7 Ghostly Mystery Books That Will Spook and Surprise You

When Alice receives news that her cousin Fleur has gone missing on The Moor, a bleak village with bad weather, she returns to the town where she spent the summers of her childhood trying to find her.

It’s there, during her search efforts, she becomes obsessed with the legend of Hettie Gale, a young and dedicated mother who was wrongfully hanged for the murder of her son and now haunts the island.

This just might have something to do with all the people who have gone missing on The Moor because, as it turns out, Fleur isn’t the only one. 

Praised as a perfect mix of past and present, in The Hanging of Hettie Gale, Hettie’s story is interwoven with that of Alice, who sets out on a mission to understand what can be done to appease this vengeful spirit who so desperately seeks justice.

But having been so deeply wronged during her lifetime, Hettie won’t go gently. 

The first book in the Delia Martin series, Delia’s Shadow tells the story of a young woman with supernatural abilities at the turn of the century in San Francisco.

Delia Martin tries her best to avoid her gift, or what some might call a curse, by moving to the East Coast after the Earthquake of 1906 to escape the many voices of its victims.

But when a serial killer who has been inactive for thirty years begins to kill again, she has no choice but to return home to silence a voice tied to one of the lives he stole.

Lauded as haunting and atmospheric, Delia’s Shadow is rich in detail, so much so that San Francisco itself becomes a character in this book.

For fans of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, Don’t Tell a Soul follows Bram, a young girl running from a scandal who seeks solace in the company of her uncle, a recent widower working to renovate his sprawling home that was damaged in the same fire that killed his wife. 

In Louth, Bram’s new home on the Hudson River, she soon learns that outsiders aren’t welcome because of the very many secrets they hide, the most disturbing being a legend surrounding several girls who allegedly died in the same home where Bram seeks respite. 

An investigation ensues and what Bram learns is that the girl may have never left her uncle’s home, not spiritually, at least—and if she continues her pursuit of the truth, she might find herself in a similar position. 

As the author herself describes her writing, if you’re looking for southern hospitality with a side of homicide, look no further than a Tonya Kappes book.

In A Ghostly Undertaking, local undertaker Emma Lee Raines is left out of sorts when a head injury suddenly gives her the ability to convene with the supernatural. And what’s worse is that the spirit that wants her ear is her granny’s arch-nemesis. 

Miss Ruthie Sue Payne can’t cross over until she learns who wanted her dead enough to kill her, and without the help of Emma Lee, her eternal rest hangs in the balance.

To solve the mystery, Emma Lee must put personal ties aside and work with the local sheriff, who also happens to be her high-school crush, to dredge up the truth no matter how close to home it hits.

When a charity reenactment of an old urban legend results in a dead body dangling from a bridge, the residents of Asheville, North Carolina cast blame on the local district attorney, Hewitt Donaldson.

Cue protagonist Sam Blackman, a local private investigator and close friend of the DA, who is eager to clear his Donaldson’s name. 

But then more bodies drop, making it look worse for Donaldson. Though Sam knows the truth. The murders that follow echo even more local lore, leaving Sam concerned there may be a serial killer on the loose.

But this killer isn’t your ordinary killer, this killer might just be the kind that comes from another realm. How do you prove someone’s innocence when the real villain behind it all is a mere specter? 

When she was a girl, Vivvy Bouchet used her clairvoyance to save a boy's life.

Ten years later, that boy comes back, a cop hell-bent on convincing her to use her abilities again to crack a cold case, the case of Lizzie Solomon, a little girl whose body was never found. 

The problem is that Vivvy can’t even admit her powers to herself, and she would much rather stay home with her telescopes and the science she can empirically trust.

But then a podcaster with a penchant for uncovering conspiracy theories dredges up some ugly truth about Vivvy, putting everyone she loves at stake, and she can no longer sit on the sidelines. 

When Ruthie and her younger sister move into a remote farmhouse with their mother, she uncovers its dark history. Over a hundred years ago, a woman named Sara Harrison Shea was found dead inside its walls, mere months after the death of her own daughter. 

Life in the farmhouse isn’t easy with the isolation and the cold, and it only gets harder when Ruthie’s mother disappears. Ruthie becomes obsessed with the mystery and unraveling Sara’s life upon finding her old diary, convinced the stories within its pages are the key to finding her mom.

But isolation makes the mind imagine things, and this won’t be an easy case to crack all alone.

Prepare to be sacred with this one.