Possibly one of the year's most entertaining books that appeals to middle school kids to seniors. It is a fast read, with short chapters. This unique story tells of ten-year-old Scooter Kane, who thinks of himself as a Private Investigator, and his twelve-year-old sister, Mary, who accidentally learn their great-great-grandfather was hanged for murdering the sheriff of Dry Glutch, California in 1873. On the hanging platform in front of all the local residents of the town, William Kayne, proclaimed his innocence and swore his soul would never leave the town until his name was cleared of this terrible injustice. Traveling to the Gold Rush Country in Northern California from their Iowa home, the two kids visit an uncle and cousin living in New Dry Glutch in the heart of the gold rush country to seek the truth. Scooter soon believes that the hanging tree is haunted by William Kayne's spirit.