second Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts, and one she won't soon forget when a self-proclaimed vampire is murdered . . .

Charlene's bed and breakfast is fully booked with guests wanting to experience Salem's wildest holiday--especially the annual Witch Ball, held at the historic Hawthorne Hotel. At the dance, actual witch and winery owner Brandy Flint has her back up over her daughter Serenity's new beau--it's bad enough he's a decade older, he also claims to be a vampire from Romania.

As for Charlene, with handsome ghost Dr. Jack Strathmore haunting her B&B, she has developed an open mind regarding the supernatural. But her mind is blown when the clock strikes midnight, the lights flare and dim, and the vampire vanishes--leaving behind only his cape and a wooden stake with a thick red substance on the sharp tip. The next morning, a naked man washes up on the shore with a hole punched through his chest, and Detective Sam Holden has a homicide on his hands. Now Charlene and Jack must put their heads together to find out who staged the trick to stake a vampire . . .