"Biggie Weatherford and her friends travel to the neighboring town of Quincy to learn how to start a historical society in their own home of Job's Crossing. Young J. R., who once again narrates the adventures of his detecting grandmother, is not thrilled with the trip, but soon finds that the town of Quincy isn't as quiet as he thought." "Their first night in Quincy, J. R. asks to hear about the inn's legandary ghost. The hostess happily tells them about a young woman known as Diamond Lucy who went on a picnic with her husband and was never seen alive again. The couple had been staying at the inn, and it is believed that her ghost came to settle there. The story leaves J. R. nervous, and after he goes to bed, he thinks he hears Diamond Lucy's ghost in the next room. He persuades his friend Rosebud to come with him to take a look, but the only thing they see is a secret passage that goes down to the lobby and out of the building." "The next morning , J. R. learns that life can be scarier than ghosts. Looking out of his second-story window, he sees the very real dead body of a very real young woman in the courtyard by the fountain." The local sheriff is confined to the hospital with appendicitis, and he considers himself lucky that Biggie, whose reputation as a sleuth precedes her, is at hand to help with the murder investigation. He assures her that he trusts her to help out, so long as she keeps him informed. Biggie, of course, is only too happy to pitch in with her favorite hobby - detection. In fact, the entire household pitches in. Rosebud does the necessary legwork, Willie Mae arrives to help prepare food for a wedding reception scheduled at the inn, and Biggie assigns J. R. to comb the town records - which are plentiful. It's there he hits the jackpot, finding a crucial clue that not only leads them to the killer but lets them sort out the true story behind the legend of the Quincy Ghost.