Haunted by a ghost wanting justice, a detective and his partner search for her killer in the thrilling murder mystery, Haunted River (Detective Daniels and Remalla Series Book 5) by Judy Bishop. While his wife Marjorie spends some time in Paris, Detective Gordon Daniels and his partner Aaron Remalla take time off from work to clean the house Daniels inherited from his grandfather and get it ready to sell. Traveling down the remote lane near Daniels' home, Remalla is horrified to see the ghost of a drowned woman walking on the side of the road. The eeriness only continues when things go bump in the night, and their sleep is interrupted by disturbing dreams. When Remalla discovers the body of a woman on Daniels' property, her death mirrors an unsolved murder that happened twenty-five-years before and the ghostly activity within the home increases. Thinking the two murders are connected, Daniels and Remalla begin examining the residents of the small town. Was Daniels' grandfather into something deadly? Is the ghost trying to tell them something?

Brimming with ghostly activity, Haunted River (Detective Daniels and Remalla Series Book 5) by Judy Bishop is a thrilling murder mystery. From the first sentence, I was hooked and couldn't put the book down until I reached the electrifying conclusion. The plot is exciting, and the storyline's twists and turns are intriguing and kept me guessing until the end. Not having read any of the first four books in the series, I was pleased to find this was a stand-alone book. There are a few references to preceding stories, but it didn't detract from the experience. It is an outstanding novel with engaging characters, a chilling storyline, and I loved every page of it! Riveting and suspenseful, it is an exceptional murder mystery that will thrill everyone who relishes stories with a creepy nuance and a hint of the supernatural. Absolutely fantastic!

Haunted River is the fifth book in J.T. Bishop’s Daniels and Remalla Series. The mystery begins twenty-five years ago when Scarlet Hokans was murdered on the banks of Black River. Demanding justice for her gruesome and untimely death, her ghost haunts the town where she lived. The story then jumps to the present where Detective Gordon Daniels inherits a property from his grandfather who recently passed away. Daniels invites his partner, Detective Aaron Remalla, to help him clean it up, as Daniels is anxious to sell the property situated near Black River. On his way to the rustic house, Remalla encounters a barefooted and soaked woman in a dirty, torn white dress. Sensing the woman is in distress, he tries to help her, but his heart races when she suddenly disappears. Coincidentally, the body of another woman, Chelsea Forrester, is also found in the same river. This throws Daniels and Remalla into an investigation involving a string of colorful characters, including Daniels’ own grandfather.

What makes Haunted River fascinating as detective fiction is the element of thrills generated by Scarlet’s phantom. As a ghost, she is a passive character who does not reveal anything about her mysterious death but does provide a clue, and it is up to the two sleuths to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Bishop treads carefully to ensure that human intuition and logic are still the key factors in solving a crime and not a supernatural revelation. As the ghostly element is compelling, the strings of unique suspects are equally well-articulated. The suspense picks up when the plot arrives at a conclusion that you least expect, and that is the hallmark of page-turning detective fiction. Haunted River by J.T. Bishop is a fast-paced and easy read with a good twist.