Lantern's Last Light: A Tails and Trails Mystery (The Tails and Trails Mysteries Book 4)
By Hailey Hartley
When Park Ranger Casey Mitchell and her observant dog Ember discover the body of beloved ghost tour operator Trevor Walsh in an isolated clearing at Pinewood State Park, everyone assumes his heart simply gave out during one of his theatrical performances. But Casey notices troubling details that don’t add up—Trevor’s antique prop lantern sits cold beside him, unlit for hours, and his body lies in a location that’s nowhere near any ghost tour route. Even more puzzling, Trevor had been working on an explosive book that threatened to expose which of Hollow Creek’s famous legends were real folklore and which were fabricated stories created to boost tourism.
As Casey digs deeper with Ember’s help, she discovers that Trevor’s quest for truth had made him dangerous enemies. His business partner stood to inherit everything. A respected historian’s entire career was built on research Trevor claimed was fake. A property developer’s multimillion-dollar resort deal depended on historical significance Trevor was about to prove never existed. An innkeeper’s haunted reputation relied on ghost stories Trevor himself had invented twenty years ago. With the sheriff ruling the death as natural causes and closing the case, Casey must follow the evidence through a maze of fabricated history, convenient lies, and desperate motives to prove what her instincts are screaming—this was murder carefully disguised as misfortune.
In a town built on entertaining legends and manufactured mysteries, Casey and Ember must separate truth from fiction before a killer who’s already hidden one death behind comfortable lies decides the persistent ranger is asking too many uncomfortable questions. Sometimes the most dangerous ghost stories are the ones people are willing to kill to protect.
When Park Ranger Casey Mitchell and her observant dog Ember discover the body of beloved ghost tour operator Trevor Walsh in an isolated clearing at Pinewood State Park, everyone assumes his heart simply gave out during one of his theatrical performances. But Casey notices troubling details that don’t add up—Trevor’s antique prop lantern sits cold beside him, unlit for hours, and his body lies in a location that’s nowhere near any ghost tour route. Even more puzzling, Trevor had been working on an explosive book that threatened to expose which of Hollow Creek’s famous legends were real folklore and which were fabricated stories created to boost tourism.
As Casey digs deeper with Ember’s help, she discovers that Trevor’s quest for truth had made him dangerous enemies. His business partner stood to inherit everything. A respected historian’s entire career was built on research Trevor claimed was fake. A property developer’s multimillion-dollar resort deal depended on historical significance Trevor was about to prove never existed. An innkeeper’s haunted reputation relied on ghost stories Trevor himself had invented twenty years ago. With the sheriff ruling the death as natural causes and closing the case, Casey must follow the evidence through a maze of fabricated history, convenient lies, and desperate motives to prove what her instincts are screaming—this was murder carefully disguised as misfortune.
In a town built on entertaining legends and manufactured mysteries, Casey and Ember must separate truth from fiction before a killer who’s already hidden one death behind comfortable lies decides the persistent ranger is asking too many uncomfortable questions. Sometimes the most dangerous ghost stories are the ones people are willing to kill to protect.