Discovered this book on the library shelf and was drawn by the cover and the title. Then the back blurb mentioned Halloween and I was off to the checkout, not realizing this was part of a series. What I liked about it: it captures the feel of old Florida, the swamps and the people very well. Big plus. I live in Florida and yes, there is a world of difference between city life and living in the country, even just a few miles out. Big plus for that. I hovered between three and four stars but had to be honest at three, but please believe if there were half stars, I'd go higher. There is a Halloween party scene that is well-described, but as a huge fan of Halloween, I was looking for more of a build-up, more excitement about it, and it was short and very minor to the story. Okay. Remember that I was lured in by the ghost title, and again, the story has legends but no ghost. Spooky descriptions of nights in the woods though, oh yes. One's imagination can go wild with possibilities here, no doubt. The writing style is a bit choppy, particularly scene jumps. As you can already tell, I'm verbose, so It's just a choice, a style thing, but I prefer the old-style scene breaks or soft transitions. Final reason for three not more stars is a personal choice-- again, remember I came in for ghosts and Halloween. Don't want to do a spoiler, but the truth of what's going on is quite grisly. No surprise really, given how the mystery starts, but again, just a preference, this was a bit too dark and creepy for me. My tastes run in supernatural but not horror lines, shall we say. I'd happily recommend this to mystery fans who enjoy horror. ( )