Dying is what changed Mary O'Reilly's life. Well, actually, coming back from the dead and having the ability to communicate with ghosts is really what did it. Now, a private investigator in rural Freeport, Illinois, Mary's trying to learn how to incorporate her experience as a Chicago cop and new-found talent into a real job. Her challenge is to solve the mysteries, get real evidence (a ghost's word just doesn't hold up in court), and be sure the folks in town, especially the handsome new police chief, don't think she's nuts.

Detective Sean O'Reilly is called in to interrogate a young boy who is the only witness to a massacre during a gang war. The child's story is too far-fetched for most of the Chicago Police Force to believe - claims of an army of other-worldly creatures who attacked and dismembered the rival gangs. But Sean O'Reilly believes him, because he's seen them himself. An encounter he had as a boy in a dark forest in Ireland did not just give him nightmares, but changed his entire life.

Over 100 years ago, a group of witches made their way from New England to Whitewater, Wisconsin, known as Second Salem. Others also made their way to the city and, through their ignorance, unleashed an evil entity. Three sisters, the Willoughby Witches, created an incantation strong enough to ensnare the demon. Lord Henry McDermott, college professor, anthropologist, and archaeologist, has yearned to learn more about the legend of the Willoughby Witches. Taking the summer off to research the folklore, Henry discovers that there is more waiting for him in Whitewater than just a story.  

Mary O'Reilly is no stranger to strange things going on, especially in the supernatural realm. But when missing persons and computer glitches mix, she turns to local expert Gini Case to help a girl out. Gini knows her way around the cyber world, and it's a good thing, because young Bobbie has gone missing, and the only clue to her disappearance is buried in the girl's hard drive. Bobbie is a hacker in her own right, and left a trail only a cyber mouse could follow. Enter Gini.

Brooke Callahan's life might not have been perfect, but it was pretty much what she had expected. She was successful, she was admired, and she had a reputation for being a tough defense lawyer, even for her pro-bono cases. Her father was the well-respected and often feared Judge Callahan. Her mother, Amy Callahan, was a successful hostess in the politically influential circles of Cook County, Illinois.