Our Eyes at Night

In Dressler’s superior third Last Ghost paranormal thriller (after 2020’s I See You So Close), set in a world in which ghosts are real and pervasive, professional ghost hunter Philip Pratt is called to remove a ghost from the governor’s mansion in Salt Lake City, Utah; beforehand he claims the job will be “meticulous and humane,” and privately he regards it as “a quick, melancholy exercise, like chasing after a leaking balloon.” His reputation for success leads to an entreaty from Sherry Hogan, the sheriff of Utah’s Masters County. Hogan believes that her jurisdiction is afflicted by a group haunting in the abandoned town of Briscoe; above the fireplace of a house rebuilt with salvaged materials someone, or something, has written: “We dead did this.” Pratt accepts the assignment to investigate, a decision that’s unexpectedly hazardous. Dressler’s solid prose and knack for creating sympathy for both major and minor characters make suspending disbelief easy. Series fans will find the denouement both surprising and moving. This entry is readily accessible to newcomers, who will be eager to seek out earlier installments. Agent: Alison Bond, Alison Bond Literary. (Mar.)