From the Shadows by B.J. Daniels is the second book in her Buckhorn, Montana series. Beware The Crenshaw Hotel! They say 
it is haunted.
Casey Crenshaw spent her summers at her grandmother’s hotel, The Crenshaw, in Buckhorn, Montana. She worked as a staff member there in her teens…until that summer, the summer fellow staff member Megan Broadhurst was found murdered in the woods beside the hotel. Casey never went back after that. Megan’s murderer was never found but visitors to the hotel said her ghost haunted the hotel. It has been closed down for a couple years since Casey’s grandmother became ill. Her grandmother has passed away now and Casey has returned to Buckhorn to sell the hotel and see it demolished. When she arrives at the hotel she is surprised to find a stranger had been staying there for months. That’s when Casey first meet Finn James. Casey was further surprised by the appearance of the other former staff members from the summer Megan was murdered. They all said they had received invitations for a reunion weekend. Casey sure didn’t invite them and no one admitted to sending the invitations out either. They were the last people she ever wanted to see again. But Finn James was a different story. She was attracted to him.
Finn James is a billionaire who recently sold his company and disappeared. People speculated that he was dead. He sure wasn’t dead. He was hiding out in The Crenshaw Hotel in Buckhorn, Montana trying to solve the mystery of who murdered Megan Broadhurst. He knew Megan in his youth. She was his first love. Well he thought he knew her. What he found out about her from Casey Crenshaw and the other former staff members drew a completely different picture of what Megan was really like. She was mean and they all hated her. But who murdered her? He was sure Casey Crenshaw wasn’t the murderer. Finn had found Casey’s grandmother’s journals as he explored the hotel looking for clues to solve the murder. Finn felt he knew Casey from reading what her grandmother had written about her. Finn and Casey teamed up to investigate Megan’s murder. Finn couldn’t help but feel protective of Casey and loving her.
This is a well-written story. There are many intricate details to keep straight and author B.J. Daniels does an excellent job of doing just that. She keeps up the suspense of who killed Megan with character flashbacks and memories. I found this to be a very interesting way to move the storyline along. The development of the relationship between Casey and Finn builds as trust builds. I liked how the relationship between the two ended up being so strong after what they go through. The ending was a surprise. This is one of those books where you want to go back and reread it to see what clues you missed.
Book Info:
Publication: February 23rd 2021 | HQN Books | Buckhorn, Montana #2
Dark secrets always come to light…
Some people might dream of inheriting a hotel in picturesque Buckhorn, Montana. To Casey Crenshaw, though, her late grandmother’s property is a white elephant to be sold as quickly as possible. The place has been boarded up for years, and locals murmur about ghost sightings since a young woman was murdered there. It’s not imaginary ghosts that worry Casey—it’s the flesh-and-blood man who’s throwing a wrench into all her plans.
Finn James intends to find out what really happened at the hotel. Not even the capable, highly independent redhead who owns it will stop him. But though the quest draws Finn and Casey together, digging into the past is dangerous, especially when there are others determined to keep the truth hidden—by any means necessary…
