Karma Marx has had it with her sleazy husband, Spider, and she hates her job, too. As a half-human, half-poltergeist, she exorcises houses of supernatural spirits and other creatures. Because she can't bear to exterminate the beings, she often ends up keeping them at her home -- which seems pretty chaotic at times. She's stuck doing the work, though, because it's part of her punishment for accidentally killing her best friend when she was young and didn't know how powerful she was.

When Spider finally agrees to a divorce if she'll "clean" one house for him, she agrees so that she can get on with her life. Unfortunately, what should have been a simple job goes south pretty quickly. Karma arrives at the house to find that a polter, Adam, believes the house belongs to him and he sets a binding spell on the house until it can be determined who the real owner is. The binding spell locks everything down and Karma is stuck in the house with Spider, Adam and several others.

When Spider turns up dead, Karma is definitely one of the suspects. But so is Adam -- after all, they had been fighting about the house. Adam and Karma team up to figure out who of their limited number committed murder.

I have read everything Katie MacAlister has written and this new series (under the new pen name of Kate Marsh) is just as much fun as her other books. Marsh builds a fascinating world and creates characters you won't forget any time soon. This magical book, mixed with a strong dash of good old-fashioned detecting, must be read in one sitting. I can't wait for the next Karma book!

Book Summary

Karma Marx exorcises haunted houses, sending troublesome poltergeists and other spirits to the ever after. But one assignment traps Karma, her foster child, her sleazy soon-to-be-ex husband, Spider, and his crooked partner under one roof. And when Spider turns up dead, it's a locked house mystery, and Karma's determined to reveal the truth, even if it means tackling all of the mansion's inhabitants-mortal and otherwise...