The Ramplings

Book excerpt: "Nothing is as it appears and everything is as it should be" is the motto of coastal Maine's Singapore Inn, where three guests pursue different ends on a snowy Christmas eve. Hector, a celebrity race car driver and an impeccable Irish drunk who speaks with a lilting brogue, desperately seeks an elusive bottle of Irish whisky. His wife wants to lay a wreath on her mother's grave on this first anniversary of her death in an automobile accident she blames on Hector. The only other guest also has plans for that bottle of whiskey: it will certainly coax her husband-who also died exactly a year ago-from his grave. Invisible cats, flying ghosts and an ageless innkeeper who may or may not be an angel spell madcap merriment that concludes with lives restored and relationships healed. This holiday delight is by the author of Good Morning Miss Vickers and other popular comedies.