Amazon.com Sara Paretsky boldly strays from her widely popular V.I. Warshawski mystery series--note to fans: caveat emptor--and trades the gritty Chicago detective in for a pair of debutante sisters， Mara and Harriet Stonds. The poor little rich girls (grand pa-pa Stonds was a famous neurosurgeon) are blessed with every material comfort， but are sadly lacking in a sound karma-credit plan. Treated like a second-class citizen by her grandfather， Mara forever plays the underdog to "golden" Harriet， an irritatingly perfect girl， reminiscent of "Nellie" from Little House on the Prairie. In a bizarre chain of events， the sisters see the errors of their ways when they become entangled in a complex caper involving a washed-up， drunken opera singer， a posse of homeless women， a soothsayer， a kindly psychotherapist and a selection of twisted clergymen. Abstract and slightly surreal at times， Ghost Country might seem arduous to the tried and true Paretsky fan: it's a far cry from her no-nonsense， cut-and-dried thrillers. However， this atypical character study might prove to be a refreshing pit stop for those with a lot of mystery mileage under their belts; it's a colorful detour from the predictable puzzlers. --Rebekah Warren Amazon.com Author Profile Read about the author. See all Editorial Reviews