The year is 1998. Every night, when he closes up Al's Coffee in Crowford, Josh hears a strange noise in the darkness.

Sometimes he even spots the faintest hint of a presence. But why would a ghost bother to haunt a rundown, failing little coffee shop?Next door, Sasha is the last remaining employee of Sanner's Shoes, a fading shoe-shop that seems set to close at any moment.

Sasha also sees and hears strange things late at night. When she gets talking to Josh, they quickly realize that the two shops seem to be haunted by the same ghost.

But how is that even possible?Many years ago, Al's Coffee and Sanner's Shoes were part of one large Crowford department store. Stryke Brothers brought a touch of glamor to this little English seaside town, but behind the glamor lay a dark secret.

One night in 1949, a new employee named Dorothy Maitland made a shocking discovery. Dorothy was never seen again.

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until her ghostly figure began to appear many decades later, searching frantically for a way to escape. Determined to solve the mystery, Josh and Sasha team up to try to work out exactly what really happened to Dorothy Maitland.

But how is the dead woman's fate linked to the two shops today, and can anything be done to stop history repeating itself and another tragedy unfolding?The Haunting of Stryke Brothers is the seventeenth book in the Ghosts of Crowford series. Each book tells a standalone story, and they can be read in any order.

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