Author Description

Grace Palmer is a spinster who raised her orphaned niece and nephew. Rebecca, 20, and Dixie, 24, convince Grace to rent a rural cottage for the summer. The Fisher family (who are on vacation) owns the country-house, which has just a housekeeper, Eleanor. <p>Grace and her long-time maid Olivia fix up the home before Rebecca and Dixie arrive. Jonathan, a long-time Fisher employee who volunteers to be Grace's butler, warns them of a spirit in the mansion. Olivia and Grace are awakened by an intruder dumping a golf club on the stairway the first night. The following morning, Dixie, Rebecca, and Collin Herman, Dixie's fiancé, arrive. <p>The following night, Grace is startled by a loud sound and a corpse is located at the foot of the steps. The corpse is recognized as Bronson Fisher, Andy Fisher's estranged son. Grace finds Rebecca's gun in a tulip bed while looking for her and Collin. She conceals this from police, who interrogate her and Dixie. Dixie claims Rebecca and Collin departed before Bronson was killed. <p>Grace is determined to stay in the home until the mystery is solved and her nephew is exonerated, despite nightly break-ins and tapping sounds. Rebecca arrives without Collin and won't explain. Bronson's treatment of Dixie affected Collin and Rebecca. The day Rebecca arrives, word emerges that the local bank (owned by Andy Fisher, where Collin works, and where Rebecca and Dixie hold their inheritance) has gone bankrupt. Collin Herman is instantly suspected and brings himself in the police, professing innocence. <p>Collin's condition gets him out of jail. Rebecca recommends a new gardener to Grace, who employs him. Jonathan and Eleanor had been concealing Kayleigh Fisher, Andy Fisher's stepdaughter and Rebecca's fiancée, in the groundskeeper's home. Andy Fisher dies of heart disease and illness. Later, Jonathan the groundskeeper had a heart attack. <p>Grace recognizes this and shoots the would-be thief in the foot, but he escapes. Kayleigh breaks up with Rebecc