Book Review: Secrets Laid to Rest by Catherine C. Hall

Book Summary

Fall is in the air, the scent of autumn leaves and apple pies, and now a brand new business is opening its doors in small-town Sutter, Georgia. But not just any business. It’s the Golden Girls meet the Ghostbusters when four women find themselves in an unlikely career: Southeastern Paranormal Investigations. Ree Lane, a stylish widow, is more cynic than true believer, while her childhood chum Elle Harper has a knack for getting sensitive info with the help of her homemade pies. The preacher’s wife, Betsy Jones, can’t be seen with SPI unless she’s in her disguise as Nora, a psychic-in-training with a gift for Tarot. And the recently-returned-home Gillian Buchanan is a whiz at technology, especially of the supernatural sort.

Their first case lands on the doorstep when neighbor Doris Tucker is sure her prized vintage dolls are haunted. But there’s hardly time for ghost-hunting when the bank director’s wife mistakes SPI for a private eye venture. Now they’re also hot on the trail of a misbehaving husband. It’s a wild ride as the sixty-something sleuths start digging into the past. But have the Ladies of SPI gone too far? And how far will Sutter go to keep its secrets dead and buried?

ISBN-13: 979-8987214206

ASIN: B0CJLKZ7JQ

Print Length: 276 pages
Purchase a copy of Secrets Laid to Rest on Amazon. You can also add this to your GoodReads reading list.

About the Author, Catherine C. Hall

There’s a great song, “I’ve Been Everywhere,” made popular by Johnny Cash (and a couple commercials). If you put the song in Georgia, it would be about Catherine C. Hall, starting when she moved to the Peach State at eight-years-old.

She grew up in Savannah, Georgia, where you can’t throw a stick without hitting a ghost. Even when she was a little girl, Savannah was known for its haunted history and she was hooked!

Broadcast Journalism hooked her as well, so she studied at Valdosta State University way down in South Georgia where it is the heat and the humidity. She worked in a few radio stations but it was WNEX Radio in Macon that turned out to be life-changing. She met a cute deejay from Sandersville, Georgia, and married him a year later.

They moved above the Gnat Line (Oh, it’s real) to the Atlanta area, where they grew their family to two boys and a girl, and she took a turn in the teaching world. And then whoosh! She met the half-century mark wondering what to do? Maybe it was the merlot talking but after years of reading mysteries, Catherine thought it was high time she write one. And she did; it was awful. (And way too short. Who knew readers expected 70, 000 words?)

So she learned her craft, starting with flash fiction, then moving on to short fiction, where she won a few awards. She wrote essays that ended up in books like Chicken Soup for the Soul. She penned assorted humor columns and continued to freelance. And then one day, she wrote another story that wasn’t exactly novel-length but it wasn’t a short story, either. It was a children’s book.

She joined SCBWI, the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and had a wonderful career in children’s writing, including publishing six books. But in the midst of her last two book contracts, life changed unexpectedly when Catherine’s favorite deejay up and died.

When at last she wanted to write again, she heard four women of a certain age, each seeking purpose and joy in where they found themselves. Which for them was a small town in Georgia called Sutter. For Catherine, it was at home, still in the Atlanta suburbs, revisiting the ghost stories of her youth, and finally getting that mystery written. All 70,000 words of it!

You can find Catherine online at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Catherine-C-Hall-Cozy-Mystery-Writer/61551890907288/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathychall/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/cathyhall55/

Website (Psst! Sign up for Cathy’s Spirited Newsletter and get in on secret giveaways!): https://catherine-c-hall.com/

My Review:

I was excited to read “Secrets Laid to Rest” by Catherine C. Hall and it did not disappoint. For me, a fan of both the paranormal and the television classic “The Golden Girls,” plus mysteries to boot, the premise hooked me instantly. The setup comes quickly—a group of women innocently come together after attending a presentation from two self-proclaimed “ghost hunters” at the local library. The characters—sharp-dressed practical widow Ree, thrift store owner and piemaker Elle, whip smart and tech-savvy Gillian who is harboring resentment over a man who has exited her life, and Betsy, the bored preacher’s wife who has fallen into a rut, are all people you might know and be friends within your town. When they begin discussing their common interests and settle on trying out a paranormal investigation venture to make a little extra money, you just know hijinks will ensue, especially when their work turns the women into private investigators in cases without a lot of paranormal elements.

I loved learning about the people in the community of Sutter, reading references of Georgia college football, the friendship dynamics, and how much fun the women had putting Betsy into a suitable “disguise” so no one would realize the preacher’s wife was reading tarot cards to people looking for answers to the mysterious noises coming from their house. Of course, they end up investigating matters of the human heart more than ghosts.

As someone who also lives in a small southern town, I found myself nodding along to many of the descriptions of the women’s life—church, fall festivals, thrift shops, and oh my, the descriptions of pie! I felt for Ree, still learning to navigate life without her beloved husband, while also slowly cheering on a potential romantic partner in local lawyer Tye. I found myself wondering more about Gillian, who is juggling work, the ladies’ side hustle, while also caring for her elderly mother, who sometimes just wants an ice cream and to not be driven halfway across Georgia in pursuit of a case. I laughed out loud several times, as the women attempted to tail a banker in town who keeps having secretive meetings that turn out to be not-so-discreet. You never know who is watching!

The book is told from an omniscient point of view, so the reader gets a glimpse into the many secrets that lurk behind the closed doors of the Sutter families, while still leaving several loose threads you can look forward to in the next book in the series. If you want a fun, fast-paced cozy read with likeable and strong female characters, this one’s for you.