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- Merry, Merry Ghost Reviewed By Mary Lignor Of Bookpleasures.com
Merry, Merry Ghost Reviewed By Mary Lignor Of Bookpleasures.com
- By Mary Lignor
- Published October 26, 2009
- GENERAL FICTION REVIEWS
Mary Lignor
Reviewer Mary Lignor: Mary is a retired librarian, originally from Connecticut but now living in New Mexico. All her life Mary has loved books and has passed this love on to her daughters. Mary started working in a library when her children were young as an Assistant Librarian and ended up as its Director. Her favorite books are suspense, political intrigue and anything involving the World War II era.
Author:
Carolyn Hart
ISBN: 978-0-06-087437-7
Click Here To Purchase Merry, Merry Ghost (Bailey Ruth Mysteries, No. 2)
Bailey Ruth
Raeburn is a Ghost. Bailey and her husband Bobby Mac Raeburn
were killed in a boating accident while together and having a great
time which was as they would have wished. Bailey goes to Heaven
and gets cabin fever once in a while as she was very good at helping
people out of their various problems. Heaven has a department
for this called "The Department of Good Intentions."
Bailey gets a new assignment from the Department Head and although
there are many rules to follow (Bailey is not good with rules) while
on Earthly missions, Bailey Ruth has every intention of following the
rules but sometimes situations arise to get in her way and rules are
broken.
Bailey has been sent to earth to guard a small
boy who has been returned to a family that he did not know about.
Nor, did the family know about his existence. It's the
Christmas season and the setting is a large ranch in Adelaide,
Oklahoma where his Grandmother, Susan, and several other people
reside. He is the last male heir in the family as he is the son
of Susan's son who was lost in the war. Susan's son, Mitchell,
had run away following an accident that killed his sister, and joined
the service and his parents did not know where he was. Susan
was notified of his death while in the service of his country but did
not know of a wife or child. When the boy arrives, he has proof
that he is Mitchell's son and Susan asks her lawyer to substantiate
the claim. Susan has no other blood relatives and insists on
making the boy her sole heir. Her previous will leaves her
home, a ranch and money to her in-law relatives. Being the good
person that she is she wants to be fair and leaves her in-law
relatives life use of the house and ranch and $200,000 each.
Then she notifies the family about what she is going to do.
This starts a real fire storm as the in-laws (including her
sister-in-law and niece, along with another niece and nephew and an
old friend of her late husband's) are trying to change her mind about
leaving everything to her grandson. Unfortunately, this
results in the murder of Susan supposedly before she had a chance to
sign a new will and eventually the murder of the lawyer's
secretary.
Enter, Bailey Ruth. Bailey can appear
and disappear at will and is always seen by children. So Keith
has an "invisible" friend as far as the others in the house
are concerned. She watches him closely and realizes that he has
a protector in the family in Peg, Susan's niece. But, Bailey
doesn't keep a close enough watch on Susan, the grandmother.
Bailey keeps bending the rules and giving tips to the chief of police
about what is going on by writing on the blackboard in his office and
signing her name as Officer M. Loy. She has a way of getting
things done but she rarely escapes her mentor who comes to scold her
frequently. There is suspense up until the end as to who killed
Susan and how it will affect the heirs. The other victim is a
secretary who had some information regarding a new will and tried to
sell it to one of the heirs. But, which one?
Carolyn
Hart is one of my favorite authors. She has written many books
featuring the owner of a Mystery Book Store called Death On Demand
and also a Henry O series featuring a scholar who solves murders.
But, this new series about Bailey Ruth has really grabbed me.
This is the second book. The first is called Ghost at Work and
was delightful. Ms Hart's books are so entertaining and
it would be great to read the first one before this but it's not
really necessary as the stories are different and the circumstances
are explained fully. It's a wonderful Christmastime tale and I
can't wait to see the next one. So have a good read.