Mia Malone is planning a holiday party to promote her catering and cooking school business-but she's got a Christmas spirit to deal with first, in this new Kitchen Witch Mystery from New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon . . .

For all its merriment, Christmas can also bring melancholy-and in Magic Springs, Idaho, Mia finds that the season has brought her an unhappy ghost who's pulling poltergeist-style pranks to get her attention. When she demands an explanation, the ghost just sends a message: Ask Mary Alice-that is, Mia's beloved Grans, who's been training her to develop her witchy talents. If anyone can figure this out, it's Grans . . . even if she still hasn't managed to free Mia's cat from a previous spell that she cast.

The restless spirit turns out to be Magic Spring's most well-known ghost, Dorothy, who supposedly died peacefully in her sleep. Now Dorothy claims she was murdered, and she wants her killer brought to justice. And she doesn't have much patience about it, so the pressure is on Mia-with some help from her boyfriend, Trent, and a strangely secretive Grans. There aren't many dicing-and-chopping days till Christmas-but this year, the most important gift Mia can give is to cheer up this troubled spirit . . .