About the Book
One October morning in
1932, Vicente Sorolla entered the white house on the hill and was never seen
again.
Now, Detective Dori Orihuela witnesses his brutal
murder in her nightmares.
Drawn to this tough but tender woman, Vicente
materializes out of the butler's pantry and asks her to find his lost love,
Anna. Dori wonders if she's not only about to lose her badge, but also her
sanity.
Dori has always been drawn to the mysterious Queen
Anne Edwardian house in her hometown. But after a devastating injury that puts
her career on the line, Dori isn’t sure if she made the right decision
purchasing this rundown old mansion.
Her wisecracking Grammy Cena has waited too long
for her independent granddaughter to return home. She hires a a kooky psychic
to banish the ghost and a handsome contractor with whom Dori has an unhappy
past.
With a promise to Vicente, Dori may solve a
forgotten Prohibition era murder. Or she may exhume secrets someone died to
protect.
1932, Vicente Sorolla entered the white house on the hill and was never seen
again.
Now, Detective Dori Orihuela witnesses his brutal
murder in her nightmares.
Drawn to this tough but tender woman, Vicente
materializes out of the butler's pantry and asks her to find his lost love,
Anna. Dori wonders if she's not only about to lose her badge, but also her
sanity.
Dori has always been drawn to the mysterious Queen
Anne Edwardian house in her hometown. But after a devastating injury that puts
her career on the line, Dori isn’t sure if she made the right decision
purchasing this rundown old mansion.
Her wisecracking Grammy Cena has waited too long
for her independent granddaughter to return home. She hires a a kooky psychic
to banish the ghost and a handsome contractor with whom Dori has an unhappy
past.
With a promise to Vicente, Dori may solve a
forgotten Prohibition era murder. Or she may exhume secrets someone died to
protect.
Excerpt from Chapter One of Lost in the Light by Mary Castillo
With the rain pattering on the roof of her car, she pulled up the semi-circular drive of the house the county of San Diego declared was legally and financially hers. Her Rav-4 looked ridiculous in front of the three-story, 19th century mansion that stood tall and proud even though one earthquake could send it into a smoking ruin.
The police tape Dori had draped across the sagging front porch fluttered in the wind. But she would fix it. Together, piece by piece, both she and the house would be put to rights. Staring at it through her fogged up window, she remembered the very first moment she saw saw this house and thought, this will be mine.
The memory was so clear that for a moment she was nine years old again, sitting in the backseat of her dad's Scout, imagining what went on through the murky, mysterious windows. There were three other 19th Century mansions in this neighborhood that had been beautifully restored. But this one was special. She'd came back to it through the years, even when she visited from Denver. Now it was hers.
Sighing, Dori reached across the seat for her CVS bag. Goosebumps sprang up her arms. She tensed; the back of her neck tingling with the awareness that she was being watched. Locked inside her car, she scanned the back seat and the yard.
No one lurked behind the dead boxwoods. The grass had dried up, and not even one weed sprung up out of the dry earth. The plastic bag crinkled as she closed her fist around it. The house wasn't in the best of neighborhoods but she refused to think about Grammy's worrying.
The weeks she'd first lived in the house, before the shooting, Dori never felt weird or scared. But it was good to be aware, she told herself as she pushed the door open and paused, sniffing chimney smoke from the neighbor’s house. It was quiet up here, the traffic on Sweetwater a soft hush that rode on the winds sweeping clouds across the sky. She shut the door and the alarm beeped. The bay windows in the front parlor reflected Dori as she walked up to the house.
Idly wondering what to pick from the meals Grammy had prepared for her, Dori plugged her key into the lock. Her heart gave a painful jolt when she looked up into the face of a man. He stared at her from the other side of the wavy glass window of the Dutch door.
His dark eyes narrowed. In one motion, Dori dropped her bag, stepped back and reached for her weapon. But she only felt the bandage under her shirt where her Smith and Wesson should've been. She swayed in momentary confusion and then remembered she'd locked it away. When she looked back up into the window, he was gone.
Dori stood there with her pulse kicking against her neck. He couldn't duck faster than the blink of an eye, nor was the window shade moving in the wake of a sudden movement. It hadn't been that long since she'd been with a man that she'd start making one up as Grammy had repeatedly warned. Warning pricked at her nerves. She pulled up alongside the edge of the door and peeked into her dark kitchen. She strained her ears, listening for movement in the house. Against her better judgment, she reached over and turned the key.
She pushed the door open and the smell of cologne stopped her short of walking inside. Dori instinctively rocked her weight onto the balls of her feet, her muscles tensing for a fight. Night crept across the yard behind her.
As a cop, she'd been in much scarier situations than this. But back then, Dori had a gun at her hip and a radio for back-up. Unlike real bad guys, figments of her imagination couldn’t send her to the hospital. Dori told herself to go out to her car and call the cavalry.
Instead, Dori propped the door open with an old brick. This was her house damn it and it might feel good to kick some ass.
Dori is a police officer who was shot in the line of duty. While home recovering she decides to buy a old house and remodel it. Shorty after buying the the resident spirit Vicente steps out of the butler's closet. Not only does he introduce himself he also tells Dori what he wants from her. He wants her t find Anna, who was the love of his life.
Vicente was murdered in 1932. While trying to find Anna, Dori also decides to find out who murdered Vicente so he can rest in peace as well.
This story is basically 2 stories in one. You have present day as well as the story of Vicente and Anna in the 1920's and 30's during the prohibition. So you learn about the present and the past. And like I said you get the coolest Granny on the planet as well. I have to say she was my favorite character int he book. She is full of vinegar. She brings a lot of humor to the story. She is never short on smart comments.
My Review:
Lost in the life is paranormal mystery. Yep you get all the great things we red for. There is touch of romance, Ghosts, mystery, and the coolest sounding Granny on the planet.
Dori is a police officer who was shot in the line of duty. While home recovering she decides to buy a old house and remodel it. Shorty after buying the the resident spirit Vicente steps out of the butler's closet. Not only does he introduce himself he also tells Dori what he wants from her. He wants her t find Anna, who was the love of his life.
Vicente was murdered in 1932. While trying to find Anna, Dori also decides to find out who murdered Vicente so he can rest in peace as well.
This story is basically 2 stories in one. You have present day as well as the story of Vicente and Anna in the 1920's and 30's during the prohibition. So you learn about the present and the past. And like I said you get the coolest Granny on the planet as well. I have to say she was my favorite character int he book. She is full of vinegar. She brings a lot of humor to the story. She is never short on smart comments.
This was a very interesting story. I did really enjoy my time with Dori, her family, ad the ghosts. Ghosts are my favorite form of the paranormal genre, and Mary Castillo did not let me down. The ghosts are not scary. There is very little cursing and no strong 4 lettered words, nor any sex in this book. I would call it a clean read.
Tour Schedule
March 13 – Rebekah Martin Writes – Excerpt
March 13 – A Southern Girls Bookshelf
– Excerpt
– Excerpt
March 14 – A Novel Thought With Jess –
Guest Post & Excerpt
Guest Post & Excerpt
March 15 – Living Life With Joy – Guest Post
March 17 – Authors
and Readers Book Corner – Excerpt
and Readers Book Corner – Excerpt
Now Available in Audio!
New subscribers: http://www.audible.com/offers/30free?asin=B01MZD7Z2I
Mary Castillo is an Amazon bestselling author
and audiobook narrator. She writes chilling paranormal mysteries and sexy,
heartwarming romantic comedies, all with compelling characters that keep you
turning the pages long past your bedtime! Her debut, Hot Tamara was selected
by Cosmopolitan magazine as a Red Hot Read and Latina magazine called Mary “an
author to look out for” and selected In Between Men and Names I Call My Sister
for the Top 10 Summers Reads in July 2009. Lost in the Light was a finalist in the
Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Paranormal Mystery.
and audiobook narrator. She writes chilling paranormal mysteries and sexy,
heartwarming romantic comedies, all with compelling characters that keep you
turning the pages long past your bedtime! Her debut, Hot Tamara was selected
by Cosmopolitan magazine as a Red Hot Read and Latina magazine called Mary “an
author to look out for” and selected In Between Men and Names I Call My Sister
for the Top 10 Summers Reads in July 2009. Lost in the Light was a finalist in the
Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Paranormal Mystery.
Mary grew up in a haunted house in National City, CA. She cries
every time she sees the movies, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Casablanca, and may
have developed a mild addiction to listening to audiobooks while she knits.
every time she sees the movies, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Casablanca, and may
have developed a mild addiction to listening to audiobooks while she knits.
Links
Webpage: www.MaryCastillo.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marycastillo/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MCastilloWrites/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mcastillowrites/
GoodReads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/47331.Mary_CastilloAmazon Author Central: https://www.amazon.com/Mary-Castillo/e/B001ITYOWC
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