Beth Sherman: The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Avon (Paperback), ISBN 0-380-81605-9

Ghostwriter Anne Hardaway discovers a corpse and finds herself entangled with a coven of teenage witches, a recalcitrant client and just possibly the devil himself.

Her current client, Dr. Arlene Handelman, presumably wants Anne to ghostwrite an advice book on parenting. The good doctor, truly stingy with material for the book, shows up on Anne’s doorstep and moves into her spare bedroom. Arlene spends her days elsewhere, comes in late and still doesn’t help with the book. This worries Anne, who really needs the money she will get for the job.

But when her friend, the local librarian, enlists Anne in the search for her missing grand-niece, Arlene’s book gets put on the back burner. Anne sees things she never expected to see in the little Jersey Shore town where she lives. The quest leads Anne into new and arcane territory, allows her to cast a spell of her own and just maybe see Old Nick walking on the Atlantic at night. Anne isn’t alone in her vision. Her neighbor, one of Anne’s least favorite people, also saw and heard the strange doings on the beach and wants to start a witch-hunt on her own.

Anne Hardaway remains one of my favorite amateur sleuths. Remarkably well-rounded, interesting, slightly eccentric and so human she might be a friend down the street, Anne always manages to laugh at herself. Anne makes big plans and muddles through a plot that takes her on a wild and dangerous ride — and just might do her in before she can find the niece, unmask the murderer and get the book written for the famous shrink.

If you want a light mystery, one with a difference, then check out Beth Sherman’s Jersey Shore mysteries. You won’t be sorry.

Patricia Lucas White

Patricia Lucas White’s latest historical novel, To Last a Lifetime, was an Eppie finalist for 2003. To Last a Lifetime and two of her fantasy romances, the Sapphire Award-winning A Wizard Scorned and The Godmother Sanction, can be ordered through Hard Shell Word Factory. Her recent contemporary, PS, I’ve Taken a Lover, is available from Lionhearted Books.