A Stand-Alone Novel
A KILLER BED & BREAKFAST is Alice Zogg's tenth stand-alone novel.
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When a brushfire breaks out at Castaic Lake State Park in California, the guests at The Vista - - a nearby bed and breakfast - - assume it's the work of the Southland Torcher, the arsonist behind a string of fires across Southern California. When Tim Weinbau, a guest at The Vista, goes missing, his girlfriend Amanda Redding arrives on the scene, determined to uncover the truth. But she isn't the only one. All the people at the bed and breakfast learn something that will change each of their lives forever when Sheriff Simon Shaft takes charge of the investigation and the guests find themselves not only suspected of arson but also facing a possible murder charge.
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A Killer Bed & Breakfast is available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book format at
www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com and other online vendors.
Purchase Information
Publisher: Aventine Press (July 2025)
Hardcover ISBN number: 978-1-955162-39-5
Paperback ISBN number: 978-1-955162-38-8
eBook ISBN number: 978-1-45667-012-2
List Price – Hardcover US$ 25.99
List Price – Paperback US$ 12.99
eBook Price – US$ 3.99
Excerpt from Chapter 1
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On Sunday night, July 13, all was quiet at The Vista, a bed and breakfast near the State Park of Castaic Lake, California. The owners of the idyllic place, Ralph and Kate Rhymes, lay satisfied after lovemaking.
Kate asked, "Are you happy?"
"Sure, it was great," her spouse replied.
"I meant with us living here and running The Vista."
"Oh, that. I guess I'm getting used to it."
He was already half asleep when she mentioned, "We sure had a bunch of nice people here last week. Marvel is staying on for a few more days but everyone else left this evening. A slew of new folks are booked starting tomorrow."
"Uh...yeah..."
Ralph was no longer awake as she rattled on, "Should be interesting. We'll have a young couple on their honeymoon, a middle-aged Vietnamese husband and wife, two brothers, a recent graduate student, and two women friends. Except for the graduate, they've all reserved for the entire week. It's a good thing that we have two rooms available with a couple of twin beds each as both parties, the brothers and the women, requested separate beds."
Realizing that she no longer had an audience, she tried to settle down too, but sleep would not come. Worrying about Ralph kept her mind engaged. She wished that he could become as excited about their venture as she was. They'd opened their doors at the beginning of May, and so far, they'd had full occupancy ever since, with people booked for most of the summer. This came as no surprise since their location was only 40 miles from downtown Los Angeles and accessed via Interstate 5. Their bed and breakfast was just a two-minute walk to Upper Lake Castaic and a seven-mile drive from Magic Mountain.
She had always wanted to run a place like The Vista and was sure that it would become a success story, but Ralph had a tough time adjusting. The reason for their current enterprise was the faux pas he'd made in their former lives. For him, their new undertaking was punishment, whereas for her it became a dream come true. She felt certain that The Vista was a gem among bed and breakfast places. She hoped that with time he would also share her enthusiasm.
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She sighed and eventually drifted off to sleep.
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