Book Description:

There’s always room…

When therapist Lucas Stephen’s sister returns from a legendary Los Angeles hotel, she’s a shell of the artist she once was. Nearly catatonic, deteriorating rapidly, Michelle alarms Lucas by painting the same old-style straight razor over and over.

Heartbroken and frightened, Lucas resolves to find out what happened to her. With his beautiful—and psychic—colleague Della, Lucas travels to L.A., booking a room in the hotel Michelle stayed at.

They barely cross the threshold when Della senses evil. She sees bodies falling out of the sky. Broken dreams. Imprisoned nightmares. She begs Lucas to leave, but the hotel makes both time and truth shift, and when Lucas looks into the mirror in his sister’s room, he sees the straight razor—and is drawn to the bright, scarlet stain of fresh blood…

From the Author:

Insatiable for real-life mysteries, I tripped over the Elisa Lam story one afternoon, the strange case of a young woman who vanished while staying at the notorious Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles…only to be discovered after residents complained of foul tasting, discolored water in their drinking glasses and showers. Searching for the source of the water contamination, hotel staff surely found it – Elisa was dead and decaying in one of the hotel’s rooftop water tanks.
Elisa’s disappearance, and most certainly her last known moments (immortalized in some of the most bizarre CCTV footage I’ve ever seen) sent me down a rabbit hole both disturbing and horrifying. For many sleepless nights I just couldn’t get The Cecil off my mind. I had to let it live–and maybe even attempt to control it–through one of my own stories…thus No Vacancy was borne

About the Author:

Bonnie Randall lives in a forest at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada.
Scribbling stories in coil-bound notebooks from the age of 9, Bonnie’s first attempts at prose featured wicked dolls, evil grandmothers–oh, and a romantic hero who just happened to be a professional ice hockey player (go figure).

Clearly much has changed yet nothing has changed; Bonnie is still a sucker for true love, soul mates, smudgy shadows and things that go bump in the night.​Yet while writing has been the passion, social work has been the calling and, within a career spent in both Child Protection and addictions counseling, Bonnie has come to believe that it is our relationships–with people and environments–that shape our souls and craft what, ultimately, becomes the human experience.

​A Scorpio to the core, Bonnie’s passion is, well, passion–and mysticism, creepiness, and all things arcane. Her stories explore what love looks like in the face of paranormal peril for “Till death do us part” is, after all, only an illusion…

Love never dies…

Links:

Twitter – @BonnieRandall35

Website – http://www.bonnierandallstories.com

No Vacancy is a short read full of horror and emotions. The book starts and you already have multiple questions, and when it ends you have an entirely new set of questions. The mystery behind this story is very interesting, and creepy. I enjoy that multiple secrets still lay beyond in that hotel.

The characters work well with each other, and the story. The personalities and emotions are relatable. The setting is scary, and it’s what makes this read all the more chilling.

I made the mistake of reading this at night, and in the dark with just my kindle light. Needless to say when I finally convince myself to get up and pee, every light was turned on as I went. This story weaves its way into your mind, and makes your eyes play tricks on you, Which is how you know it is a fantastic horror read.

Beautifully written and filled with horror, I enjoyed every second of this short story!

5 bright shining stars to lead your way out of the dark when you finish this book!

Great Job Bonnie!!

—Pixie

This is my first ever blog tour! Thank you Richard T. Ryan and team for inviting me!

The Author:

A lifelong Sherlockian, Richard Ryan is the author of “The Official Sherlock Holmes Trivia Book” as well as a book on Agatha Christie trivia, and his series, the Sherlock Holmes Adventures, now consisting of four books, all available from MX Publishing, London.

Richard Ryan obtained his master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, where he majored in medieval literature; he is a die-hard fan of the Fighting Irish — it doesn’t matter what sport. He has been happily married for 40 years and is the proud father of two children.

Author Links

Twitter: @RicRyan52
Amazon:  author.to/RichardTRyan
GoodReads: http://bit.ly/RichardTRyan-GR

The Book:

Reluctantly, Sherlock Holmes agrees to assist Inspector Lestrade who is being hounded by an obnoxious nobleman whose jewel-encrusted dagger has gone missing. However, what Holmes initially believes to be a simple theft turns out instead to be his first encounter with a master criminal, who is as ruthless as he is brilliant, and whom Watson dubs “The Merchant of Menace.”

Soon Holmes finds himself matching wits with a man who will steal anything – if the price is right. Moreover, this thief will go to any lengths, including blackmail and murder, to achieve his desired goal.

As Holmes comes to understand his adversary, he also begins to realize he can only react to the Merchant because he has no idea where this criminal mastermind will strike next. All Holmes knows for certain is the Merchant seems to specialize in priceless, one-of-a-kind articles. Will that be enough information for the Great Detective to outwit his foe?

From the British Museum to the Louvre to Blenheim Palace, Holmes finds himself in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse. Set against the backdrop of early Edwardian England, the Great Detective and his Boswell encounter an array of luminaries from the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough to a young Winston Churchill.

For fans of Conan Doyle’s immortal detective, the game is always afoot. However, this time around Holmes must try to bring to justice a villain who might well be the next Napoleon of Crime.

Richard T. Ryan’s Sherlock Holmes Adventures Series:

#1 The Vatican Cameos                bit.ly/VaticanCameos-RTR
#2 The Stone of Destiny               bit.ly/StoneofDestiny
#3 The Druid of Death                  bit.ly/DruidofDeath
#4 The Merchant of Menace      bit.ly/MerchantofMenace

As a huge Sherlock fan I was beyond thrilled to pick up this book. I will admit I was a little concerned about the finishing it. Although I love Sherlock, Sir Arthur Conan Doyles stories tend to get a little stale before becoming good. I will say with certainty this was not the case here. I picked up this book and I could not put it down. It kept me up at night just to finish it. It grabs your attention and runs away with it. Before you know it, its hours later and you’re a bit confused on where your day went.

The characters were the best of Sherlock and Watson. You can feel the companionship coming off the pages. Their relationship is one of my favorites in history, and Richard captured it beautifully. I was excited to see all my favorites join us for this series also, including Mycroft, Mrs. Hudson, and Lestrade.

The Case, oh my the case. This case had Sherlock stunned, but of course that just made our favorite detective work all the more harder. I love that the more intelligent a criminal, the more respect Sherlock has for them. This case was one of my favorites of all the Sherlock cases. It had suspense, intrigue, and surprise. The entire thing was beautifully written

5 big beautiful stars for this Sherlock Tale!

Wonderfully done Richard!!!

–Pixie