Cozy Ghost Fiction

Semi-retired private detective Molly Murphy Sullivan is suffering from depression after a miscarriage following her adventure in San Francisco during the earthquake of 1906. She and her husband, Daniel, are invited for Christmas at a mansion on the Hudson, and they gratefully accept, expecting a peaceful and relaxing holiday season. Not long after they arrive, however, they start to feel the tension in the house's atmosphere.

After 20-plus years in the land of the not-so-living, I didn't think a ghost could surprise me. Consider that winning streak over. While looking for the perfect piece of Seattle real estate, leave it to me to find the world's first ghost detective. Yeah, you heard that right. A ghost detective. The Supernatural Protection Agency has written her off as the ghost who cries murder, but this time she swears she's onto something big. Something real. Like a moth to a bonfire, I dive in headfirst, just in time for the trouble she's been following to take a U-turn.

When Marlow House reopens as a bed and breakfast, one of its first guests is Danielle's former mother-in-law, who Danielle has not talked to since moving to Oregon. The mother-in-law brings with her one of the country's top mediums. Or as Danielle calls him, one of the country's top con-men.

The late - as in dearly departed - Bailey Ruth Raeburn is delighted when she's assigned a new mission by Heaven's Department of Good Intentions, even if she is no good at following the rules for Earthly Visitations. This time she's determined to be the perfect unseen emissary, no matter what it takes. Arriving late in the evening in her old hometown of Adelaide, Oklahoma, to find a woman drowning in a pond, Bailey Ruth carries out a daring rescue with textbook invisible effort. But she soon realizes there's more to the woman’s accident than a late-night walk gone wrong.

Life is about to change for Brian Henderson, now that he knows the secrets of Beach Drive. Unbeknownst to Brian and the others, they have brought something else home with them after their misadventure in the forest. The spirit of a mountain man has followed them to Frederickport with a secret of his own.

In The Case of the Ghost of Christmas Morning, Wodehousian clubman, flaneur, idler, and sleuth Anty Boisjoly pits his sardonic wits against another pair of impossible murders. This time, Anty Boisjoly’s Aunty Boisjoly is the only possible suspect when a murder victim stands his old friends a farewell drink at the local, hours after being murdered.

Past and present collide when a secret from the 1920s wreaks havoc on Marlow House. Walt struggles to remember what he may have forgotten before it's too late.

Six down-on-their-luck people with links to the world of crime writing have been invited to play a game this Christmas by the mysterious Midwinter Trust. The challenge seems simple but exciting: Solve the murder of a fictional crime writer in a remote but wonderfully atmospheric village in north...

Living in a haunted house is nothing new to Danielle. In fact, she's rather fond of the ghosts who visit Marlow House. But after she brings home the twins, unexplained paranormal activities in the nursery perplex not just her, but the ghosts who frequently visit Marlow House.

A haunted library is no place for a girl who can see ghosts, but when Verity Long stumbles on a dead body in the middle of the main reading room, she has to believe someone…even a dead someone…must have witnessed the crime. Her ghostly sidekick Frankie warns her to stay out of it. The very alive, very handsome deputy sheriff, Ellis Wydell, inadvertently places her directly in the middle of it. And her ex-fiancé, Ellis’s brother, is back with an agenda of his own.

Pen has just received an extremely rare collection of Edgar Allan Poe's complete works. Rumor has it a secret code, trapped within the books' leather-bound pages leads, to buried treasure. Well, it looks like they got the buried part right because, as Pen sells off the valuable volumes, everyone who buys - dies. Once these books go missing from their owners' cold hands, Pen will need resident ghost and hard-boiled P.I. Jack Shepard to help crack the case. The police are skeptical that the deaths involved foul play - so it's up to them to unravel these shocking endings.

fter an elegant new customer has a breakdown in her shop, Penelope suspects there is something bogus behind the biggest best-seller of the year. This popular potboiler is so hot that folks in her tiny Rhode Island town are dying to read it - literally. First, one customer turns up dead, followed by another mysterious fatality connected to the book, which Pen discovers is more than just fiction. Now, with the help of her gumshoe ghost, Pen must solve the real-life cold case behind the bogus best-seller before the killer closes the book on her.

A new resident ghost, a chilling murder and a mother-daughter duo caught in the crosshairs. Will they unmask the killer before they become the next victim? The small town of Hideaway Bay is rocked by another murder just weeks before Christmas. When they stumble upon the body, amateur sleuths Lily and Cassie are thrust into the middle of the murder investigation. To clear their names, they must search for the real culprit.

A hotshot real estate developer arrives in Sully's Landing, touting his plans to build a tacky amusement arcade smack dab in the middle of the tasteful cliffside town. No one in Sully's Landing can stand the gaudy developer, but it's still a shock when he ends up murdered. It's even more shocking when Liza's friend Doug emerges as the chief suspect. Melanie and Liza put on their sleuthing caps yet again and set out to clear Doug's name.

Sometimes a graveside goodbye isn't the end. That's usually when I get a middle of the night phone call. In this case, the person seeking help from their friendly neighborhood reaper is none other than the director of Beechwood's funeral home. Who may be more of a frenemy than a friend. Oops. Here's to hoping I can help rid the funeral home of its latest unwanted guest without burning the last bits of kindling on the bridge back to Karla's good graces. After all, if there's one person you want on your side, it's a summoner of the dead.

With two weddings on Beach Drive, Danielle's plan to temporarily close Marlow House Bed and Breakfast is put on hold. Not everyone showing up on Marlow House's doorstep is a welcome wedding guest. Nor is everyone from the living world.

When a local heiress goes missing, Danielle discovers it's not always possible to distinguish the living from the dead. To complicate matters, it seems Danielle is not the only one who communicates with spirits. Her new guest claims to hear Walt. But, something's not quite right with Marlow House's newest medium. Danielle must move quickly before her best friend joins the spirit world.

Sergeant Hamish Macbeth--Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman--returns in M.C. Beaton's new mystery in her New York Times bestselling series. From the author of the Agatha Raisin series. When Police Sergeant Hamish Macbeth hears reports of a haunted castle near Drim, he assumes...

Ghost hunter Verity Long is no stranger to scandal. In fact, it seems to follow her around like her pet skunk, Lucy. But Verity is as shocked as anybody when a town relic discovered in a time capsule unleashes a torrent of secrets that lead to murder. Trouble is, the only residents in Sugarland who know the truth behind the scandal also happen to be very dead themselves. With a killer on the loose and a town in crisis, Verity braves a side of Sugarland she's never seen before.

It's once again Christmastime at Marlow House and the mediums of Beach Drive have all decided to stay in Frederickport for the holiday. Surprises await for them when the true Spirit of Christmas comes for a visit. Do you believe in Santa Claus?