The fluent, suspenseful second in the Nathaniel Gye series (after 2005's The Nature of Rare Things
) by prolific British author Wilson finds the Cambridge University ghostbuster trying to uncover the truth behind the rumors surrounding a fatal late night mishap in an undergraduate dormitory. Sir Joseph Zuylestein, newly installed as Master of financially strapped St. Thomas College, anxiously prevails upon Dr. Gye to use his expertise in parapsychology to investigate Professor Hockridge's tumble down the stairway outside the former room of Paul Sutton, a vindictive youth who was murdered 10 years earlier amid allegations of drug dealing—and whose spirit may still be walking the halls. Gye and his partners, ex-lawyer Barny Cox and graduate assistant Jenny Collard, probe the evasions of Sutton's doting parents and Gye's own distinguished colleagues. Complete with a gothic-style hidden passageway and mysterious key, Wilson's tautly written whodunit leads to a stunning conclusion. (Dec.)
