The Ghosts of Notchey Creek (Harley Henrickson Mystery Series Book 2) Kindle Edition

Pennsylvania author Liz S. Andrews made her literary debut with her series Harley Henrickson Mysteries that seems to mark the beginning of a promising career. This is now her much anticipated second volume in that series. Liz is a native of East Tennessee and grew up near the Great Smoky Mountains. She currently lives in Western Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh.Liz has that gift for creating a setting for a story that matches the tenor of the characters and the events to come. She opens this book referencing ‘A Ghost of Christmas Past’ with “Moonlight filtered through the window, sending a pool o f gray light over Beau Arson in his bed. A sound in the hallway had woken him, and he strained to hear beyond the bedroom door. Footsteps rapped down marble tiles, past the oil portraits, and toward the grand staircase and foyer below. The back entrance – had he heard those grand double doors opening, allowing in a swell from the terrace?’ The mystery seeps in form the first page and flows throughout.Within this setting Liz introduces her chief character Harley Henrickson, the titular character of this ongoing series. She provides a fine outline of this installment: ‘It's the holiday season in Notchey Creek, and Harley Henrickson is busy mixing yuletide cocktails at her store, Smoky Mountain Spirits. There is snow on the ground, holiday music in the air, and wreathes on every lamppost. Everything seems perfect for the town’s biggest event of the year, the Small Town Christmas Festival. Even Harley’s pet pig, Matilda, is feeling festive, wearing the Elf on the Shelf costume Aunt Wilma bought for her. But not all is merry and bright in this little mountain town. Harley senses something eerie in the air, and it all points to Notchey Creek's oldest and most beautiful home—Briarcliffe. No sooner has rock star Beau Arson settled into his ancestral mansion of Briarcliffe, than a self-righteous ghost hunter arrives in town, telling macabre tales about Beau’s new home. According to legend, a young woman by the name of Margaret Reed hung herself in the woods behind Briarcliffe on Christmas Day, over a century ago. To make matters worse, Beau has been experiencing ghostly encounters at night, seeking to drive him from his family’s home. When Harley finds the body of a mysterious woman in the woods near Briarcliffe, and then a wealthy antiques dealer is murdered, she decides to investigate. Can Harley intervene before a century of lies, greed, and passion destroy Beau Arson’s new life—the past he’s just only come to know? In the meantime, other issues are causing problems for Harley. Aunt Wilma and Opha Mae Shaw are designing a Christmas dress of epic proportions for Harley (and one for Matilda, of course). Uncle Tater and Floyd have been devising top-secret plans in The Shed that might have to do with the upcoming Christmas Parade. And Harley’s best friend, Tina Rizchek, is at her wit’s end when her colorful grandmother and pet parrot visit from Pittsburgh for the holidays. ‘Mystery as enacted by a superbly crafted new character in Harley Henrickson is offered with a fine set of recipes for Holiday libations! Another winner from Liz S. Andrews. Grady Harp, December 19

When last we met the somewhat shy and frumpy Harley Henrickson, she had gained both respect and fame by identifying the murderer of Patrick Middleton while also unraveling the mystery of rock star Beau Arson and timber heir Michael Sutcliffe. Fast forward a few months to Christmas time and we pick up with Harley, Beau, Sheriff Jed Turner and the rest of the cast of Notchey Creek, a tiny town in the Smoky Mountains of east Tennessee.This time Harley finds the dead body of a dark-haired woman with a noose around her neck while walking her pet pig Matilda in Briarwood Park near Beau Arson’s palatial mansion at Briarcliffe. Of course, once she goes to alert Jed, the body disappears. Add that to the mysterious happenings at Briarcliffe, the presence of the creepy ghost hunter Justin Wheeler and his goth-girl assistant Sarah Knowlton and there are all the ingredients of a great ghost story. Soon enough, another dead body shows up—once again found by Harley. This time it’s the beautiful Jennifer Williams, who had recently returned to Notchey Creek after the death of her husband. Not surprisingly, she also wears the hangman’s noose.As with any great mystery, we are given a number of potential suspects. Maybe it was her lover, the architect Harry Trainor, or the psychiatrist Jeremy Griggs who was the last person seen with her, or her best friend, Samantha Jacobs, who stood to inherit Jennifer’s fortune, or maybe it was Wheeler who was trying to peddle his story that ghosts were returning to Notchey Creek in order to pay back the Sutcliffes for taking the land away from the first settlers.But, more than just a mystery/ghost story, this tale has some excellent character portrayals, including Harley, the little girl who lost her mom when she was only eight, the brooding Beau, who has come to Tennessee for some peace but only finds more drama, and the former NFL star Jed Turner who has his own devils to exorcise. But not all is serious. This time, we are introduced to a new character, Tina’s Grandma Ziegler and her “therapy” bird Petie the Parrot, who fit right in with the other whimsical characters such as Aunt Wilma, Opha Mae Shaw, Uncle Tater and his friend Floyd.This entry into what I hope is a long running series about Harley also brings alive the setting, such as the beauty and mystery of the Smoky Mountains, the drafty and possibly sinister Briarcliffe, as well as the charm of a small mountain town. I also appreciated the chapter titles which often come from the poetry of the great poet of the winter, Robert Frost. Overall, if you like a good mystery with colorful characters, this series can be addicting and I’m looking forward to another Harley Henrickson mystery in the near future.

Lovely series with interesting characters who make up the quirkiness of Notchey Creek. Harley is delightful with a twist of 'not caring what people think of her'.