Goodlow's Ghosts

By T.M. Wright
Tom Doherty Associates, 222 pp, 1993

This is an offbeat, quirky, and oddly engaging little tale about a psychic who helps ghosts "move on" come to the aid of a murdered detective who thinks he's dead but isn't quite sure.

That's the basic plot. It's not much, admittedly, but it doesn't have to be. Wright does spice it with some extraneous extra characters that don't add a whole lot, including some seductive women-ghost things and some poor souls who unwittingly enter the dimension of the dead while they are still very much alive.

Sam Goodlow is the murdered detective, and he somehow makes it to psychic Ryerson Biergarten's house to ask his help. Goodlow also has a sister who approaches Biergarten, and Biergarten refuses her request but changes his mind when he sees Goodlow. What follows is a not-quite conventional murder mystery involving hulking hit men and sinister old ladies.

The book's no classic, and it's neither scary nor serious, but it's kind of fun all the same. I enjoyed reading it. You might too.