Happy Returns

''Happy Returns'' is a humorous supernatural novel and the second installment in the Charles and James Latimer series (sandwiched between Brief Candles and Come and Go). The book follows a pair of chaotic, benevolent ghosts wreaking light-hearted havoc in 1950s Europe.

The story centers around James and Charles Latimer, two 19th-century English cousins who met an untimely end in 1870. Emboldened by strong drink, they foolishly tried to halt a German military advance during the Franco-Prussian War and were buried in a small French cemetery. However, death didn't stick; whenever a modern-day relative falls into trouble, the cousins rise from their graves to set things right.

In this adventure, set in 1954, their living relatives Jeremy and Sally invoke the spooks to rescue their bachelor Uncle Quentin. Quentin has travelled to Lake Como, Italy, and is desperately trying to escape the adhesive clutches of Poppy Thompson, an aggressive widow who refuses to take no for an answer.

The ghostly trio—James, Charles, and their mischievous, wine-loving pet monkey, Ulysses—embark on a chaotic road trip across Europe in a poorly driven Citroën. Along the way, they manage to:

Fumble through an incredible mix-up involving 32 different passports,
Outwit a pair of bank robbers,
Stage an old-fashioned duel,
Solve a local homicide with the direct assistance of the murder victim (who is also a ghost),
And accidentally release an entire circus troop of animals—including an overachieving, educated elephant—into a French garrison town, courtesy of Ulysses.