cover image Watcher in the Mist

Watcher in the Mist

Norma Johnston. Starfire, $2.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-553-26032-8

Teenager Cindy Clayborne detects a sense of urgency in her cousin Elizabeth's plea to work at Rockcove Hall for the summer. When Cindy arrives at the newly opened seaside inn, she finds recently widowed Elizabeth besieged with worries. Local residents blame various mishaps on Rockcove Hall's ghost, The Watcher. Many of the inn's guests flee in terror. Then a local man is found dead, apparently murdered in the same fashion as Elizabeth's husband. Cindy finds a strange connection between herself and the inn's ghost, who helps her to find important clues in solving the two murders. By the story's end, Rockcove Hall's evil spirit is laid to rest, and Cindy has found a new love. Johnston, author of The Carlisle Chronicles, has written a romantic mystery that should appeal to teen girls. The sensible, spunky heroine and the evocative setting is an attraction in itself. (12-up)