Witch
City
Series
Writing the Witch City Mystery series was meant to be....
I was born in Salem, Massachusetts on Halloween Eve. I grew up there and it has always been close to my heart. So when I came out with the idea to do this series I knew it was the perfect way for me to pay homage to a wonderful town that has given me so much joy over the years. Although I live in Florida now, writing these books has given me a chance to share the history of Salem with readers from around the world. As I sat down to write I traveled back with my main character,
Lee Barrett, to the city I love. So let me introduce you to Lee in Book #1...
About this series
Most folks associate the city of Salem, Massachusetts with witches, but for Lee Barrett, it’s home. This October she’s returned to her hometown—where her beloved Aunt Ibby still lives—to interview for a job as a reporter at WICH-TV. But the only opening is for a call-in psychic to host the late night horror movies. It seems the previous host, Ariel Constellation, never saw her own murder coming.
Lee reluctantly takes the job, but when she starts seeing real events in the obsidian ball she's using as a prop, she wonders if she might really have psychic abilities. To make things even spookier, it’s starting to look like Ariel may have been an actual practicing witch—especially when O'Ryan, the cat Lee and Aunt Ibby inherited from her, exhibits some strange powers of his own. With Halloween fast approaching, Lee must focus on unmasking a killer—or her career as a psychic may be very short lived . . .
REFLECTIONS
I am now writing Book #15 and it is so much fun to see how far Lee Barrett has come through the years--and all the bodies she's stumbled upon.
She’s not a psychic—she just plays one on TV. . . A “delightfully spooky” mystery set in Salem, Massachusetts (RT Book Reviews).
I think you will enjoy watching as Lee changes her career a few times, meets Pete Mondello, and keeps an eye on O'Ryan. And, of course, enjoys hanging out with
Aunt Ibby.--a fan favorite character. Everyone should have an Aunt Ibby.
SEE SOMETHING was released in September 2023. Discover Book #13...
The latest installment of her Witch City Mysteries! Marriage isn’t the only thing new in Lee Barrett’s life when she’s tasked with a hauntingly dangerous assignment in her job as program director for Salem, Massachusetts’s local station, WICH-TV . . . Just married, Lee and her husband, Detective Sergeant Pete Mondello, are settling into their new home when Lee is dubbed WICH-TV’s new “Historical Documentary Chief Executive.” Her first subject is the brand-newSalem International Museum, slated to be a location for traveling blockbuster exhibits, starting with “Seafaring New England.” From research to collecting artifacts of Salem’s long-ago days as a shipping capital, the project is a challenge—but when the driver of a truckload of antiquities turns up dead under a pile of fall leaves, it’s not quite the kind of challenge Lee expected . . .
DEATH SCENE will be released on July 20, 2024. Discover more about Book #14...
It takes a lot for Salem locals to get excited about their historic Massachusetts town being known as “the witch city.” But when a major studio arrives to shoot a witchcraft-themed movie, folks go Hollywood. For WICH-TV’S program director and chief documentary-maker, Lee Barrett, however, the project may come complete with a real-life death scene . . . Between documenting the progress of the movie, corralling starstruck autograph seekers and fans, and managing unmanageable traffic on Salem’s narrow streets, Lee and her police detective husband, Pete Mondello, are beyond busy. Even Lee’s best friend, River North, tarot card reader and practicing witch, gets in on the action, landing a job as a stand-in and body double. But it only takes one interview for Lee to realize that the male and female leads—whose roles include torrid love scenes—despise each other. Yet the problem is short-lived, literally . . . When the gorgeous lead actress is found dead on a set staged to replicate the room where suspected witches were tried in 1692—and her on-screen lover, in full costume, is discovered sound asleep in her trailer—the hunt is on for a killer on the loose. Nevertheless, the producer decrees “the show must go on!” Now, even with help from River’s entire coven, Lee’s Aunt Ibby, and O’Ryan, a remarkably clairvoyant gentleman cat, sorting out a witch’s brew of secrets, sorcery, and special effects might turn Lee’s documentary into her own final act . . . Just married, Lee and her husband, Detective Sergeant Pete Mondello, are settling into their new home when Lee is dubbed WICH-TV’s new “Historical Documentary Chief Executive.” Her first subject is the brand-newSalem International Museum, slated to be a location for traveling blockbuster exhibits, starting with “Seafaring New England.” From research to collecting artifacts of Salem’s long-ago days as a shipping capital, the project is a challenge—but when the driver of a truckload of antiquities turns up dead under a pile of fall leaves, it’s not quite the kind of challenge Lee expected . . .
Haunted
Haven
Series
My publisher, Kensington, asked me if I had an idea for a series set in Florida...
That was all I needed to get me going on a new series based right in my backyard on the Gulf Coast of Florida. I drew upon my own experiences working in a department store to bring to life the story about a woman whose life changes
when she inherits an old inn from a woman she never knew. Why did the woman leave her an inn? And what makes it even more intriguing is that there are some guests who seem to have never checked out.
The history of the historical St. Petersburg/Clearwater area plays an important part in the stories I have created. Many famous people vacationed here back in the old days. Some of them might even visit Haven, a small town with a fascinating past.
About this series
Maureen Doherty and her golden retriever Finn have taken possession of a charming old inn—only to discover that it’s already possessed by tenants whose lease on life already ran out . . .
Maureen's career as a sportswear buyer hits a snag just before Halloween, when the department store declares bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Finn's lost his way as a guide dog after flunking his test for being too friendly and easily distracted. Sadly, only one of them can earn unemployment, so Maureen's facing a winter of discontent in Boston--when she realizes she can't afford her apartment.
Salvation comes when she receives a mysterious inheritance: an inn in Haven, Florida. A quaint, scenic town on the Gulf of Mexico hidden away from the theme parks, Maureen believes it's a good place to make a fresh start with a new business venture. But she gets more than she bargained for when she finds a dead body on her property--and meets some of the inn's everlasting tenants in the form of ghosts who offer their otherworldly talents in order to help her solve the mystery...
REFLECTIONS
It was a thrill to receive a starred review from Publisher's Weekly for Book #1 in this new series. I am currently working on Book #4, which is titled: THE SPIRIT MOVES.
HIGH SPIRITS was released in September 2022. Discover Book #2...
Greetings from Haven, Florida, a quaint, scenic old town on the Gulf Coast where Massachusetts transplant Maureen Doherty and her excessively friendly Golden retriever are the newest proprietors of the charming local inn…along with its many ghostly tenants! Now the paranormal crime investigations continue with the second installment in bestselling author Carol J. Perry’s Haunted Haven Mystery Series, as Maureen is preparing for her first holiday season in her haunted century-old inn… Christmas lights on palm trees and Santa hats on plastic pink flamingos are far from the snowy landscape Maureen and her beloved golden retriever, Finn, are used to. But Maureen is determined to make this a holiday to remember—which means finding a way to promote Haven House on a shoestring. Fortunately, Haven’s vintage movie theater, the Paramount, has come up with a great “Twelve Days of Christmas” idea. They’ll feature an impressive list of the best classic Christmas movies ever made—shown by one-time movie actor-turned-projectionist Decklin Monroe . . . But nobody bothered to tell Maureen that the Paramount is haunted by the ghost of a man who was murdered a few years back. Haven’s top cop Frank Hubbard doesn’t believe in ghosts but, believing that Decklin Monroe was somehow involved, he wants a reluctant Maureen’s help. That plan is derailed when, on the first day of the festival, a fresh murder victim is found at the theater. Now Maureen has to defend her staff and guests, while trying to keep her high-spirited resident ghosts out of the picture—before they have company for the holidays . . . Just married, Lee and her husband, Detective Sergeant Pete Mondello, are settling into their new home when Lee is dubbed WICH-TV’s new “Historical Documentary Chief Executive.” Her first subject is the brand-newSalem International Museum, slated to be a location for traveling blockbuster exhibits, starting with “Seafaring New England.” From research to collecting artifacts of Salem’s long-ago days as a shipping capital, the project is a challenge—but when the driver of a truckload of antiquities turns up dead under a pile of fall leaves, it’s not quite the kind of challenge Lee expected . . .
HAUNTING LICENSE will be released on June 24, 2024. Discover more about Book #3...
It’s June in Haven, Florida, a “between seasons” time in the tourism business, and Maureen’s Haven House Inn is feeling the pinch. There are plenty of ghosts in residence, but Maureen needs living guests to pay the bills.
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