Day Shift

Outsiders swarm the sleepy streets of Midnight, Tex., as supernatural superstar Harris returns with another practiced out-of-the-ordinary mystery (following Midnight Crossroad). Local phone psychic Manfred Bernardo returns from Dallas, where a client died during her reading; her unstable son accuses Manfred of absconding with the family jewels. Rev. Emilio Sheehan, eccentric operator of a pet cemetery, takes care of a young boy who grows supernaturally quickly. And a multinational corporation suddenly reopens the abandoned Midnight Hotel, bringing in indigent seniors from Vegas as its residents. Channeled spirits, earthbound angels, and the town’s most dangerous inhabitant (who is not the local vampire) all try to help Manfred clear his name in a resolution that occurs, unsurprisingly, under a full moon. Harris continues to open up her setting, layering in more secrets as well as revealing some answers, and, in a nod to her fans, dropping the S-bomb (“Sookie Stackhouse”) to link this series with her famous Southern Vampire Mysteries series. Agent: Joshua Bilmes, JABberwocky. (May)