When the local constable investigates the death of Kathleen Duncan, a teacher at the Bellehaven Finishing School whose body was found in the school garden, he is happy to chalk it up to accidental death. Headmistress Meredith Llewellyn becomes convinced that Kathleen was murdered when she, and only she, keeps seeing Kathleen's apparition in various places around the school. Since the police are not investigating the death, Meredith decides it is up to her to interpret Kathleen's message from beyond and find her murderer. The book is set in the Edwardian era, and a subplot has the school's young maids caught up in the women's suffrage movement.

The mystery was predictable. I had no trouble figuring out early on who was responsible for Kathleen's death. It was a pleasant enough diversion for a sick day, but I won't be picking up other books in the series since I'm not fond of books with a paranormal bent. ( )

http://hollybooknotes.blogspot.com/20... ( )

This book has an early 20th century setting at an English finish school. One of the teachers is found dead, beaten by a tree branch. The local constable refuses to investigate so the headmistress starts her own investigation with the deceased's ghost. The plot was not very believable. There are a lot of unrelated subplots that do little for the story. The book held a lot of potential, but it didn't live up to the expectation. There were quite a few things that could have been done to strengthen the plot. The author may pursue some of the other subplots in future installments of the series, but this book would have worked best as a stand-alone novel because of the setting, something that I feel is really lacking in the mystery genre right now. This book would have also worked better as a romantic suspense in the tradition of Phyllis Whitney or Victoria Holt. In spite of the plot weaknesses, it was a quick and fun read. ( )