Eleanor Wilde Mystery

When something goes bump in the night . . . it's most likely a plumbing problem, or something equally mundane. But fake medium Eleanor Wilde is happy to investigate and cleanse your home of spectral presences-for a fee. Hey, it's a living . . . Ellie has an ailing sister to care for, and working as a ghost hunter who doesn't believe in ghosts helps cover the bills for both of them. When she's lucky, it also pays for the occasional tropical vacation. Her brother doesn't exactly approve, but Ellie figures she's providing a service. On her latest job, though, she may be in for some genuine scares. The skeptical, reserved, and very rich Nicholas Hartford III has flown her all the way to his family's ancestral estate in England-supposedly haunted by a phantom named Xavier. Nicholas thinks it's all just as much a crock as Ellie's business is, but the fact remains that something is causing the flashes of light, mysterious accidents, and other apparent pranks in the chilly, eerie castle. His mother is sure that Xavier is real, and he's willing to employ Ellie if she can get to the bottom of it and put a stop to the nonsense. While the food and accommodations are somewhat disappointing (dorm-room furniture? Really?), Ellie is finding it an adventure to get to know this eccentric family and their houseguests, and to poke around in the nearby village for clues. But when an actual dead body appears-and subsequently disappears-at Castle Hartford, she'll have to apply her talent for trickery and psychological insight to solve a flesh-and-blood murder.

It may have been a ghost that led Eleanor Wilde to set up shop in a quaint English village. But now that she's established herself as the town witch, Ellie's contentedly casting spells on anyone desperate enough-or gullible enough-to request her mysterious potions... Selling mystical elixirs and tantalizing tonics is a pretty good way for a fake medium to earn a living. Or at least it's Ellie's main source of income-until a villager turns up dead. The cause? Murder by poisoning. And though Ellie's concoctions don't include anything worthy of a skull and crossbones, suddenly she's the prime suspect. Her only recourse is to find the culprit who did do away with Sarah Blackthorne. No one liked the mean old battle-axe. But did anyone hate her enough to kill her? It's enough of a mystery to make Ellie hang up her witch's hat and take millionaire beau Nicholas Hartford up on his offer to keep her afloat. Except Ellie is not the kind of woman to lean on a man-least of all a man she adores but whose place in her life is uncertain. Besides, Ellie's taken on two young witches-in-training-apprentices if you will-and both of them are convinced a werewolf is the murderer. Just as Ellie's wondering if there really is something otherworldly going on, animals suddenly begin to disappear-including her beloved cat, Beast. Now Ellie's on the warpath to uncover the wicked truth about the people and the place she's only just begun to call home...

Just as fake medium Eleanor Wilde begins falling for Nicholas Hartford III and his endearing family, she's summoned to a remote Scottish castle where an unusual assignment to locate a haunted trove of treasure threatens Eleanor's budding romance, her livelihood... and her life! As Sussex's resident witch and pseudo psychic, Eleanor has grown accustomed to somewhat strange requests for supernatural aid. So when Nicholas's university pal, Sid Stewart, writes from the family's remote castle in Scotland, begging for Ellie's services as a medium, Ellie is only delighted to help. Apparently, the recently deceased patriarch of Sid's family, Glenn Stewart, died before divulging the whereabouts of an important cache of family heirlooms. The Stewart clan hopes a clairvoyant can contact him from beyond the grave. Of course, Ellie can't actually commune with the dead. But faking it is the name of her game. She's not worried, until... Aboard the train for Oban, Ellie discovers that fellow medium Birdie White is also heading to the Outer Hebrides to assist the Stewarts. Birdie is a master in the art, serving as a spiritual consultant to royalty and even assisting Scotland Yard on occasion. Ellie might not trust the woman's motivations, but Birdie's skills are unquestionable. But while Birdie is busy speaking with the dead, Ellie plans to talk to living suspects-namely, the other residents and employees of the spooky Stewart estate, who know a lot more than they're letting on. Amid swirling rumors of cursed treasure, whispered tales of ghostly pirates, and a recent spate of preternatural murders, in order to catch the killer Ellie must confront the most terrifying possibility of all-her gift may be real...

Eleanor Wilde has traded a career as a sham medium for a (relatively) respectable life in a small English town, providing the locals with herbal remedies and elixirs. But on a trip to the seaside town of Brighton, her past comes calling-and so does a killer . . . Though Eleanor is delighted that her brother, Liam, is visiting her in England, she must reluctantly agree that her quiet village lacks something when it comes to sightseeing-namely: sights. True, there's nearby Castle Hartford, belonging to the family of Ellie's boyfriend, Nicholas. But even Nicholas's mother is eager to ditch sleepy, sweltering Sussex for a vacation in Brighton, taking Ellie and a relieved Liam with her. Yet hopes of a breezy seaside holiday quickly turn stormy, in every sense . . . The ominous change in weather is accompanied by the reappearance of Ellie's former partner-in-crime, Armand Lamont. Back when Ellie earned a living as a phony medium, Armand's hypnosis skills helped the pair persuade many gullible marks to hand over their savings. Ellie assumes that Armand has resurfaced with blackmail in mind, but before she can figure out his angle, she and Liam witness a man being pushed from a boat by two shadowy figures who then vanish into midair. Phantoms? Demons? Though Ellie doesn't believe in either, the recovered body is real enough, as is a string of thefts plaguing their luxury hotel. Ellie has a theory, and it requires inviting Nicholas to join them under a fake identity. Their evolving relationship is as complex as this case, and Ellie's authentic supernatural abilities too are developing in surprising ways. But as for whether the outcome will be good or bad, not even her witchy powers can say . . .