Ann Charles

Ann Charles blends paranormal mystery, suspense, romance, and comic friction in stories led by determined amateur investigators. Nearly Departed in Deadwood introduces Violet Parker, a single mother and real-estate agent in Deadwood, South Dakota. When girls begin disappearing, Violet fears for her daughter and joins a search that mixes human danger with the town's ghostly reputation. The novel is book one of the Deadwood Mystery series and establishes the characters and supernatural elements developed across later volumes. Charles first published the book through Corvallis Press in 2011. Blackstone later issued an unabridged audiobook read by Caroline Shaffer. That edition records the book's 2010 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense and its Romance Writers of America Golden Heart recognition. Charles uses Violet's financial worries, family responsibilities, and sharp humor to ground the mystery, so the series begins with a protagonist whose everyday pressures matter as much as the clues.