After a long, cold, and snowy winter, it seems as though spring may be arriving early in Maine. Sarah Grayson is busy at her store, Second Chance, and she’s looking forward to an afternoon break from the hustle and bustle, tagging along to the North Harbor Spring House Tour with her friend Detective Michelle Andrews.

But it turns out one of the houses has a haunted history, and when a ghost hunter is found dead on the premises, Sarah knows the best way to uncover the killer/to solve the mystery is by investigating the not-so-dearly departed. With help from Elvis and Charlotte’s Angels, the crew of senior citizen private detectives who work out of the store, she’ll close the case on this creepy crime.

The host of a TV ghost hunter show turns up dead in a “haunted” bed and breakfast whose owner has repeatedly declined being featured on his show. Sarah and her friend Michelle find the body during the North Harbor Spring House Tour. While Michelle’s investigation is official, she is a police detective, the dead man’s co-host hires Charlotte’s Angels, a detective agency staffed primarily by senior citizens, to find out who killed him. The agency is based in Sarah’s Second Chance antique-second hand store and she and her cat Elvis are part of the team. As they investigate the murder they find themselves delving into the past of Gladstone House and the Gladstone family as it becomes more and more likely that the roots of the current murder lie in a historic murder at Gladstone House.

The characters are all likeable and the setting is attractive. In this tenth outing in the series we have seen our characters and their relationships grow. The action moves along at a good pace, not too fast or slow, and the investigation is believable. I came to the conclusion about the murderer at the same time our sleuths did which is the hallmark of a well-plotted cozy mystery. Elvis, the cat, is so very well portrayed it is clear the author must live with cats. Recommended. ~~ Stephanie L Bannon

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