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Spirits of the Saguaro
Claire Caldwell has finally settled into her strange new normal. Two months after the Robert Harrison incident, she's learned to trust her spirit fox's warnings and Rosa's ghostly advice as she runs her animal sanctuary in the desert.
But some visitors bring their own darkness to Perdido Springs.
When famous artist Aurora Brightwater arrives to paint the "desert spirits," she brings more than just her canvases and her sparkling laugh. She brings grudges, theft, and a cruelty that hides behind flowing scarves and talk of universal energy. Then Aurora turns up dead in her studio, a palette knife through her heart, and everyone she's wronged becomes a suspect. The artist who steals others' work... dead. The documentary filmmaker who seems cursed... filming everything. The exhausted ex-husband she abandoned... watching from the shadows.
As Claire investigates with her veterinarian boyfriend Sam, she discovers Aurora left a trail of destroyed careers and stolen dreams across the Southwest. But in a town where the dead talk, the dolls in the motel have their own agenda, and something that used to be human roams the desert at night, finding the truth means distinguishing between those who wanted Aurora gone and whoever actually made it happen.
In Perdido Springs, the veil is thin, the spirits are watching...
Welcome back to the desert, where inspiration can be deadly.
But some visitors bring their own darkness to Perdido Springs.
When famous artist Aurora Brightwater arrives to paint the "desert spirits," she brings more than just her canvases and her sparkling laugh. She brings grudges, theft, and a cruelty that hides behind flowing scarves and talk of universal energy. Then Aurora turns up dead in her studio, a palette knife through her heart, and everyone she's wronged becomes a suspect. The artist who steals others' work... dead. The documentary filmmaker who seems cursed... filming everything. The exhausted ex-husband she abandoned... watching from the shadows.
As Claire investigates with her veterinarian boyfriend Sam, she discovers Aurora left a trail of destroyed careers and stolen dreams across the Southwest. But in a town where the dead talk, the dolls in the motel have their own agenda, and something that used to be human roams the desert at night, finding the truth means distinguishing between those who wanted Aurora gone and whoever actually made it happen.
In Perdido Springs, the veil is thin, the spirits are watching...
Welcome back to the desert, where inspiration can be deadly.
315 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 15, 2025
91 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Sara Bourgeois
234 books343 followersSara Bourgeois is a Midwesterner through and through. She spends her time writing, reading, herding cats, and standing in her driveway during tornado warnings. (You can't see them from the basement.)
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 4, 2026
Do the dead ever die?
She changed the ranch she inherited into a sanctuary for animals. But that wasn't the only thing she inherited. A talent for seeing ghosts, a red fox guardian, a sassy kitchen ghost that liked to cook and a talent for seeing what others didn't. I love these books. There are towns like this, areas of the country like this. Where nothing seems to ever leave, just layers on layers of life reality linger. And its more prevalent in the Southwest.
The author has a way of turning everyday life into semi hilarious mishaps. She also brings alive the small town characters in a way that makes you feel like you're there.
She changed the ranch she inherited into a sanctuary for animals. But that wasn't the only thing she inherited. A talent for seeing ghosts, a red fox guardian, a sassy kitchen ghost that liked to cook and a talent for seeing what others didn't. I love these books. There are towns like this, areas of the country like this. Where nothing seems to ever leave, just layers on layers of life reality linger. And its more prevalent in the Southwest.
The author has a way of turning everyday life into semi hilarious mishaps. She also brings alive the small town characters in a way that makes you feel like you're there.
January 12, 2026
Claire needs her own time
Claire is invited into another murder mystery. She is just trying to live her life and some alone time with Sam. However the ghost won’t stop until she gets involved and finds the killer.
Sam is just trying to find some time with Claire. However between his patients, emergencies and her murders he doesn’t think that will ever happen. So he just starts to tag along. I thought that will be a great time for all and hope to see more together time for both of them.
Claire is invited into another murder mystery. She is just trying to live her life and some alone time with Sam. However the ghost won’t stop until she gets involved and finds the killer.
Sam is just trying to find some time with Claire. However between his patients, emergencies and her murders he doesn’t think that will ever happen. So he just starts to tag along. I thought that will be a great time for all and hope to see more together time for both of them.
December 21, 2025
Good book
Claire is trying to figure out who murdered an artist who paints desert spirits. It turns out the artist is a thief and not very nice. Plus there is a filmmaker that captures spirits on film! And very strange dolls. A lot going on.
Claire is trying to figure out who murdered an artist who paints desert spirits. It turns out the artist is a thief and not very nice. Plus there is a filmmaker that captures spirits on film! And very strange dolls. A lot going on.
January 14, 2026
Dark themes
Deeply mystical and intriguing potency holds your attention down to the final moment. Full of complex characters I could see it making a hot movie
Deeply mystical and intriguing potency holds your attention down to the final moment. Full of complex characters I could see it making a hot movie
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews