Deadhead — Clare Kauter

Nessa sees dead people. Unfortunately, much like the living, most ghosts are... Well, much like the living. When a talking axolotl appears in her kitchen, Nessa discovers - after briefly questioning her sanity - that by talking to ghosts she has apparently been 'practising magic without a licence'. The axolotl (who is in fact a shape-shifter named Henry) works for The Department, and is there to supervise Nessa on her Quest - think a driving test, but with magic. The object of this quest? To find out who killed Ed, a particularly annoying poltergeist who, were he not already dead, Nessa could easily imagine having murdered herself. It soon becomes apparent that Ed is still being chased by an unidentified Big Bad, and Big Bad knows some Big Bad Black Magic. Narrowing down the suspects for Ed's murder is not going to be easy. Add to that the fact that Nessa, while being constantly under the watch of a Department official, isn't sure exactly which aspects of her magical repertoire are legal and which aren't, and this Quest is shaping up to be something of a nightmare. And that's not to mention the zombies, vampires, witches, Satan, Grim Reaper... Well, you know. Things get a little out of hand.