When social worker Hildy Schneider commits to an after-hours side job, she finds herself drawn into the darker side of small-town Sorenson, Wisconsin–and the twisted mind of an unnamed killer … Strange things have been happening since Hildy started moonlighting with local police, but a desperate late-night call involving a former patient from Sorenson General Hospital tops the list. Although Danny Hildebrand has been tormented by hallucinations for years, he swears he’s being haunted for real by the victim of a grisly murder …

The rambling ghost story seems like another delusion. But after a body turns up in a neglected farmhouse crawling with secrets, Hildy and the magnetic Detective Bob Richmond rush to explain Danny’s knowledge of the incident. As the crime-solving partners unwittingly grow closer while examining a series of eerie leads, they realize that surviving past sunrise means shedding light on a criminal willing to do whatever it takes to stay in the shadows …

Praise for Annelise Ryan and her Mattie Winston series

The funniest deputy coroner to cut up a corpse since, well, ever!

–Laura Levine, author of Killer Cruise

The forensic details will interest Patricia Cornwell readers … while the often slapstick humor and the blossoming romance between Mattie and Hurley will draw Evanovich fans.

–Booklist

Has it all: suspense, laughter, a spicy dash of romance.

–New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen

[Ryan] smoothly blends humor, distinctive characters, and authentic forensic detail.

–Publishers Weekly