Ghost at Work (Bailey Ruth Mysteries, No. 1) [Hardcover]

Carolyn Hart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 2008

Bailey Ruth Raeburn has always been great at solving mysteries. Why should a little thing like her death change anything? In fact, being dead gives her more of an opportunity to be on top of events. Bailey Ruth is delighted that her unique position as a ghost makes it possible for her to lend a helping hand, sometimes seen and sometimes not. And if anybody needs a little help, it's Kathleen, the pastor's wife. There's a dead man on her porch, and once the body is discovered, the pastor is sure to become a suspect.

Uncharitable people might call it meddling, but Bailey Ruth knows Kathleen needs her help! As a member of Heaven's Department of Good Intentions, Bailey Ruth goes back to earth to extricate Kathleen from a dire situation. If Bailey Ruth has to bend a few rules to help Kathleen save her family, Wiggins, her fussbudget supervisor, will make sure it all turns out right in the end.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A ghost turns sleuth in the intriguing first of a new series from Hart (Death on Demand), who's won Agatha, Anthony and Macavity awards. When Bailey Ruth Raeburn and her husband die on their cabin cruiser during a storm, Bailey joins the heavenly host. Later, she returns to earth via the Rescue Express to her hometown of Adelaide, Okla., to help the rector's wife, Kathleen Abbott. After finding the body of a dead man on her back porch, Kathleen fears either she or her husband might be accused of the crime. Bailey Ruth helps her to move the body, inaugurating a search for the killer that proves difficult as the victim was despised by many. As Bailey Ruth uncovers more than one crime, she must contend with her own violations of the Precepts for Earthly Visitation and adjust to her powers on earth. Hart blends an enjoyable fantasy with realistic characters and an engrossing plot that's sure to charm even ardent materialists. (Nov.)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Award-winning mystery author Hart introduces a new series with an unusual premise. This time her crime solver is a ghost, Bailey Ruth Raeburn. Bailey has been in heaven for some time now and is looking for a way to lend a helping hand. She visits the Department of Good Intentions and is recruited to help someone on Earth who is in big trouble. Before her supervisor, stationmaster Wiggins, is able to train his good-hearted emissary (what ghosts are called in heaven) in the eight precepts, an emergency dispatches Bailey off on her first assignment. She ends up in Adelaide, Oklahoma, and is expected to help Kathleen, a pastor’s wife, who has just discovered a dead man on her porch right before Halloween. Now Wiggins knows that his new recruit is inquisitive and lively (actually he thinks she is impulsive, rash, forthright, and daring), but he has no idea just how much trouble she can get into. Before she helps solve the crime, Bailey manages to break at least half of the precepts, but all ends well, and she will be able to continue as a probationer in her next assignment. This could be Hart’s best series yet. The most appealing attribute of her masterful, self-assured writing style is her wry humor—imagine Bailey, who has been dead for decades, learning about cell phones and computers for the first time. --Judy Coon

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (October 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060874368
• ISBN-13: 978-0060874360
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #914,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carolyn Hart talks about mysteries and writing in a new interview on Oklahoma public tv. Please visit www.CarolynHart.com and click on the link in the upper right hand column.

In April Berkley Prime Crime will publish DEATH COMES SILENTLY, the 22nd Death on Demand title. Coming in October is WHAT THE CAT SAW, a novel of suspense.

Carolyn writes the Death on Demand series set in a mystery bookstore on a South Carolina sea island and the Bailey Ruth Raeburn series featuring a lively redheaded ghost.

Carolyn is also the author of several WWII novels, including ESCAPE FROM PARIS which is now available for the first time in its complete uncut version. Escape from Paris is the story of two sisters who defy the Gestapo to help British fliers avoid capture.

In Ghost at Work, Bailey Ruth returns to earth to help someone in trouble. She moves a body, investigates a murder, saves a marriage, prevents a suicide, and--in a fiery finale--rescues a child who knows too much. In Merry, Merry Ghost, Bailey Ruth protects a little boy from danger. In Ghost in Trouble, Bailey Ruth tries to corral a wilful woman determined to play hunt-the-killer. Coming in 2013 is HIJACKED GHOST which puts Bailey Ruth at risk of ever returning to Heaven.

Letter from Home, a WWII novel set on the home front, received the Agatha Award for Best Mystery of 2003. It was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize by the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers. Thirteen-year-old Gretchen Gilman is working for the small-town newspaper during the hot summer of 1944. Murder occurs on the street where she lives, forever changing her life and the lives of those involved.

Hart was one of 10 mystery authors featured at the National Book Festival on the Mall in Washington, DC, in 2003 for Letter from Home and again in 2007 for Set Sail for Murder, 7th in the Henrie O series. In Set Sail for Murder (new in paperback March 2008), Henrie O joins a troubled family on a Baltic cruise and death is an unwelcome passenger.

Hart has been nominated 9 times for the Agatha Award for Best Novel and has won 3 times. In 2007 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at Malice Domestic. She will be the International Guest of Honor at Bloody Words in Toronto on June 6-8, 2008.

Hart is a native of Oklahoma City, a journalism graduate of the University of Oklahoma, and a former president of Sisters in Crime. She is also a member of Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, the International Association of Crime Writers, and American Crime Writers League.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Little Bit of Heaven on Earth, October 19, 2008

By 

Kaye "avid reader" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ghost at Work (Bailey Ruth Mysteries, No. 1) (Hardcover)

While heaven is, well, heavenly, Bailey Ruth Raeburn, late of Adelaide, OK, makes it known to Wiggins, head of the Department of Good Intentions, that she wants to help someone on earth in "dire straits". Wiggins tells her she may do so, although due to her rash, impulsive and "spirited" nature, she will be on probation and she must remember all the precepts of being a ghost among the living. With a copy of the rules firmly in hand, she is immediately dispatched right back to Adelaide to find herself on the back porch of the Episcopal Church rectory just as Kathleen, the pastor's wife, is discovering a dead body.

The victim, one Daryl Murdoch ,is not quite the upstanding citizen and dedicated church member he appears to be. It seems there are quite a few people who would rather have Daryl dead than alive.

Bailey Ruth now has the ability to appear when the need arises or to be invisible when she wants , a useful skill in her job to find the real murderer and absolve the pastor and his wife of any accusations because as it turns out, they too might have had a motive. As Bailey Ruth investigates the crime, the reader will laugh out loud at all of her antics while she learns to function as a ghost with a mission. Being invisible is great for moving from place to place quickly and being one step ahead of the investigation.

She begins to narrow down the suspects one by one and at the Halloween Spook Bash held at the church hall, the suspense builds when the lights go out and someone goes missing. It becomes evident to her, but certainly not to the reader, who the real culprit is. Along with a few pop-ins by Wiggins along the way, Bailey Ruth identifies the murderer and ties it all up nicely just before the rescue express sweeps into Adelaide and takes her heaven bound once again.

Hart writes a classic cozy with all the traditional elements of the genre. What she adds is her own exceptional brand of wit and humor along with a fabulous cast of well fleshed out characters. As usual, Hart has such a wonderful way with descriptions, the reader feels they are right there on the scene. The plot is well developed with plenty of suspects, all with motives to commit the crime. This is a truly enjoyable new series with non-stop fun . If you are a mystery fan, this is definitely one not to be missed ! Highly recommended.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Just silly, November 13, 2008

By 

SB "SB" (PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ghost at Work (Bailey Ruth Mysteries, No. 1) (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

I'm a big fan of light murder mystery series - they're like Brain Candy to me. I enjoy the Scumble River series, the Joanne Fluke series, Janet Evanovich, the Coffehouse mysteries and many others. This one starts with an interesting twist - our "civilian turned sleuth" is a ghost. The problem is, it's just plain silly. The initial bumbling of our departed spirit turned guardian angel is a comedy of errors that would make Lucy Ricardo blush. There is almost no interesting dialogue - it's chapter after chapter of the lead characters inner ramblings. When the opportunity for an insightful moment presents itself, the author shies away and goes for slapstick. I really had to push myself to keep picking it up - only my stubborn refusal to leave a book unfinished made me do it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny ghost, October 26, 2008

By 

Sandy Rhoad "Insatiable reader" (Branchville, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ghost at Work (Bailey Ruth Mysteries, No. 1) (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

Combine the 1941 "Topper" ghost series, Nancy Atherton's "Aunt Dimity" and throw in Mignon Ballard's angel series and a little of the Dolly Parton ghost christmas movie and you have a fun ghost mystery. A 1960's woman returns to a 2008 world to help her family solve a murder. She is baffled by all the new computer "stuff" and loves to wear the new fashions. She appears and disappears at will, solves a murder, thwarts a kidnapping and potential murder of her niece and makes it back to heaven without getting in too much trouble with the angel in charge of dispersing the dead to earth. It's funny, entertaining, and still has enough mystery to hold your interest. I will read more of Ms. Hart's works and you should too.