have an impact on the crime solving which felt a little bit clunky until the ending.

Overall a very encouraging start to this series, just needs a little more tightening up on the pacing and characters but I loved the spooky inn and family.

Thanks to the publishers Crooked Lane Books for access to the netgalley book.

In what looks like the start to a fun new series, we find Carissa Blackwood returning to Pelican Point, California, after her divorce to join her two aunts who manage the Blackwood Bed "n" Breakfast. The house had been described as classic Italianate, but when she arrives, she thinks it better resembles a haunted house. As she settles in with her aunts, she discovers that house includes a special garden--of poisonous plants. When one of the house's reception guests is found dead following the Inn's opening reception, Carissa has to find the culprit--with the help of a couple town residents and her grandfather's ghost!

This was an unusual combination of events for a (hopefully new) series. Fun mystery and unforgettable characters. Oh, and super cute cover art.

A cozy and intriguing mystery with a great location and whimsical (in the best way) characters.

Blackwood B&B is run by 2 sisters: Hazel & Runa - joining them is their niece Carissa. Immediately after a private celebration right before the opening of their B&B a townsperson (also a real estate agent wanting the sisters to sell the B&B) is found dead. Was it murder? Was she poisoned by the plants in Hazel's poison garden? As the B&B fills up with interesting guests Carissa, the handyman Noah, and the town's reporter Aiden try to figure out what happened in the old (possibly haunted) house. Seances are uncovered, cats are running amok, WHO keeps popping up in the window? Is the town out to get the new B&B shut down?

It's a fun read - but the story stalls in some places and is quite repetitive about things that don't matter - we get it, the house is Italianate style architecture and Carissa is staying her Grandfather's old room, also is it an Inn or a B&B - or a B&B Inn (which is used a lot in the ARC, but a phrase I don't hear often - at least in the US). The readers should be trusted to remember the basic points here and focus more on the mystery.

When Clarissa Blackwood finally leaves her cheating husband, she is lucky to have someplace to go--the old family home that her eccentric aunts are converting to a bed and breakfast. But shortly after arriving, Clarissa isn't so sure she's been all that lucky! Her Aunt Hazel is focused on potions and herbs, and of course her garden full of poisonous plants, while Aunt Runa is focused on her crystals. Both are leaning into the haunted reputation of their house, but neither has really done much to set up the business side of running a bed and breakfast. Meanwhile, the neighbors are not at all happy with the decor and changes to the house and don't really want a BnB in the neighborhood. Then there's the eerie noises in the house, the mysterious cat who appears and disappears, and the handsome but enigmatic caretaker. And of course the murder.

Since the victim was trying to get the aunts to sell the property and was poisoned with a plant that could only come from Aunt Hazel's poison garden, the aunts become suspects. Clarissa throws herself into the investigation, trying to save her aunts and the new business. When a second person dies, secrets about the house and the family begin coming to life, and Clarissa finds herself wondering who she can trust as she tries to find the killer.

This is a fun story, with a likeable main character who is much more patient with her aunts than I would be! There's lots of backstory yet to be told, so I hope there will be additional books to follow this fun first installment.

Carissa has left her cheating husband and gone to live with her eccentric aunts Runa and Hazel in Pelican Point, where her aunts are turning their home into a bed 'n' breakfast, complete with occult/haunted house themes. Aunt Runa believes in the power of crystals and spends her time strategically placing them around the house for protection. Aunt Hazel is into herbal concoctions and has a special hidden garden where she grows restricted and poisonous herbs.

When one of the locals dies by poisoning from herbs coming grown in Hazel's garden, with one of Runa's crystals in her possession, the local police suspect Carissa's aunts are involved. The police become further suspicious when one of the aunts' guest also turns up poisoned too. With help from here aunts' handyman Noah, Clarissa is forced to do her best to clear her aunts' names and find the real killer. However, even in the small town of Pelican Point, many locals have their secrets and reasons for wanting the victims silenced forever.

A fun , cozy mystery filled with eccentric characters, annoying small-town neighbours, plenty of cats, potential ghosts and a haunted BnB. I loved the Nancy Drew references in this story which was a little predictable but a charming and enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Looking for a cozy mystery than this is it. Funny, charming and clever with a plot twist you don’t see coming.
This is face paced with unique characters and lots of nods to “Nancy Drew” loved the witchy aunts and ghostly cat always popping up.
The ending has definitely been left open for a second book and I can’t wait to read that one too.
Thank you Netgalley & Penny Warner for allowing me to read this ARC and give my honest opinions.

Ghostwriter Carissa Blackwood is having the worst year of her life after walking away from her unfaithful husband. Seeking refuge and a fresh start, she heads to Pelican Point to help her eccentric aunts run the charming Blackwood Inn. But peace is short-lived when a local dies from poisoning—casting suspicion on Aunt Hazel, whose herbal remedies and apothecary have made her both popular and a little notorious in town. Determined to clear her aunt’s name, Carissa takes it upon herself to uncover the truth. What follows is a fun and twisty mystery, filled with quirky characters, small-town secrets, and the cozy charm of a place that might just feel like home.

#MurderatBlackwoodInn #NetGalley

"Murder at Blackwood Inn (Haunted Dead and Breakfast #1)" by Penny Warner was an interesting first book in a new possibly cozy romance mystery. I put the romance part in there because the first three eligible men introduced to Carissa are described as attractive and potentially interested in her in some way. I'm sorry, but that probability only happens in romance books. Also, when they find some steamy love notes Carissa reads the first few words out loud and that really wasn't necessary if it wanted to stay in fully cozy mystery territory. It wasn't really romance territory either. Just more descriptive than your typical cozy mystery and very mild for a romance.

Carissa moves into her family's ancestral home to help her two aunts run it as a bed and breakfast. She's lost her long term ghost writing partnership and her ex boyfriend did something unspeakable, yet he keeps blowing up her phone with texts. Odd things keep happening in the house and Carissa can't seem to get a good night's sleep. She's also trying to help prove that her poison plant growing aunt isn't a murderer and her other, crystals loving, aunt didn't try to cover it up.

I can’t help but try new cozy paranormal mysteries because they can be so much fun. This is a new author to me, and I had to try it. Of course, this is a fun and engaging cozy, with interesting characters. I like that the main character is a ghost writer. Finding out more about her career should be interesting. While the mystery wasn’t really strong, and the characters weren’t too fleshed out to my tastes, which sometimes happens with the first book in a series, I still really enjoyed the book. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

Cute small-town mystery with a haunted B&B and a couple of batty aunts. Carissa was okay, but I enjoyed the side characters more. Easy read that would be a fun transition to fall and spooky season. Hopefully the editor does a few more final comb-throughs before pub date because there were a lot of errors. They didn't really bother me since this was an ARC, but hopefully not a sign of the quality of the final product.

A fun cozy mystery. Charming setting. Some paranormal, which I really enjoy. Hopefully we will see more from this author.