T. M. Simmons Dead Man Haunt

Dead Man Haunt

T. M. Simmons

Five Star, Jul 2006, $25.95

ISBN: 1594144435

Not only can Alice Carpenter and her Aunt Twila see ghosts, they can talk with them. The duo helps the sprits stop whatever is holding them on this side of the veil including finding their killers if appropriate.

In small-town Mineral Springs, Texas in a dilapidated hotel about to be torn down, Alice notices the sexy ghost of Patrick before he vanishes. She convinces Aunt Twila that they must investigate the sighting. With Trucker the Rottweiler and Miss Muffy the Persian feline accompanying them, the two females arrive at the hotel to look around. They find the sliced up body of a man at the bottom of the elevator shaft. Alice demands they reunite her body, find her killer and locate the ghost of Patrick's beloved lover Consuelo before he moves on to the other side; Alice and Twila are warned that Consuelo's brother Antonio stands in the way. As the living females and their pets investigate, their troubles come from the mortal world as someone breathing wants their inquiry ended anyway necessary.

This exciting paranormal whodunit uses ghosts as support characters, which surprisingly seems real because of the interplay between the spirits and the brave living sleuths. Alice and Twila take the existence of ghosts in stride as if it is an everyday occurrence, which to them it is while Alice's ex Jack denies their existence. As with DEAD MAN TALKING, T.M. Simmons provides a delightfully charming leisurely flowing supernatural cozy.

Harriet Klausner