Mysteerie Manor - Sharon Hays, Author

‘She let out a big sigh of relief when she felt the keys and picked them up, dust and dirt clinging to her hand.  She hoped that was all, thinking that spiders and bugs of all sorts inhabited basements that were left for years.  She didn’t want to start a collection now, she chided to her unconscious.  Heart racing, she quickly pulled herself up and clumsily made her way toward the door, where some early evening light still shown through.  Stumbling over miscellaneous items, she tried hard not imagine what could be there.  Dead animals had flashed through her mind.  Someone or something moved on the opposite side of the dark room as she made an effort to reach the exit.  The light from the door helped to guide her out of the room.  She was about to reach the door when it suddenly slammed shut, and then the room became pitch black.  Maryanne reached out and pulled on the door, and to her surprise, it opened with not much effort.  It must have been the wind, she continued to rationalize.  Taking in a deep breath, she could feel her heart in her throat as she yanked on the door and made her way around it.  Maryanne crawled ineptly, halfway on her hands and knees up the stairs to the yard and kept on going, not looking back.  She forced her way through the brushes and back to the sidewalk, wiping off cobwebs and the like from her clothes.  She would wait until daylight to continue this exploration…’

Maryanne O’Donnell has just had her first, of many more to come, experiences with the strange life that inhabits what is known as the Valencia Manor in Boulder, Colorado.  With the death of the latest owner, the Manor has been put on the market with her best friend Joan Bishop being the agent with the listing.  Maryanne has a degree in anthropology and history with her specialty being in the dealings of antiques so the Manor and its history are of great interest to her.  She is also tossing around the idea of possibly investing in this late 1800 Italian beauty.  And that is exactly what prompted her to talk Joan into giving her the keys for an early look-over before it’s officially placed on the market.

As with most houses of this age, it was rumored that the Valencia Manor was haunted.  There were a few moans and groans that could be heard coming from the house but after all, it was an old house that still had some settling to do.  But the screams that could be heard coming from the upper part of the house couldn’t be passed on as age.  Nor could the tragic deaths that had occurred from the time of construction through the death of the last owner’s daughter.  But spirits?  Maryanne didn’t believe in them.  Neither did her new love Mario.  Even after he was tied and thrown over the railing did he believe it was anything other than a living, breathing human that had overpowered him.  He continued his belief until the disappearance of Maryanne.  It was as if she had vanished into thin air.  She had visited the Manor and wasn’t seen nor heard from again.  The police were starting to believe that she just might be dead.  But not Joan.  She know her friend was alive and with the help of Mario she would find her no matter what it took.  Even if it meant calling in a Priest or even a medium.

Mysteerie Manor is a spell binding story that kept me turning the pages and now has me impatiently waiting to read the sequel.  The author left the ending open for another great story that I’m sure will take us all deeper into the world of spirits and phenomenon’s of the house and it’s past history.

381 pages

2010

ISBN# 9781450503167