Ellie Haskell loves old Gothic stories-- mad wives locked in attics, ancient family curses, crumbling manors. When she and her husband go to visit his cousin, who has recently won the lottery and purchased an old manor estate, her imagination runs wild... but the murders that follow are very real. What happened to the previous lord of the estate, who vanished one night? The only man who claimed to have heard from him since was the man who is suspected of embezzling from him. And who wanted to kill the harmless, elderly vicar?

This is the first Ellie Haskell mystery I've tried, though it seems to be only the latest installment in a series. It works relatively well as a stand-alone. The story takes a little while to find itself, and while I would have appreciated more tongue-in-cheek Gothicness, it does a good job as a modern English cozy.

Two years after her adventures in Little Sister, we meet Mitsuko once more. She has spent time learning to become a Buddhist nun, but she is recalled from her life of meditation and isolation to rejoin the world--- as the bride of an 11-year-old prince, and as a pawn upon which her family, facing political decline, wishes to stake their future fortunes. At the same time, Mitsuko is called to fulfil a long-forgotten promise that she made at a shrine in a moment of desperation. But the shrine's spirit will not be satisfied except through vengeance. Mitsuko must find a way to solve her troubles--- and, by the way, can a human and tengu ever find love?

Drawing just as much upon Shinto and Buddhist folkloric traditions as the first installment, The Heavenward Path is a fun story full of mythological references. A Heian court lady's life is filled with restrictions and limits... and Mitsuko is fun to watch as the reluctant student as she learns to adopt the witty and creative Way of the Tengu to her advantage. A fast read, but best enjoyed after Little Sister.