In Hot Water — J.J. Cook

Sweet Pepper, Tennessee, has the world's hottest and sweetest peppers -- as well as a ghost that cooks and a fire chief who fights crime...

SPARK OF INTEREST

Stella Griffin should be bubbling over with joy now that she's the full-time fire chief of Sweet Pepper, except trouble is brewing on her doorstep. An angry resident has purchased her cabin, and -- with a bulldozer in tow -- is ready to tear it down. But as Stella worries over the fate of her home and Eric, her ghostly roommate, there's soon an even greater cause for alarm.

A suspicious house fire in the pricey Sunset Beach community at Sweet Pepper Lake claims the life of ex-state representative Barney Falk. The nature of the death has Stella feeling out of her depth, so she teams up with the state's arson investigator. Moving full steam ahead with the case, they must smoke out a killer before the firebug strikes again...