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Hope Herring #16

Endings and Beginnings

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This is book 16 and the Final Installment in the Hope Herring paranormal cozy mystery series by USA Today Bestselling Author J A Whiting and Nell McCarthy.

It is a hot and humid August in Castle Park, N.C. where Hope Herring and her teenaged daughter Cori are helping at the Butter Up Bakery when Edsel, the owner, is injured. In the meantime, Max the family’s resident ghost has gotten himself into some trouble and needs Hope’s help.

With people who aren’t what they seem and situations that are complex and twisted, Hope has a lot to figure out.

With the help of her ghost friend Max, will Hope and Detective Robinson find the answers to their questions or is someone going to get away with murder?

Come along with Hope, Cori, and Max as they complete their last adventure together.

178 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 2, 2024

76 people are currently reading
13 people want to read

About the author

J.A. Whiting

168 books317 followers
USA TODAY Bestselling Author and Amazon All Star, J A Whiting is the author of over 100 cozy mysteries. She lives with her family in Massachusetts. Whiting loves spending time with family, reading, traveling, cycling, following New England sports teams, exercising, and being outdoors.

For exclusive content and new book announcements please visit www.jawhiting.com and sign up for my mailing list.

Also please "like" my Facebook page www.facebook.com/jawhitingauthor

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5 stars
276 (78%)
4 stars
56 (15%)
3 stars
15 (4%)
2 stars
1 (<1%)
1 star
4 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Profile Image for Loretta TheMoodyRedhead.
1,036 reviews4 followers
April 20, 2025
Could this story be any more heart-breaking? 🥺 Although I understand why what happened did happen, it doesn’t make this any less sad-to-the-point-of-my-stomach-twisting. Sigh.

This story was morose as the previous book when two friends were killed off. Will there be a book following this one? I believe Max had a point when he previously said that his presence may be what causes so many murders to happen around Hope and Cori. Max thought he was possibly a murder magnet.

So maybe if Max moved on that would cause all the murders to cease? I suppose there wouldn’t be any books after this one if that was the case.

Well, Hope pretended to be Max and another person pretended to be who they weren’t. There was a lot of shade in this story although Hope didn’t have bad intentions with her lie. The other person did have ill intentions.

Next on my To Read list is book 10 of 16 from A Claire Rollins Mystery series: “Fame and Fortune” by JA Whiting. I haven’t read the previous 9 books of this series in 3 years! Hopefully Whiting summarizes who Claire is and what her backstory is. Is she a witch? Does she do magic? Is she a teacher like Hope from this book review? What is the paranormal aspect of Claire’s story? I’ll find out in a moment!

See you in my next review.
Deuces to your cabooses! 💋
944 reviews4 followers
December 10, 2024
A Bittersweet Finale!

"Endings and Beginnings" is Book 16 in the Hope Herring Mystery series, written by J. A. Whiting. This is also the final episode in the series. This series is totally bingeworthy reading, so begin with Book 1 and read in chronological order. This episode has two deaths in it: one a supposed suicide and one a supposed accidental overdose. Since the police have called these two deaths a suicide and drug overdose, Hope doesn't investigate them. However, were these the true causes of death? Or were they murder? I love the word play between Hope and her daughter, Cori. I also love their close relationship with each other and the resident ghost, Max, who built the old Victorian house over a hundred years ago. This final book talks about endings and beginnings, and the endings are pretty sad. I gave this book 5 stars and will miss these characters.
4 reviews
December 8, 2024
Bittersweet

I have to say I really enjoyed the entire series of books. They were fun and interesting and made you feel you knew the characters.
There were some parts that were used in each book way too much in my opinion.
Also a couple of inconsistencies.
My main complaint is this is the last book in the series. I get used to characters and hate to see a series end, plus it wasn’t a very tidy ending for me. I just see so much potential for more books but I guess I just have to live with the authors decision.
958 reviews2 followers
December 20, 2024
Max the ghostwriter

Max received an email from a writer he ghostwriter for, who is insisting on meeting him in person about her last book. Hope agrees to pretend to be Max since Zelda doesn't know if Max is a male or female. Zelda is killed and no one knows why. Max and Hope try to figure out why.
I loved this series and the characters ,it's been fun to read.
Profile Image for Suzanne.
Author 33 books10 followers
December 25, 2024
Sad but it couldn't end any other way.

This isn't a spoiler alert. We knew going in this was the end of the series. I loved the characters, including Max, and I'm sorry to see the series end. The twist at the end was a surprise. Some people aren't what they seem and that was true in this case.

Maybe there will be another series with Hope and Cori.
Profile Image for Mandy.
304 reviews
March 23, 2025
I was sad with how the story ended. It seemed a little rushed at the end, so I felt like there wasn't truly an ending especially a happy ending. I felt there was more left to the story or at least an epilogue to let us know what becomes of Hope and Cori. This has been such an enjoyable series and I will miss reading about Hope, Cori, and Max.
Profile Image for Robin.
21 reviews
December 7, 2024
Fabulous series

So loved this series! I'm going to miss Hope, Cori and Max. It was a fitting ending tho to be sure, even made me tear up. Mystery, surprise and suspense, it was all there!

Highly recommend reading this entire series, all of them are excellent!
Profile Image for Stephen Levesque.
2,747 reviews
January 23, 2025
Totally enjoyed it! This is a well written and has well developed characters. The story is catching and with the strong characters makes for a very enjoyable read. Great Reading Everyone!
Profile Image for Jeanne.
53 reviews1 follower
May 30, 2025
An excellent ending,

An excellent ending or perhaps a New beginning . I've loved the series. Very sweet watching the characters change, heal, and grow.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews

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