MURDER AT THE PUMPKIN PAGEANT

Living in a haunted lighthouse adds spice, and some other features, to a baker’s life.

Halloween is nigh, and Beacon Harbor, Michigan, is celebrating with pumpkin-themed events. Although Lindsey Bakewell has whipped up a bunch of seasonal treats at her Lighthouse Bakery, a paranormal research team and a bunch of teen pranksters are making her nervous. Awakened by her Newfoundland, Welly, she’s not amused to find a life-sized Freddy Krueger doll hanging from a tree in her yard. Her boyfriend, former Navy SEAL Rory Campbell, and her flaky best friend, Kennedy, help keep her calm, and she asks high school teacher Leslie Adams to point her toward possible perpetrators. Then Kennedy drops a bombshell: She’s invited the Ghost Guys from the Travel Channel to see if they can raise the spirit of the lighthouse ghost, Capt. Willy Riggs. Hoping to stop the pranks, Lindsey invites the local teens to a pumpkin-carving party, Leslie having steered her toward several groups with varying interests: jocks, witches, nature lovers. Also intrigued by her haunted lighthouse is a well-known author in search of a topic to juice his sales. After the Ghost Guys stir things up, the fleeing Kennedy runs into the corpse of Leslie hanging from the oak tree. Because the lighthouse may hold a map leading to a sunken treasure, the suspects in Leslie’s death by mushroom poisoning include treasure hunters. Lindsey and friends, who all have experience in finding killers, resolve to uncover this one before they become the next victims.

A feel-good whodunit with plenty of thrills and chills for the likable sleuths.