Jake and Ellie are taking a break from perfecting their chocolate-pizza recipe to cater a housewarming party hosted by movie-icon Ingrid Merryfield. Miss Merryfield is famous for her old-Hollywood glamour. Her new home, Cliff House, has a reputation too—for being haunted. But she isn’t concerned, and some of her guests even try to summon a spirit during the party, using a Ouija board. What arrives instead is a freak autumn storm that downs an ancient tree, traps everyone on the property, and leads them to stumble upon a hidden room—where they find film critic Audrey Dalton, apparently frightened to death. Though Jake and Ellie don’t intend to get stirred into the mix, there’s no avoiding it—especially when they discover a locket in the victim’s hand, with a picture of Ellie and the word “next” on it. Is someone trying to write her out of the script too? Jake and Ellie begin sifting through suspects and motives, a search that takes them from a long-lost family graveyard to an antique smokehouse and finally to Cliff House’s overgrown gardens. Is there some ghostly presence involved—or a flesh-and-blood villain? And either way, can they ensure that Ellie avoids meeting her very own, very permanent Hollywood ending?
