Maryse Robicheaux isn't overly sad her mother-in-law passed away. Helena's son Hank made Maryse's life miserable for the brief time they were together, then made it even worse by disappearing with loan sharks looking to geth their money back. Adding insult to injury is the fact that they're still married even though Hank fled two years ago; in Louisiana you have to serve divorce papers in person and Maryse doesn't know where the gambling fool went. At the funeral service she felt obligated to attend, Maryse is victim to the Robicheaux clan again when Helena's ghost rises from the coffin and only Maryse can see her. Helena is sure she was murdered and wants her daughter-in-law to find the killer so she can be at rest. Maryse doesn't want to help the cranky old woman, even as a ghost, but she can't get rid of her. And maybe Helena's not that bad anyway? Another complication comes in the form of the new guy the state sent to study animal life in the bayou, Luc LeJeune. It's been decided he'll be sharing office space with Maryse since she's studying plant life for the state, but she's not happy about it. She's not even happy about it after he saves her life, more than once, with skills a zoologist doesn't usually have. So who is Luc really? And who killed Helena? And who's trying to kill Maryse now? Not to mention the sparks she feels with bad boy Luc, why can't she fall for a boring guy? This may be the first Ghost-in-Law novel but thankfully it won't be the last. The second title in the series, Mischief in Mudbug, is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2009. The characters are engaging, the action moves at a good pace, the small-town feeling comes through nicely, and the ending is complete, leaving the reader feeling satisfied even though the next book must already be in the works.