SOLVED. Children's Mystery set in Apple Orchard [s]

[Christopher]

I'm trying to remember the title of a book I read in middle school, very early 80's. It was about a girl who went to stay with her aunt who was a writer and lived in a large house in the country that had an apple orchard. There was a mystery surrounding a long-dead girl who may have been buried in the apple orchard. Seems like there was also a creepy caretaker-type man.

[Holly]

Did this mystery have ghosts in it? Or was it more realistic - just figuring out the mystery of the dead girl?

[Kris]

How about The Ghost in the Swing by Janet Patton Smith?

Here's a description from a reviewer on Amazon:
"A girl staying with her aunt is haunted by the ghost of another aunt she never knew she had--a girl her own age who disappeared in childhood many years ago. The ghost needs the girl's help, but there is a cruel streak to many of her pranks which keeps you wary, never able to trust her. Great characters make this book even better. Apart from the girl and ghost, there is the eccentric ghost-hunter aunt and the creepy neighbor.......not to mention the mystery of how Felicia died. Jane Patton Smith wrote another book, too--The Twisted Room--which is also a fascinating ghost story worth reading."

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

^
Off topic a little, but copies of that book start at $175 on Amazon and go up to $2,643.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

(Also off topic) I know Lobstergirl--some of the older titles have simply outrageous prices, don't they? (I have one that I'd love to find, but so far the cheapest price I've seen it offered for was $65 and the highest was like $245 and I can NOT see paying that much for a kid's book.

[Christopher]

Yes, it's The Ghost in the Swing. Thanks all!

[Kris]

You're welcome. Glad we could help. Good luck finding a copy. :)