Jilting her groom at the alter after he cheated on her and assaulted her sister, small-town gossip hasn’t left Verity with much of a reputation and she’s about to lose her house. Among the gas station flowers and last minutes gifts her ex left behind is what turns out to be his great-uncle’s urn – with Great-Uncle still in it. Stuck with Great Uncle’s ghost, a prohibition gangster who really disapproves of his descendant, she tries to find a way to save her house with the help of a guy who really knows where the bodies are buried. He’s one of them.

The author says that this was a joy to write, and it is certainly a joy to read. The plot twists and turns with some original ideas on ghosts and a wonderful blend of the mundane and the afterlife. The deceased aren’t merely like living people but dead, they have their own culture, powers, world, and can be truly terrifying.

This book is many things, and it is good at all of them – the small-town drama, the romance, the interwoven plots and the spirit world blend wonderfully. The ghost sequences are actually edge of your seat in places, and an angry poltergeist is nothing to take lightly. Just for once there is a very good reason ghosts don’t want humans to see them: because when humans can see ghosts, ghosts can hurt them.

The mystery that takes up most of the second part twists and turns. I picked this up for a ten minute read at 3a.m. because I couldn’t sleep. At loc 3000 and 6:26am. I realised I had no intention of putting it down until the mystery was solved. Clever, layered, with many plots that work together and that rarest of things: a believable resolution, I really enjoyed it.

I didn’t find any spelling or gramnar errors and the editing is spot on. I don’t just mean the grammar either: the pacing, plot twists, and writing are all excellent. And she has a pet skunk.

I’m torn between a four and a five.