Kay Jennings announces that Phantom Cove, book 5 in her mystery/thriller series, released on November 17, 2022. Phantom Cove is part of the Port Stirling Mystery series set on the rugged southern Oregon coast, and follows Police Chief Matt Horning and his colleagues. While the local cast of characters continue and their relationships evolve, each book in the series features a standalone mystery. The series debuted in 2019 with Shallow Waters, and includes Midnight Beach, Code: Tsunami, and Dark Sand. Buy the series wherever books are sold.
Jennings grew up in southern Oregon, near her fictional Port Stirling, and draws on the area’s historical past for some of her story ideas. This part of Oregon is remote and starkly beautiful, with a wildness about it that lends itself well to mystery and intrigue
The series features Matt Horning, a cop from Dallas, Texas, who was looking for a fresh start, and was hired as police chief in Port Stirling, Oregon, a small village directly on the Oregon coast. Since his first day on the job, Horning has faced one challenge after another, but he has been welcomed by a local cast of characters, both his colleagues in law enforcement, and in the local community.
The fifth book in the series, Phantom Cove, ratchets up the emotional intensity and produces a heart-pounding thriller ride. The Port Stirling series leans more toward crimes of contemporary reality than cozy mysteries, but, as in real life, some romance sneaks in. Jennings recommends reading the series in book order to understand in full how the characters develop over time. She anticipates continuing the series until – as she puts it – “I don’t have any more stories in me. Thankfully, I have an over-active imagination.” She’s currently working on Book 6, entitled Mourning Bay, which will be published in mid-2023.