Murder in the Winter Washout
(2026)(The third book in the Brindlehook Inn Mystery series)
A novel by Claire Bessey
Cassie Vale hoped winter at Brindlehook Inn would be quieter.
After two murder investigations, one rescued friendship, and far too many old records proving Brindlehook Harbor lies beautifully when it wants to, Cassie is ready for a slower season. The historic inn on the Washington coast is still battered, still expensive, and still hiding more secrets than any respectable building should, but at least the guests are few, Ruth Bell is testing hot chocolate bread pudding, and Fig the one-eyed tortoiseshell cat has claimed every warm chair as her personal property.
Then a winter storm tears open the ground near the old drainage channel.
In the muddy washout, workers find human remains. The body is old. The shoes belong to another era. And near the remains is a damaged velvet ring box holding three perfect diamonds.
The discovery pulls Cassie into the mystery of Vivian Shore, a young woman who supposedly left Brindlehook decades ago after a broken engagement. But the old story starts falling apart fast. A missing guest ledger page, an old room key tag, a Christmas menu with one extra place setting, and a forgotten kitchen memory all point to the same ugly truth: Vivian may never have left the inn alive.
As Deputy Wren Calder investigates the old remains, Cassie searches through Brindlehook Inn’s guest records, holiday menus, room cards, and hidden notes left by her great-aunt Junie. The deeper she digs, the closer the case comes to the town’s most powerful families, including Graham Voss, whose polished concern has never fooled her.
Miles Arden’s family history also becomes tangled in the case when old repair marks connect his grandfather to the drainage channel where Vivian was hidden. Cassie trusts Miles more than she used to, but Brindlehook has taught her that trust without truth is just another pretty lie.
When Hattie Crowe is attacked and an old Vivian Shore file disappears, the past stops feeling buried and starts feeling dangerous.
Murder in the Winter Washout is Book 3 in The Brindlehook Inn Mysteries, a clean coastal cozy mystery series filled with historic inn secrets, old family lies, winter atmosphere, buried jewels, slow-burn romance, amateur sleuthing, and a clever cat who keeps finding what people tried to hide.
Perfect for readers who love clean cozy mysteries, coastal small-town mysteries, Christmas cozy mysteries, historic inn mysteries, mystery series with cats, cold-case mysteries, old records, family secrets, and character-driven amateur sleuth fiction.
At Brindlehook Inn, even the winter storms know where the bodies are buried.
Genre: Mystery
After two murder investigations, one rescued friendship, and far too many old records proving Brindlehook Harbor lies beautifully when it wants to, Cassie is ready for a slower season. The historic inn on the Washington coast is still battered, still expensive, and still hiding more secrets than any respectable building should, but at least the guests are few, Ruth Bell is testing hot chocolate bread pudding, and Fig the one-eyed tortoiseshell cat has claimed every warm chair as her personal property.
Then a winter storm tears open the ground near the old drainage channel.
In the muddy washout, workers find human remains. The body is old. The shoes belong to another era. And near the remains is a damaged velvet ring box holding three perfect diamonds.
The discovery pulls Cassie into the mystery of Vivian Shore, a young woman who supposedly left Brindlehook decades ago after a broken engagement. But the old story starts falling apart fast. A missing guest ledger page, an old room key tag, a Christmas menu with one extra place setting, and a forgotten kitchen memory all point to the same ugly truth: Vivian may never have left the inn alive.
As Deputy Wren Calder investigates the old remains, Cassie searches through Brindlehook Inn’s guest records, holiday menus, room cards, and hidden notes left by her great-aunt Junie. The deeper she digs, the closer the case comes to the town’s most powerful families, including Graham Voss, whose polished concern has never fooled her.
Miles Arden’s family history also becomes tangled in the case when old repair marks connect his grandfather to the drainage channel where Vivian was hidden. Cassie trusts Miles more than she used to, but Brindlehook has taught her that trust without truth is just another pretty lie.
When Hattie Crowe is attacked and an old Vivian Shore file disappears, the past stops feeling buried and starts feeling dangerous.
Murder in the Winter Washout is Book 3 in The Brindlehook Inn Mysteries, a clean coastal cozy mystery series filled with historic inn secrets, old family lies, winter atmosphere, buried jewels, slow-burn romance, amateur sleuthing, and a clever cat who keeps finding what people tried to hide.
Perfect for readers who love clean cozy mysteries, coastal small-town mysteries, Christmas cozy mysteries, historic inn mysteries, mystery series with cats, cold-case mysteries, old records, family secrets, and character-driven amateur sleuth fiction.
At Brindlehook Inn, even the winter storms know where the bodies are buried.
Genre: Mystery
Used availability for Claire Bessey's Murder in the Winter Washout