Ellen Marx sees ghosts. Her mother Rita just wants her to be a "normal" eleven-year-old kid. But that's tough to do when you receive a birthday card from your dead father. Following a trail of breadcrumbs left by her dad, Ellen sets out on a journey to unravel the mystery surrounding her father's disappearance and ends up unearthing secrets best left buried. The third and final book in the haunting trilogy, The Messy Man brings to a close the story that began with The Nightmare Room and The Hungry Ones.