I’ve had this book on my kindle for absolutely ages, but for some reason it has never really caught my eye enough to read it. But since I read another Jana DeLeon book last month and quite liked it, I thought I might as well give this a try too.

Maryse is a scientist working out on the bayou, carrying out investigations into the plant-life on the bayou. But her life is turned upside down by two things, firstly her mother-in-law dies. Maryse was actually not too heart-broken at this, until she sees Helena rising up from her coffin at the funeral, and she realises that she is the only person who can see the ghost of her hateful mother-in-law, who apparently finds it quite fun to trail Maryse everywhere she goes.

Secondly, a ‘zoologist’ called Luc LeJuene turns up in Maryse’s office, claiming he has been sent by the state to work with her temporarily, but it looks like all may not be as it seems, and Maryse is very wary about letting him in on her (very secret) investigations.

We then end up on a slightly comedic journey with Maryse as she tries to figure out who killed Maryse and avoid getting killed herself, all while trying to avoid the attentions of Luc, until she can figure out what his game is.

I found the book quite fun, although many parts were pretty predictable. Saying that, Jana managed to slip in a few twists to keep things interesting. The character of Maryse’s mother-in-law Helena provided most of the fun for the story, trying to adjust to living in limbo, neither dead or alive. I liked Maryse’s character too, but just couldn’t get on with Luc until about three quarters of the way through the book, when more of his life is finally revealed to us.

I can see that this book is actually the first in a series, but I don’t know where the next books would go from here, with most parts of the plot tied up quite neatly, but some left wide open. I don’t think I liked the book enough to splash out on the next one just yet, especially with a ‘to-read’ pile high enough to take me to the moon!