Kate herself is bigger than life – flitting here, there and everywhere in limos, ordering everyone around. Her adopted daughter Caroline is a rude, crude Cockney teenager who acts like she is either tranquilized or zoned out. Jonathan Arthur is Kate's personal assistant – and maybe more? – who has many irons in the fire and not all to Kate's benefit. The scary housekeeper is like "Mrs. Danvers," according to Jake, who dreads seeing her.

Jake has an interesting circle of friends herself, along with a kooky mother with whom she lives. (So they can afford the five-room apartment in New York City.) From her literary support group, Ghosts International (who must come to grips with anonymity), first her friend Emmie goes missing, then fellow ghostwriter Barbara turns up dead. Barbara has just completed a ghosting job for the daughter of the local Mafioso boss – maybe they were to blame. Or, it might be something much closer to Jake. When Emmie is found dead, too, it seems to be something much too close. It leads back to Kate Lloyd Connors and her entourage.

Zany characters – the psychic Gypsy Rose; the father-son duo, the Rubins (Ben, the son, is the police detective in charge of the murders) add a romantic twist for Jake and her mother; Too Tall Tom, a ghost for How-To-Do books; Modesty, a wispy ghost; Ginger, the cooking ghost; and Jake herself, who is a cross between Katie Couric and Jessica Fletcher – add a lot of zest to a baffling mystery.

Murders multiply, but Jake proves up to the challenge. She sees through all the subterfuge and chicanery, solving a mind-boggling mystery in a burst of insight. All the characters are charmingly kooky and fun. This is a good beginning for a new series. We will be looking for more of Jake O'Hara.

--Kay Black