This fourth installment in Lori Avocato’s Pauline Sokol mystery series can stand alone without reading the previous three.

After helping solve several insurance fraud cases, Pauline is planning her next assignment. Formerly a nurse and now a private investigator, Pauline, with help from her cross-dressing friend, Goldie, takes on a bad doctor, putting both of them in harm’s way. This time the setting is a posh spa that features plastic surgery.

The unexpected appearance of sexy Jagger at the inn where Pauline is staying and a friendly ghost add elements of romance and “woo woo.”

Avocato’s fourth book dabbles in the topics of homosexuality and the occult, and the story moves along without characters becoming more believable, let alone engaging. To her credit, though, Avocato’s writing style is in a reader-friendly format and she does spin a good storyline.