It’s October 1998, and Manatee Bay is swept up in the Spooks and Spirits Festival—a bold new autumn weekend where Halloween, Samhain, and the Day of the Dead share the same stage beneath a rare Ghost Moon. Main Street sparkles with skeletons dressed in satin and lace, food stalls perfumed with cinnamon and citrus, the sounds of Caribbean drums and salsa lessons, and a float parade that feels more Mardi Gras than small-town Florida.
But when a late-season hurricane exposes a skeleton long buried in the sand, whispers of the town’s Prohibition-era past begin to stir. And when the lighthouse ghost appears again—just as she has for more than half a century—the old stories suddenly feel far less harmless.
As a playful séance turns chilling and an unwelcome outsider’s arrival sparks deadly consequences, Kate finds herself caught between buried secrets and fresh bloodshed. With Police Chief Tom breathing down her neck, Kate realizes that Manatee Bay has its own way of handling those who slip through the cracks of the justice system.
Because in Manatee Bay, the past doesn’t stay buried.
And when the law falls short, the tide has a way of evening the score.
Under the 1998 Ghost Moon, some sins rise to the surface, and some are handled quietly.
A haunting coastal mystery filled with small-town secrets, family legacy, and festival-night danger, *The Ghost Moon Tides* is the second book in the Manatee Bay Cozy Mystery series. (Summary via Goodreads)
I don't know where to begin when talking about The Ghost Moon Tide by Taffy Beach. This is the second book in her Manatee Bay Cozy Mystery series, and she knows how to pack a punch sorta speak.
If you have read the first book in this series, Tides, Lies and Alibis, you were introduced to a town and its residents. The town is Manatee Bay, and the residents are people who are dedicated to it. A lot of the residents have been there for many years with generations before them establishing the town.
The people of Manatee Bay, some of them, have secrets, old and new, which we learn about in this second book.
In The Ghost Moon Tide Manatee Bay is gearing up for a three Halloween themed event which makes sense seeing as at the lighthouse they have a ghost. This dates back to 1926, and the story is that a sister jumped off the lighthouse one night after her brother went missing. She was having trouble with a gentleman and it's rumored that her brother went to defend her honor and was never seen after.
The story is brought to the present, which in this series is 1998, when a skeletal body is uncovered. This gets everyone talking and where better to chat than at the High Tides Bakery where main characters Kat and Cindy are along with others in their crew. There is a lot of speculation regarding the skeletal body but once it is confirmed that it is that of Mateo, the brother who went missing, everyone wants, no NEEDS to know, what is going on.
Mateo and his sister who jumped, Rosa, still have a sister living in Manatee Bay, Maria and she has something that everyone wants....Rosa's journal. In this journal she writes about the advancements made toward her and how uncomfortable she was.
But how important is a case like this going to be ? Well, when there are generations still living in Manatee Bay, it turns out to be very important. And Kat and Cindy are really interested in finding out what happened as Kat's grandmother put the seed in their ears when they were teenagers .....
Now .... I could have went down a few other avenues regarding this story. Like I said I didn't know where to begin and that is because there is a lot going on within this story. It all falls into place as you read, and all makes sense in that "Aha" moment. I chose to take you down one train of thought just to give you an idea of the story. I leave it in your capable hands to pick up the book and get heading down the other avenues.
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