Thanks to her unusual heritage, Karma has a gift of being able to "clean" houses of ghosts, pixies, imps, and so on; any Otherworldly being, in other words. Because of this, she has a houseful of those she couldn't bring herself to send off to another plane. She also has a no good husband she'd like to send to another plane, or at least divorce, but even if he thinks she's a freak, Spider won't let her go until she does one last job for him, namely getting a property he wants to invest in clear of its current owner.

It is thus that Karma finds herself, her foster child, her father, husband, his less than honest partners, and a host of Otherworld beings, as well as Adam Dirgesinger, the present occupant, at the house in question when Adam seals it so that no one can leave for twelve hours, or longer if he renews the spell. That's bad enough, and then, Spider gets squashed like his namesake. Now, Karma and Adam, both of whom work for the Council that governs paranormal beings, to solve the case in this tricky locked "room" murder. With time running against them and clashing personalities abounding, it will be a challenge.

Not only is this a fun read, populated with vibrant characters who comprise a fascinatingly complex world, but it's genuinely clever. The ending twist is worthy of Conan Doyle or Christie. I hope this is the start of a new series; Karma and friends are worth visiting many times over.