Each of the five prior 'Eternal Rest Bed and Breakfast' novels has told an episode story, a murder in need of solving, but this is book six and there are only seven, so there's a special focus this time out on the series story, mostly about Emily's late husband Scott but also about the psychic barrier that's keeping his ghost outside Oak Hill. Sure, there's another murder, because this is a mystery series; however many ghosts are hanging around, but that links in too.

As if she's ready to get down to business with that series arc, Beth Dolgner opens with easily the most evocative passage thus far, Emily vainly trying to reach Scott from the cemetery next door but feeling like something is changing. These first few pages are a great way to get us on track at the very beginning, to ask the questions the author wants us to ask. What is the psychic barrier in place around Oak Hill? What is it keeping out? And why are the ghosts in town, as Danny suggests, "surprisingly well-behaved"?

The first step towards finding answers to those questions is the arrival of a coven. There are only seven of them, partly because times have been hard on them and partly, I think, because the full thirteen would have been unwieldy within a cosy mystery of a hundred and eighty or so pages. It isn't the happiest coven either, mostly because of negative energy generated by and towards the dominant coven leader, Helen Harper.

Certainly her second in command, Abbie Morais, bridles at how Helen wields her power over the group, convinced that she could do a better job, and Evelyn Grayson used to be in Helen's position but was ousted during a scandal. Kelly warns Emily of the anger in the group and it's well-pointed-out because it shouldn't be too surprising when it's Helen who shows up dead, during a ritual next door in the cemetery. It initially looks like an accident but someone also stabbed her in the back, so perhaps not. Notably, the usual approach of asking the ghost doesn't work because she didn't see the rear attack, so has no idea who it was.

Obviously Abbie and Evelyn both have motive and I've neglected to let you in on who else belongs to the coven because there's a surprise there to take us back into the series arc. Helen is loud and dominant as the leader. Abbie is supermodel beautiful, with Kenyan and Brazilian blood. Malena Lopez is the group's archivist. Serenity, a bubbly flower child, handles herbs. Evelyne Grayson is as much of a bitch as Helen. And Piper Carlson is the most local. Oh, and the seventh is one Darlene Buchanan, better known as Scott's mum. Well, OK then!

I'm not going to spoil the reason why they're there because it takes a surprisingly long time for it to be actually said out loud. It's well over a quarter of the book, meaning over fifty pages, and it's not given away in the back cover blurb either. If Dolgner isn't willing for us to know until the coven tells us, then I'll follow suit. However, I'm pretty sure that every reader will figure it out before it gets to that point. They have a job to do, one that they've done before and will do again, and that comes with ramifications for Emily and Scott. Is that enough of a clue? It's all you're getting.

I should mention that not all these witches are staying at Eternal Rest from the outset. There are only four bedrooms, on top of Emily's own, so four of them are staying there, two more downtown at the Carmichael Hotel and Piper is commuting from Buckhead, presumably a nearby town. While we've learned a lot in these books about Oak Hill, we haven't learned much about what's around it in the wider state of Georgia. However, in an odd decision by the police after Helen's death, they require all six of them to stay at Eternal Rest without using Helen's room, meaning that they all have to double up, knowing that one of them is likely to be a murderer. Fun times.

I really can't say much more than that without venturing into spoiler territory, so I'll merely point out that there's a lot more series progression than what the witches are involved with. We finally get to meet Scott, albeit briefly because that story isn't done yet and we'll have to wait one more volume to learn how that goes. With the barrier weakening, Sage's psychic powers seem to follow suit and she's even more surprised by the ending of the book than anyone else. Emily is what we'd perhaps be justified in calling a romantic interest, though she's not pursuing it yet, merely aware. And Clint is still the assistant at Eternal Rest but is hitting it off incredibly well with Kelly. Who is, just in case you've forgotten, a ghost.

In other words, there's a lot going on in 'Groups Welcome'. I liked the book, as I've liked all of them thus far, but less as a standalone volume. Dolgner clearly knew that she was about to wrap up the series at seven books long before she got this far, so inevitably had to spend a lot more time and attention on building to the final volume than spinning up a new mystery. Her decision to tie the episode story to the series story was an inspired one and it makes this book's mystery worthy, but it was never going to get the attention that its equivalents in earlier books got. That's just how it is when building to a series finalé. And, because I'm binging the series, that's 'Quiet Nights' next month. ~~ Hal C F Astell

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