THE HOLY TERRORS

Minor celebrities gather in a building with a historically large body count. What could go wrong?

The ghost of Agatha Christie hovers over Green’s frothy whodunit, which features a haunted setting and colorful characters who arrive there in a considerately slow procession before the inevitable murder. The Stonehaven town hall, arguably the most colorful character of all, is introduced first, as a modest country building but also “the most haunted hall in England,” a trademarked identity. Handsome young Alistair Kincaid, newly appointed bishop of All Souls Hollow in London, arrives simultaneously with glamorous actress Diana Hunt, who openly flirts with him. They’re followed by eager television producer June Colby, host of the ghost-hunting reality show they’ve all come to film. Shabby, acclaimed medium Leslie Derleth arrives next, followed by charismatic comedian Toby Marsh and celebrity chef Indira Singh, the final guest. Once the table is set, subsequent chapters feature eerie, presumably ghostly happenings and a lot of engaged dialogue, fleshing out the character portraits and planting tiny seeds of suspense. Readers’ patience may be tried when they have to wait more than halfway through the tale before anyone is murdered. But things move quickly once a character declares, “It’s clear the killer must be one of us.” And there’s an alternate solution: The killers are the murderous ghosts they’ve gathered to troll. After all, the house is credited with 27 deaths…and one disappearance. Could it be? More violence and more twists play out before the final surprise.

A sleek and appealing, if overlong, homage to vintage whodunits.