cover image Merry, Merry Ghost

Merry, Merry Ghost

Carolyn Hart, . . Morrow, $24.99 (282pp) ISBN 978-0-06-087437-7

Introduced in Agatha-winner Hart's Ghost at Work (2008), the late Bailey Ruth Raeburn returns to earth on a heavenly mission to help a four-year-old orphan in this delightful sequel. Susan Flynn, the matriarch of one of the leading families of Adelaide, Okla., who's dying from congestive heart failure, discovers she has a grandson after Keith, the child of Susan's soldier son killed in Iraq, shows up at her door one day not long before Christmas. Susan's decision to change her will to leave her estate to Keith causes one of her many greedy relatives to ignore the message of the Christmas season. When murder and mayhem ensue, Hart's ghostly detective gets on the track of a clever killer. Bailey Ruth's pleasure in her earthly wardrobe, her keen observations of the other characters and her unorthodox but expert sleuthing will engage readers from start to finish. Hart is also the author of the Death on Demand series (Dare to Die , etc.). (Nov.)