Mist at the Beach House by Victoria L.K Williams

5 Hoots!!

It is always really exciting when you get the chance to read the first book in a series and just fall in love. That is what happened to me when I read this book. You have Morgan, a book restorer, who accepted her aunts request to come down to restore a few of her books. On her very first day in town something tragic happens and suddenly she has to try and prove that she is not a murderer! Add to this a mysterious pearl, a kitten who seems to appear just when she is needed, and a mermaid curse and you have the perfect combination for me!

Williams did a stunning job creating the mermaid lore for this book. Every time a different part of the islands history was reveal I was just living for it. Two mermaids falling in love with the same man only to have him choose one and his bloodline be cursed by the other. I am honestly not even doing this mermaid portion of the story any justice. Seriously, there is even a portion where they explained that the pearls on the island were the tears of mermaids!! I swear, Williams really put a lot of thought and detail into this mermaid lore before even writing this book and it shows. I am so excited to see where this series goes.

So, enough about the mermaid lore, what about the book itself? Well it was fast paced and you can really sit and inhale this book in one sitting. I really could not put it down. For one, there is a cute kitten who absolutely has to be magical because she had the habit of making the right things disappear when they needed to. Secondly, Morgan, the main character was fantastic. She was smart, determined, and strong too. She really didn’t back down and I loved that she really did not need rescuing. When she was being attacked she fought as hard as she could even though her assailant was a lot larger than her. When faced by evil forces (and people) she faced them head one even though part of her wanted to run away. She really is a wonderful character and I can’t wait to read more about her.

Overall, I loved this book. I think the balance between the island history and the present was very well balanced. I enjoyed that the friendships in this book did appear to be organic instead of just put together for convenience. The action in the book was also pretty great. I did have a feeling who broke into Morgan’s house, but the final reveal of who was pulling the strings…that was just fantastic! Everything was just done so well. If you are looking for a new cozy mystery series to start reading look no further! This book is available now on Amazon!