THE HOUSE ON WIDOWS HILL

An alien who doesn’t believe in ghosts spends the night in a haunted—or is it?—house in Bath.

The morning after solving the case of the killer in a railroad car relayed in Night Train to Murder (2020), Ishmael Jones and Penny Belcourt, his partner in life and work, are mulling how to spend their time in Bath after Penny polishes off her full English breakfast. Something about being an alien come to Earth makes all that junk less appealing to Ishmael, who’s more invested in his paranormal but vaguely defined skill set and more distracted by the suggestion of Mr. Nemo, a mysterious psychic connected to their last investigation, that he’s not the only one of his kind on Earth. That’s certainly exciting news, but what does it mean? Before Ishmael can think through the who/what/where of his own life, he and Penny are approached by Mr. Whisper, a jauntily dressed man who’s clearly also employed by the Organization. In the absence of Ishmael’s boss, the Colonel, who isn’t available to vouch for Mr. Whisper’s account, the newcomer proposes a case that intrigues the couple: Look into the supposedly haunted Harrow House to see if there really is an on-site ghost or if it’s all a rumor to scare away buyers. Penny would love to confirm her own belief in ghosts; Ishmael is more skeptical—sure, aliens, but ghosts?—yet willing to accede to Penny’s interests. Their night of investigation teams them with a ghost hunter, a celebrity psychic, a cynical reporter, a self-proclaimed white witch, and a requisite murder that leads the whole group to wonder whether there’s a human killer or something supernatural afoot.

A fast, fun supernatural thriller that never takes itself too seriously.