GHOST GONE WILD

A heavenly sleuth gets hijacked on her way to apply for a new case.

Bailey Ruth Raeburn is one of the most unorthodox sleuths in Heaven’s Department of Good Intentions. So she’s far from sanguine about her chances of getting sent back to Earth by department head Wiggins, who often chastises her for ignoring the rules. All that changes when a stunning woman riding a magnificent black horse sweeps up Bailey Ruth, thrusts a ticket into her hand and throws her on the Rescue Express, which spirits her back to her old hometown of Adelaide, Okla., just in time to prevent a young man from being shot. Nick Magruder, the nephew of equestrian Dee Delahunt Duvall, has recently returned to Adelaide a very wealthy young man after selling the spider-based video game he developed. Nick has a chip on his shoulder and intends to get even with all the high school jocks who tormented him. He’s madly in love with Jan, whose mother, Arlene, is having an affair with Cole Clanton, one of the worst of Nick’s high school tormentors. When Jan arrives on the scene, Bailey Ruth pretends to be a private detective hired to protect Nick. She and Nick are forced to spend the night at Arlene’s B&B when Bailey Ruth realizes that her usual power to change her wardrobe or vanish has forsaken her. Clanton is deeply involved with an upcoming historical recreation, but Bailey Ruth suspects that his sudden interest in the town’s history is financially motivated. When Clanton is shot dead, Nick is arrested, since half the town heard him threatening Clanton. So Bailey Ruth and Dee persuade Wiggins to let them get to work identifying the real killer.

Hart’s ghost mysteries (Ghost in Trouble, 2010, etc.) are often amusing and never easy to solve. Bailey Ruth’s latest is one of her toughest cases.