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