The Ghost in the County Courthouse by Barry Forbes


About the Book

A wholesome family mystery series for tweens and teens, 10-15 years

So, uh, okay. Wait! I mean… a ghost? No way. They don’t exist, right?

Right. In that case, who’s ripping off precious relics from the Yavapai Courthouse Museum? How does this—this, well, whatever it is—how does it bypass the museum’s security system?

And while we’re at it, how does the “specter” walk through locked doors and windows? As in seriously locked, and always in the middle of the night in a spooky, century-old building. It’s enough to freak you right out!

If the “ghost” strikes again, the museum’s very future is in doubt. A mystifying game of cat and mouse ensues as the mystery searchers play detective. . . good, old-fashioned sleuthing is paired with a range of high-tech devices to beat the strange intruder at its—his?—own game. It’s a thrilling ride but time is running out!

Interview with the author

Q - What makes The Mystery Searchers Series so special?

It’s a mix of things, really. When I started the series, I wanted to integrate the things that I liked as a 10-15 year-old—from the 4th or 5th grade, all the way into junior high school. I loved mystery books which lead, often, to mystery solving, crime and detective stories, and action and adventure. So I would devour books like the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, or Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five series. I quickly realized that clean, wholesome books were important too, and I’ve integrated that concept in every Mystery Searchers installment.

Q - What order should I read the books in?

I’ve written the series so that you can read them in any order. By the time you finish any one of the books, all the threads will come together.

Q – Are there more installments coming in the series?

Yes! Currently I’m releasing three books every year.

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Excerpt

“But that’s impossible, sir!” Tom blurted.

Sixteen-year-old twins Tom and Suzanne Jackson and their best friends, Pete and Kathy Brunelli, glanced at one another, baffled. They were sitting across a desk from Dr. William Wasson, the dean of Aztec College and the curator of the Yavapai Court house Museum. The dean had called them to an emergency Friday morning meeting at the museum, one hour before its opening to the public.

It was a fine day in early July. The Jacksons and Brunellis were fresh off their adventures on Apache Canyon Drive, a rural area just north of their mountain city home of Prescott, Arizona—“Every bodys hometown. Their success in foiling a cruel migrant-laborer smuggling and counterfeiting ring—and restoring a lost little girl from Mexico to her mother—was not only front-page news in The Daily Pilot, Prescott’s hometown newspaper. The story had gone national. “Four young mystery searchers had solved the cases,” it read. Local ones too.

The drama captured Dean Wasson from word one: “Mystery searchers.” He repeated it later to his staff, “Just what we need.”

The dean was a tall man in his sixties, distinguished-looking, with short gray hair and steel-rim glasses; he wore a white shirt and tie. Worry had etched his face. “Yes, you’re right: it is impossible —or ought to be. Yet someone or something emerges at will and we’re powerless to stop it.” He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s grotesque for sure. The museum staff calls it a ghost but we don’t really believe that, of course. Then again, tell me what else walks through walls and bypasses the security system as if it doesn’t exist!”

Kathy, official notetaker and the youngest member of the team, scribbled away at high speed, her eyes darting around the room.

“Is there a pattern to the ghost’s appearances?” Pete asked. He was the impetuous one who always went straight to the point. “Like a particular day of the week?”

“Yes, and it’s a strange one,” the dean replied, peering at them over his glasses. “The ghost arrives to the minute —at two-oh-four a.m.—each time, but the nights are random. We haven’t a clue if he’ll show up tonight, sometime next week, or ever again, for that matter.”

He paused, deep in thought. Seconds from a circular wall clock pierced the silence with a deadened sound.

“Hopefully, he—or she, or it—won’t ever return, but we have our doubts. Our budget is tight—we’re still in a fund-raising mode for all the renovations. No way can we afford to pay for a security guard here overnight, every night.”

“Has anyone actually seen this ghost?” Suzanne asked, trying to wrap her mind around it.

“Oh, for certain!” Dean Wasson exclaimed. “The first time the mysterious thing appeared, it triggered the motion detectors. Strange, because there was no sign of a break-in. How would our system detect an immaterial entity? I’ve always wondered what the —well, whatever it is—was trying to tell us, because the alarm never activated again. We can’t figure out why.”

“When did this occur?” Tom asked. He was the quiet, thoughtful one. Every word counted.

“It was May twenty-second,” the dean replied. “Roger Holloway, our custodian, received an emergency call from the security company. It was after two a.m. That call should have gone to our director, Gloria Waldner, but she was out on vacation. Roger lives just a few blocks away. He rushed over, arriving ahead of the police, and looked through the windows. A ghostly figure was moving through the displays. Shimmering white from head to toe. Scared poor Roger witless.”

“Oh, wow, what happened next?” Kathy paused in her note taking. She shuddered. Could there be a ghost, after all? Was it even possible? 

 

About the Author


Barry Forbes began his writing career in 1980, writing and producing literally hundreds of film and video corporate presentations, winning a handful of industry awards along the way. He also served as an editorial writer for Tribune Newspapers and wrote a couple of non-fiction books. Later in life. . .

"When I started the Mystery Searchers series, I wanted to integrate the things that I liked as a 10-15 year-old—from the 4th or 5th grade, all the way into junior high school. I loved mystery books which lead, often, to mystery solving, crime and detective stories, and action and adventure. So I would devour books like the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, or Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five series. I quickly realized that clean, wholesome books were important too, and I’ve integrated that concept in every Mystery Searchers installment."

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5 comments:

  1. I enjoyed the excerpt. Sounds like a fun book.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like a great story. Looking forward to reading more books by this author.

    ReplyDelete