This book is the 2nd in the Ghost Hunter Mystery series, featuring M.J., a beautiful psychic medium, Gilley, her partner and the techie end of the business, and 'Dr. Delicious', Steven, whom we met in the first Ghost book, and is now another partner. He is from Argentina and a major hunk, and he and M.J. have major chemistry - and it is handled with a light touch that is just right and doesn't interfere with the action.

And the action - WOW - The Ghost Hunters have been hired by M.J.'s friend Karen, who they call Teeko, because she's a knockout - to investigate the Northelm Boarding School near Lake Placid, NY - an angry ghost, nicknamed Hatchet Jack has been terrorizing the area for decades, and has traumatized Karen's niece - So the trio go to the boarding school, now empty for the summer to see what they can do. And this ghost is one angry guy - he chases folks and he can hurt -Also M.J. finds the ghosts of 3 boys who also fear Jack...

As she does in every book, Ms. Laurie always takes the opportunity to educate the reader on what it's like from the view of the metaphysical world - she, through M.J., explains all about ghosts, poltergeists, hauntings, and portals - that makes us feel we can follow the action with more clarity -

The layers of action are terrific - the crew deals with the bad ghost, the young boys that are lost, and don't know how to 'go home', attacks, and romance -

It is the best of Ms. Laurie's books, and I think she's set the barr high with this one - she's one talented lady!

One more thing before I end - Someone who steals the show is not human, but an African Grey Parrot named Doc - (modeled after Laurie's own pet) - who is such a personality with a wide range of vocabulary and is wildly jealous if anyone who pays romantic attention to M.J. - there is one scene with Doc escaping his cage to 'rescue' M.J. that brought tears to my eyes I was laughing so hard! Of course, I grew up with parrots - my grandparents always had them and I know how intelligent they are, especially African Greys - When I interviewed Ms. Laurie (here on AD) she told me about her Doc, who can do some fantastic things - Made me miss my Cockatoo Clara and Mynah Bird, Joe so much!

One of the things I like about the series is the inclusion of pets - she gets my vote for that!

If you haven't read Ms. Laurie yet, this is a great place to start, as you get aquainted with the characters again in this book - the actions of the first book are mentioned so we know what happened before -

An excellent read!

ellen george

Demons are a Ghoul's Best Friend, by Victoria Laurie, ISBN: 978-0-451-22341-8, Penguin Group, review by ellen george