Dead Before Midnight

by Kelly Mason

Constance, has spent two years convincing the ghost of her dear departed husband to move on to the other side. After he finally agrees to walk into the light, Constance decides to live the rest of her life to the maximum. She attends a party, held in Branden Bay’s castle, dancing the night away, until a murder occurs. To her dismay, the ghost of the victim follows her home. Can Constance find the killer, so the victim can rest in peace and she can live - ghost-free?

Genres: Mystery

82 pages, ebook

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

Hi, I love writing mysteries and started with a paranormal series. In the last couple of years I have been writing 1920s mysteries. I love the atmosphere of the time, that has been depicted on our screens and in fiction. Of the fashion, the cars, the parties following the war which gave everyone that 'live for the day' attitude.

I set my books in Somerset close to where I live, although the towns and villages are fictional they are based on real places local to me. They have to be fictional as I change them to fit the story. I do use the real cities though, such as Bristol and Bath Spa. They are places I visit often and it's great to be able to spend time researching what the cities were like 100 years ago.

I hope you enjoy reading my books.

Reviews

[Tracy Smyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was. Fun read. Might have to check out some more by this author

[Claire O'Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable!

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella introduces us to Branden Bay and Constance, Becky's grandmother. Or re-introduces us if we read the BBPC series first. Regardless, we get a taste of the ability Constance passed down to Becky and a few glimpses of the goings on in town.

Namely, that council members are deeply annoying and need to be in the spotlight of EVERYTHING. This includes horning in on downtime at a New Year's Eve Party, trying to convince people that the winning cake was SURELY their recipe, and just being generally irritating. Unfortunately for Constance, she seems to cross paths with said council person far too often.

But enough about that. Let's talk about the dead guy at the party. When he dies and doesn't move on and realizes Constance can see him, he gets a little clingy. Which is problematic when Constance is out and about trying to enjoy herself. So Constance does what any good medium would do. She tries to figure out who offed the poor guy so he'll leave her alone.

A quick, fun peek at BB before Becky moves to town (and Constance moves on, so to speak) with a medium who is just wants to enjoy life. She just ahs to deal with a pesky ghost before she can do it!

-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal

[Callie Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This well-written paranormal cozy novella had me hooked right from the beginning, leaving me unable to put it down and devouring it in one sitting – something I rarely do! Constance is a middle-aged, glamorous widow, and a reluctant medium. But just as she persuades her late husband to move over to the other side, at a New Year’s Eve party on the turn of the millenium, Evan - another party goer drops down dead. The police think it’s a clear cut case of a heart attack but with Evan’s spirit following Constance around persuading her otherwise, Constance has to turn detective to solve the case.

The characters were easy to visualise and I was reminded of the TV series Randall and Hopkirk. In fact, I would love to see this billiant story – which was both heart-stopping scary and funny at the same time – brought to the screen!

Dead Before Midnight is the prequel to the Branden Bay Series, and of course after reading this, I just had to read the first book in this series The Medium of Branden Bay, which I can reveal is every bit as excellent as this prequel.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a 3.5 🌟 read rounded ⬆️ to 4 🌟.

[Peter Tremblay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well developed mystery

I enjoyed this short mystery with well developed characters and an interesting plot. I recommend it and found this short cozy better than many I've read that were much longer.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cracking introduction to the Cozy Paranormal books. Nice to read about Constance in the flesh.