As a humorous cozy mystery author, apparitions as characters are critically important members of my cast. I have introduced two ghosts—the dead wife and young daughter of one of the men in my protagonist’s life as continuing characters in my Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series. They serve as an important yet hysterically funny bridge that connects the main character’s past to her present life and creates an extra layer of conflict in her relationship with the widower and where she wants it to go.
Nothing tickles my funny bone more than the antics of a pampered princess who has to work like the rest of us if she wants to eat when the family fortune dries up. Pepper Martin takes the only job available as a cemetery tour guide–who knew such a creepy job existed?
After hitting her noggin on a gravestone, suddenly she sees dead people. I laughed out loud when a whacked Mafia Don “makes her an offer she can’t refuse” and threatens to haunt her until she hunts down his killers. If you’re like me and the image of Lucy Ricardo on the hunt for a mobster’s killer gets you giggling, this is the story for you.
Beautiful, smart, and chic, Pepper Martin never had to work a day in her life -- until her surgeon daddy was convicted of fraud, her wealthy fiancé took a powder, and the family fortune ran bone dry.
Suddenly desperate, the inexperienced ex-rich girl was forced to take the only job she could get: as a tour guide in a cemetery. But a grave situation took a turn for the worse when a head-on collision with a headstone left her with an unwanted ability to communicate with the disgruntled deceased . . . and now Pepper has…
Unwed, broke, and over thirty, Mississippi native Sarah Booth Delaney may live on the family plantation, but take it from me; she’s no Scarlett O’Hara. And if the not-so-Southern Belle didn’t already have enough to contend with, she’s being haunted by the wise-cracking ghost of her great-great-grandmother’s nanny, who never misses an opportunity to remind her of the mess her life has become.
I burst out laughing when the irreverent ghost scolded Sarah Booth, saying her biological clock was ticking and she better start birthing babies before her eggs got too old and dried up! If you’re like me and love a sassy ghost poking fun at an unladylike sleuth, then this is the book for you.
Meet Sarah Booth Delaney, an unconventional Southern belle whose knack for uncovering the truth is about to make her the hottest detective in Zinnia, Mississippi . . . if it doesn't make her the deadest.
No self-respecting lady would allow herself to end up in Sarah Booth’s situation. Unwed, unemployed, and over thirty, she’s flat broke and about to lose the family plantation. Not to mention being haunted by the ghost of her great-great-grandmother’s nanny, who never misses an opportunity to remind her of her sorry state—or to suggest a plan of action, like ransoming her friend’s prize pooch to…
The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.
The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.
Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…
A substitute teacher messes with the lives of high school physics students by having them play a mind game where they draw a card with choices they must choose between that would determine their fate. Astonishingly, one by one, the choices that they made came to fruition.
Kimberly Baer has created a cast of imperfect but believable characters with an equal balance of teenage angst and audacity. This is a story of survival, young love, loss, trust, and the inner strength one must summon to face adversity and demons created by both human fallibility and fate. Part fantasy, part thriller, part horror story, part ghost tale, it is a brilliantly plotted spine-tingling gem that will keep you up nights with the lights on.
Pick a card, any card... Would you rather be an amazing artist or a brilliant mathematician? Would you rather lose your mother or your father? Would you rather roast to death or freeze to death? It's a silly game hosted by a substitute teacher, an exercise in exploring the workings of the teenage mind. Twenty-three students make their choices, and the game is forgotten-until the chosen scenarios start coming true. Classmates Ava, Blake, and Charlie are determined to track down the mysterious teacher and persuade him to end the curse. But the clock is ticking, lives hang in the balance,…
This book sends the perennial issue of teenage bullying to another plane. A bullied high school student encounters a female student ghost who encourages him to stand up to his bully. The bullied boy takes her advice, which takes a tragic turn when the boy’s tormentor kills him. He becomes a trapped ghost who haunts his school for decades.
The descriptions of the ghosts and their experiences are so vivid that if you didn’t believe in ghosts before, you’d become a true believer. This is a triumph of fantasy colliding with reality. It is an unforgettable story of hope and redemption and the inner strength one must summon to face adversity created by human fallibility and fate that both YA and adult readers will enjoy and relate to.
Pinedale Central High School is rumored to be haunted. For fifteen-year-old Sam Anderson, his haunting comes from the bullying he suffers each day within the school's walls. Sam doesn't believe the rumors, not until he meets Jessica, a former Pinedale student who died over one hundred years ago. No one can see or hear her except for Sam. Jessica convinces Sam to stand up to his bully. Unfortunately, the confrontation ends in tragedy. Now Sam is one of the ghosts no one can see or hear. At least not until he meets a former military operative, now Pinedale's newest Guidance…
The Guardian of the Palace is the first novel in a modern fantasy series set in a New York City where magic is real—but hidden, suppressed, and dangerous when exposed.
When an ancient magic begins to leak into the world, a small group of unlikely allies is forced to act…
Maybe it was fond memories of my own dearly-departed wise Nana that made me fall in love with Meemaw, Texas fashion designer Harlow Jane Cassidy’s ghostly granny as she worked from the Great Beyond to help her granddaughter solve a murder and clear her as the number one suspect. Give me a gal who inherits magical power and has to think on her feet when a crisis comes calling, and she has to use it.
Part paranormal, part mystery, part second chance at life and love, this is a woo-woo-infused fun trip to Never-neverland.
When her great-grandmother passes away, Harlow Jane Cassidy leaves her job as a Manhattan fashion designer and moves back to Bliss, Texas. But when she opens a dressmaking boutique in the turn-of-the-century farmhouse she inherited, Harlow senses an inexplicable "presence". Is Meemaw really gone, or she now Harlow's ghostly roommate?
Her old friend Josie orders a gown for her upcoming wedding, but when Josie's boss turns up dead, Harlow has to find the killer-with a little help from beyond.
Mermaid Swimwear President Holly Schlivnik attends an industry Hanukkah party to honor Rapido Swimwear CEO Leni Waxman as the Mount Cedars Hospital Woman of the Year. The guest of honor collapses and dies in the middle of the event. An autopsy confirms that Leni expired as a result of poisoning by coming in contact with a purposely contaminated dreidel. There is no shortage of suspects—Leni had no problem destroying anyone who threatened her top-dog swimwear industry position. When Holly’s business partner is wrongly arrested for Leni’s murder, the irreverent sales exec can’t mind her own beeswax. The wise-cracking snoop sticks her nose everywhere it doesn’t belong to flesh out the real killer. But the trail has more twists and turns than a rollercoaster, and nothing turns out how Holly thinks it will as she takes on a ruthless killer hellbent on revenge.
Palmer Lind, recovering from the sudden death of her husband, embarks on a bird-watching trek to the Gulf Coast of Florida. One hot day on Leffis Key, she comes upon—not the life bird she was hoping for—but a floating corpse. The handsome beach bum who appears on the scene at…
Rodney Bradford comes into Lindsay's restaurant, offers to buy her small house for double its value, eats her brownies, and drops dead on the sidewalk in front. Next, her almost-ex-husband offers to sign the divorce papers, but only if she'll give him her small,…
