A Haunting in Hartley – Haunting Clarisse Book 2, by Janice Tremayne. Kindle Direct Publishing, 2020. 

In the 1930s, in a small town in the Australian bush, Father Grimaldi is sent to the basement of the church to retrieve an old cross. While down there, he encounters a malevolent spirit who offers him a deal with the devil- literally. Decades later, Harry and Clarisse are sent to the ghost town so Harry can do some research. Upon arrival, they find that the town subsists mainly upon weddings taking place in the old church, and tours by Paranormal Jack, a ghost hunter.

Intrigued by- but skeptical of- the ghost tour, Harry signs up for an extra tour after the main one. This one involves spending the night in the cemetery. Clarisse refuses- she’s had one run in with the paranormal (in the previous book, The Girl in the Scarlet Chair) and doesn’t want another. The next day, Paranormal Jack is killed and his belongings- including many boxes of the papers he’s collected in his ghost hunting- are stored in the church basement- the basement where Harry has been assigned a room as his office. This gives Clarisse a reason to enter the basement- and puts her in range of the spirit.

The plot thickens at this point, flashing back to the 30s and back again to present day. A lot of crimes from the past emerge. What starts out as a regular ghost story turns into something more. In the end, it reminded me of a fairy tale- a deal with a devil, three tests to be faced. It has a decent structure, although some things could have used more explanation- to say which things would be spoilers. Auto-correct seems to have had its way with alarming frequency. Four stars.