Rooted in Crime — Shari Malin

After an arson attack left The Bayou Bouffant structurally damaged, Celie Dupree is temporarily running her business out of the Bayou Bouffant on Wheels, a cramped RV parked at a remote marina. Her spectral salon crew—the glamour-loving Bunny and Gladys—are miserable, stuck trading society gossip for swamp rumors. Only Major Beauregard is thriving in the rough terrain.The monotony is broken when local boat owner Barnaby LeBlanc vanishes along with his antique radio. Celie quickly learns that Barnaby's radio holds a coded message, marking the fastest routes through the bayou—routes that have become highly valuable to a marijuana smuggling operation.The chief suspect is the friendly bait shop owner, Gaston Gas Boudreaux, who begins a terrifying campaign of intimidation, cutting Celie's power and exploiting local legends to scare her away.Isolated and threatened, Celie finds help in her newest ghost, Cap'n Silas, the grizzled shrimper who knows the secrets of every muddy channel. As Detective Miles Corbin risks his career to check on Celie's safety, Celie and Rhys Thorne must rely on Cap'n Silas's knowledge and the rival observations of her older ghosts to expose Gas's operation before Celie and the Bayou Bouffant on Wheels become a permanent fixture in the swamp.