PUSHING UP DAISIES

A family of amateur sleuths gets some help from a ghost.

Daisy Forrest and her sister, Rose, share an apartment over their gift shop, close to Angela, their divorced mother. When Daisy, who volunteers as a tour guide at the historic Holly Hill Mansion, claims to have seen the ghost of the house's former owner, Sophia Amelia Meade Long, she’s ridiculed by Rose, who doesn’t believe in any spirits she can’t drink. Sophia's descendant Adele Meade Long sold the mansion to a conservation society but still lives on the grounds in what was the overseer’s house. Although frail, she lives alone, helped along by visits from her nephew. Someone has recently broken into Holly Hill, and although nothing was taken, it's obvious that the place was searched. Wally Stone, the Park and Planning employee who oversees Holly Hill, is puzzled by the fact that items seem to have been moved around, but he and his assistant don't accept ghosts as the answer. Nor do the police when Daisy stumbles upon Wally’s body in the basement. No strangers to murder and mayhem (Roses Are Dead, My Love, 2015), the three women fortify themselves with cocktails and start sleuthing. Just in case finding a murderer isn’t hard enough, Daisy and Rose also deal with the mystery of why their father, who long ago deserted his family, has suddenly returned and is trying to make things up with their mother. The two cases collide as they ask whether a tale of some valuable missing family silver might provide the reason for the murder.

The ditzy family has some amusing moments. And if you don’t care for the elementary mystery, the appended cocktail recipes may soothe your disappointment.