Harsh Expectations: Ghost Detective Short Stories, #12

By R.W. Wallace

The only way for a ghost to leave their cemetery is to solve their unfinished business. Some ghosts take a long time to accept this fact, and some accept the news gracefully.

Others attack the messenger.

It seems the new arrival will have trouble addressing his unfinished business from the confines of the cemetery.

It also seems like his business isn't entirely... legal.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Varden Publishing
• Release date: Apr 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9782493670311

R.W. Wallace

R.W. Wallace writes in most genres, though she tends to end up in mystery more often than not. Dead bodies keep popping up all over the place whenever she sits down in front of her keyboard. The stories mostly take place in Norway or France; the country she was born in and the one that has been her home for two decades. Don't ask her why she writes in English - she won't have a sensible answer for you. Her Ghost Detective short story series appears in Pulphouse Magazine, starting in issue #9. You can find all her books, long and short, on rwwallace.com.

Book preview

Harsh Expectations

A Ghost Detective Short Story

R.W. Wallace

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Varden Publishing

In the Ghost Detective Universe

Ghost Detective Novels

(best read in order)

Beyond the Grave

Unveiling the Past

Beneath the Surface

Piercing the Veil

Ghost Detective Shorts

(all standalone)

Just Desserts

Lost Friends

Family Bonds

Common Ground

Till Death

Family History

Heritage

New Beginnings

Far From Home

Severed Ties

Eternal Bond

Harsh Expectations

Dull Expectations

Minted Karma

Ghost Detective Collections

Unfinished Business, Special Edition

Unfinished Business, Volume 1

Unfinished Business, Volume 2

Chapter One

I always find it sad when someone dies in the weeks before Christmas.

Somebody dying is sad in any situation, of course, no matter the date, but I suspect that when a death appears too close to a holiday, that holiday will be forever ruined for the people who were close to the deceased. Impossible to go Christmas shopping without remembering that year you had the presents—bought in a moment of happy anticipation—but not the person to give them to. Impossible to sit the family down around an overladen table and not remember the year you were suddenly one person short.

The anniversaries of deaths are depressing in any scenario, but ruining the holiday that celebrates birth just seems so unfair.

We’ve known for a few days that there will be a funeral soon, less than two weeks before Christmas. The grave diggers came in to do their thing despite the pouring rain and close to freezing temperatures, their usual banter and stupidity absent as they concentrated on getting their task done as quickly as possible, and now we have a freshly dug grave close to the north wall, ready to receive our new neighbor. The notice came up yesterday, announcing the funeral of one Pierre Lemoine.

Clothilde and I have been placing bets ever since. Will we have a new ghost? Old or young? How many mourners? If the person becomes