The Hollowbeck Paranormal Cozy Mysteries

Morgan Winters wants an ordinary life: A job at a bookstore, an apartment she can barely afford, and a healthy amount of existential dread. Her brother (AKA "The Ruiner") ruins that when he shows up on her bedroom windowsill, transformed into a talking cat. He claims it's due to a date gone horribly wrong, but Morgan's not buying it. Still, when he begs her to take him to a witch who can change him back into a human, she reluctantly agrees. Family is family. When they arrive in Hollowbeck—a suspiciously small and suspiciously magical town—they find the witch. Only she's dead.

When a traveling carnival arrives in Hollowbeck, it promises magic and mayhem. It's also an opportunity for Morgan to find someone who can transform her brother, Ruiner, back into a human—he's a little tired of being a talking cat, and she's a little tired of cleaning his litter box. Things look promising until the curtains rise on rehearsal night to reveal Ruiner sitting on the lifeless body of the wizard who promised to help him.

Morgan and her ex-husband broke up on bad terms. But when he sends her a cryptic message, Morgan knows that whatever trouble he's in, it's likely her fault. Over Ruiner's protests, she ventures beyond Hollowbeck's borders to find him. But instead of finding him, she finds a dead body. Then she finds the Oubliette, an exclusive gambling club in the town of Darrowdale, which is a mirror image of Hollowbeck—only with a decidedly more dangerous population.