Ghost Ups Her Game

MWA Grand Master Hart’s delightful ninth novel featuring ghost Bailey Ruth Raeburn (after 2017’s Ghost on the Case) sends Bailey Ruth, of heaven’s Department of Good Intentions, to her hometown of Adelaide, Okla., where a murder has just occurred. Cool, self-possessed Goddard College professor Iris Gallagher is standing over the body of slimy college fund-raiser Matt Lambert holding the murder weapon, a man’s sock “apparently filled with a heavy substance.” She’s telling nervous Robert Blair, a newly minted lawyer, that she didn’t commit the crime. Robert’s agreeing to dispose of the weapon later gets him in trouble with the police for tampering with evidence. When an impoverished student next turns up dead with Iris at hand, she’s arrested. In the course of gathering information on Lambert’s activities, Bailey Ruth identifies several suspects, including prominent local George Kirk. The murders may be related to the earlier death of George’s wealthy wife. Bailey Ruth’s concern for the vulnerable makes her a particularly endearing sleuth. Fans of paranormal cozies will be in heaven. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary. (Aug.)