The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

Ghost Theme Mysteries : Super Supernatural Paranormal Theme Mysteries

About a week ago I received a note from a site reader who asked:
“Could you make a list of paranomal cozies, cozies with witches, occult, vampires & such?”

I had already started a skeleton of a list which included some different supernatural themes, and thought: What better time to be making a theme with werewolves, vampires, “& such” than right before Halloween…. So here goes!

Ghosts:

P. J. Alderman: Port Chatham Mystery Series… Jordan Marsh owns a haunted house on the west coast of USA.

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity Mystery Series… Aunt Dimity simply insists on staying around after Lori inherits her Cotswold cottage.

Mignon F. Ballard: Augusta Goodnight Mystery Series… Augusta Goodnight is a guardian angel who helps solve mysteries… (I wasn’t sure if I should put Augusta in this category but decided to go ahead and include her, she is a guardian angel.)

Juliet Blackwell: Haunted Home Renovation Mystery Series… Melanie (Mel) Turner renovates historic houses in California.

Annette Blair: Vintage Magic Mystery Series… Maddie Cutler returns home to not only open a vintage clothing shop, but to also solve mysteries and see a few ghosts.

Melissa Bourbon (aka Misa Ramirez): Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series… Harlow Cassidy is the owner of a boutique. Her great grandmother (as in her deceased great grandmother!) helps her.

Susan M. Boyer: Liz Talbot Mystery Series…. Liz Talbot is a private investigator who can see ghosts.

Helen Chappell: Sam & Hollis Mystery Series… Hollis (a reporter) solves mysteries with the help of her deceased husband Sam.

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Relatively Dead Mystery Series… Abby Kimball sees ghosts.

J. J. Cook (aka Joyce and Jim Lavene): Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade Mystery Series… Stella Griffin is the current fire chief of these fire station in Tennessee. She is helped by an ex fire chief, who is deceased.

E. J. Copperman: Haunted Guesthouse Mystery Series… Alison may be the owner of the guesthouse, but Paul and Maxie do as they (ghostly) please.

Casey Daniels: Pepper Martin Mystery Series… Pepper is a cemetery tour guide who gets help with her sleuthing from a dead mob boss.

Jana DeLeon: Ghost-in-Law Mystery Series… features a botanist, her friend, and her deceased mother-in-law as the sleuths.

Leighann Dobbs: Blackmoore Sisters Romantic Cozy Mystery Series… Morgan & Fiona sell crystals and herbal remedies, and have open communication with their deceased grandmother. AND Mystic Notch Cozy Mystery Series… Willa Chance is a crime journalist who sees ghosts.

Elizabeth Eagan-Cox: Shannon Delaney Mystery Series… features a writer in San Diego with ghostly encounters.

K.J. Emrick: Darcy Sweet Mystery Series and its spinoff, the Smudge the Cat Mysteries, both featuring the ghost of the protagonist’s great-aunt.

Christy Fifield (aka Christy Evans) Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery Series… Glory inherits her uncle’s souvenir shop, including resident ghosts.

Alexia Gordon: Gethsemane Brown Mystery Series – Gethsemane teaches schoolboys in an Irish countryside school’s orchestra.

Carolyn Haines: Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery Series… Jitty, a nanny to one of Sarah’s ancestors keeps tabs on Sarah.

Carolyn Haines: Pluto’s Snitch Mystery Series… Raissa James often sees ghosts and works with a self-proclaimed medium.

Carolyn Hart (aka Carolyn G. Hart): Bailey Ruth Mystery Series… Bailey loved to sleuth before she joined Heaven’s Department of Good Intentions, as a ghost.

Sue Ann Jaffarian: Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery Series

Madison Johns: Agnes Barton Paranormal Mystery Series

Tonya Kappes: Kenni Lowry Mystery Series

Alice Kimberly (aka Cleo Coyle): Haunted Bookshop Mystery Series… Penelope Thornton-McClure owns the bookstore that Jack Shepard inhabits… as a ghost.

Victoria Laurie: Ghost Hunter Mystery Series…  M.J. Holliday does just that! She hunts down ghosts.

Joyce and Jim Lavene (aka J.J. Cook & Ellie Grant): Taxi for the Dead Paranormal Mystery Series

Gayle Leeson (aka Amanda Lee & Gayle Trent): Ghostly Fashionista Mystery Series – features the owner of a design shop and the ghost who has lived in the shop since the 1930s.

Lizbeth Lipperman (aka Liz Lipperman & Liz Roth): Dead Sister Talking Mystery Series… Lainey Garcia solves mysteries with the help of her sister,  Tessa, who is no longer of this world.

Dixie Lyle: Whiskey, Tango and Foxtrot Mystery Series… Deirdre “Foxtrot” Lancaster is an administrative assistant who sleuths with the help of her (deceased) telepathic cat and a shape shifting dog.

Molly MacRae writes the Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery Series. The sleuth inherits her grandmother’s wool shop, and an unexpected ghost.

Katy Munger (aka Gallagher Gray & Chaz McGee): Dead Detective Mystery Series The main sleuth is Kevin Fahey, a dead policeman.

Shirley Rousseau Murphy and Pat J.J. Murphy write the Lee Fontana Mystery Series which features a parolee and a prison ghost cat in California.

Sharon Pape: Portrait of Crime Mystery Series… Rory gets the help sleuthing from a federal marshall… from the 1870s.

Leigh Perry (aka Toni L.P. Kelner): Family Skeleton Mystery Series…  Georgia is a professor who is “assisted” by Sid, a ghost.

Rose Pressey: Haunted Vintage Mystery Series, Haunted Tour Guide Mystery Series, AND Haunted Renovation Mystery Series, all of which feature various levels of ghostly business.

Wendy Roberts: Ghost Dusters Mystery Series… Sadie Novak sees dead people at her job… as a death scene cleaner-upper.

Mary Saums: Thistle & Twigg Mystery Series… Jane Thistle and Phoebe Twigg are 60 year old best friends living in Alabama.

Paige Shelton: Country Cooking School Mystery Series… Grams and Betts solve mysteries with a ghost of a chance.

Beth Solheim: Sadie Witt Mystery Series… Both Sadie and Belly LaGossa (Sadie’s dog) are able to see the dead.

Mary Stanton (aka Claudia Bishop): Beaufort & Company Mystery Series… Bree Winston-Beaufort inherits her uncle’s law firm and soon finds herself dealing with clients who were previously “down to earth”.

Fran Stewart writes the ScotShop Mystery Series which features Peggy Winn, the owner of a shop which specializes in Scottish merchandise… oh, and her 14th century Scottish specter.

Kirsten Weiss: Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum Mystery Series – Maddie Kosloski is the manager of a local paranormal museum.

This list doesn’t include the following Paranormal Cozy Mystery themes: Vampire or Werewolf, Witch, Psychic or 6th Sense, or Enchanted/Magical  (which I’ve listed on the Theme page.)

Please feel free to post a comment if you know of any other mystery authors (who are currently on the Cozy Mystery site) who you think write mysteries that would fit into this Ghost Theme. Thanks!

♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.♦

October 2008 Mystery Book New Releases:

The following mystery books will be released in October 2008:

Susan Wittig Albert: The Tale of Briar Bank (This will be the 5th in the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Mystery Series…) (Actually…Sept. 30)

Barbara Allan: Antiques Flee Market (This will be the 3rd in the Trash ‘n’ Treasures Mystery Series…) (Actually…Sept. 30)

Donna Andrews: A Murder Hatched (This will include both the first two Meg Lanslow mysteries: Murder with Peacocks and Murder with Puffins…)

Donna Andrews: Six Geese A-Slaying (This will be the 10th in the Meg Langslow Mystery Series with a Christmas theme…)

Donald Bain and “Jessica Fletcher”: A Slaying in Savannah (This will be the 30th in the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series…) (Actually…Sept. 30)

M. C. Beaton: Introducing Agatha Raisin (This will include both the first two Agatha Raisin mysteriers: The Quiche of Death and The Vicious Vet…)

M.C. Beaton: A Spoonful of Poison (This will be the 19th in the Agatha Raisin Mystery Series…) (Actually…Sept. 30)

Rita Mae Brown: Hounded to Death (This will be the 7th in the Foxhunting Mystery Series…) (Actually…Sept. 30)

JoAnna Carl: The Chocolate Snowman Murders (This will be the in the 8th in the Chocoholic Mystery Series…) (Actually…Sept. 30)

Barbara Cleverly: Bright Hair about the Bone (This will be the 2nd in the Laetitia Talbot Mystery Series…)

Michael Connelly: The Brass Verdict (This will be the 14th in the Harry Bosch Mystery Series…)

Cleo Coyle: Espresso Shot (This will be the in the 7th in the Coffeehouse Mystery Series…) (Actually…Sept. 30)

Clare Curzon: Payback (This will be the 21st in the Superintendent Mike Yeadings Mystery Series…) (Actually…Sept. 30)

Carole Nelson Douglas: Brimstone Kiss (This will be the 2nd in the Delilah Street Mystery Series…)

“Jessica Fletcher” and Donald Bain: A Slaying in Savannah (This will be the 30th in the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series…) (Actually… Sept. 30)

Christopher Fowler: The Victoria Vanishes (This will be 6th in the Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery Series…)

Kerry Greenwood: A Question of Death (This will be the 17th in the Phryne Fisher Mystery Series…)

Carolyn Hart (aka Carolyn G. Hart): Ghost at Work (This will be the 1st in the NEW Bailey Ruth Mystery Series…)

Jonathan Kellerman: Bones (This will be the 23rd in the Alex Delaware Mystery Series…)

John J. Lamb: The Clockwork Teddy (This will be the 4th in the Bear Collector’s Mystery Series…)

Joyce & Jim Lavene: The Telltale Turtle (This will be the 1st in the NEW Pet Psychic Mystery Series…)

John le Carré: A Most Wanted Man (This will be be a Stand Alone…)

Kathryn Lilley: A Killer Workout (This will be the 2nd in the Fat City Mystery Series…)

Laura Lippman: Hardly Knew Her (This will be a Stand Alone of Short Stories…)

Debbie Macomber: A Cedar Cove Christmas (This will be a Christmas non-mystery…)

Maan Meyers (aka Martin & Annette Meyers): The Organ Grinder (This will be the 7th in the Dutchman Historical Mystery Series…)

Marcia Muller: Burn Out (This will be the 26th in the Sharon McCone Mystery Series…)

Robert B. Parker: Rough Weather (This will be the 36th in the Spenser Mystery Series…)

Sharon Kay Penman: Devil’s Brood (This will be the 3rd in the non-mystery Henry & Eleanor historical trilogy…)

Fran Rizer: Casket Case (This will be the 3rd in the Callie Parrish Mystery Series…)

Maggie Sefton: Fleece Navidad (This will be the 6th in the Knitting Mystery Series…)

J.B. Stanley: Stiffs and Swine (This will be the 4th in the Supper Club Mystery Series…)

Aimée & David Thurlo: Coyote’s Wife (This will be the 13th in the Ella Clah Mystery Series…) (Actually… Sept. 30)

Peter Tremayne: Dancing with Demons (This will be 18th in the Sister Fidelma Mystery Series…)

Joseph Wambaugh: Hollywood Crows (Follows 2006’s Hollywood Station…)

Livia J. Washburn: The Christmas Cookie Killer (This will be the 3rd in the Fresh-Baked Mystery Series…) (Actually… Sept. 30)

♦To go back to the Cozy Mystery New Releases page click here♦

Five New Authors Posted on the Cozy Mystery Site…

Just a quick note to let you know that I just added five new authors to the site. They were all recommended by readers of the site. (I am never sure if anyone who has visited the site before reads the What’s New page, thus the reason that I keep being so redundant!)

Dorothy Howell: Howell’s Haley Randolph Mystery Series features a part-time sales person who happens to love designer labels in her purses…

Lorena McCourtney: McCourtney is listed under “Christian Mysteries” on her site… She writes several mystery series, some of which feature senior citizen sleuths: her Ivy Malone Mystery Series, Andi McConnell Mystery Series, and Sparrow Island Mystery Series…

Lawrence Sanders: (Not Cozy) Sanders writes several mystery series (including the Archy McNally Series) and also many stand alones… He has many best selling novels…

Deborah Sharp: Sharp’s Mace Bauer Mystery Series is a funny series which features a single daughter and her ever-loving Mama…

Gayle Trent: Trent’s Daphne Martin Mystery Series has just released its first book which features a cake decorator…

More About Me…

A site visitor to the site who is a library science student asked for some more clarification about the site for a paper she is writing – the following is how I answered her questions:

“…As I said in my “About” page on my blog… I pretty much started this site because I love to read cozy mysteries. I didn’t actually start the site thinking that it would become as big as it has. I started the site with only the authors who I had personally read. However, with time, I got more and more recommendations of authors who other cozy mystery readers thought would be ideal for the site.

Again, as it says on the “About” page… I started making lists of all of the authors I followed. Also, I had one particular friend from the days when I was in online mystery reading groups who had very similar preferences in authors. So, we would “introduce” each other to new authors. The online mystery reading groups that I belonged to would take nominations from the members and then vote on which books we would read every month… so I was introduced to a lot of new authors.

I had (literally) pages and pages of authors who I read, and my husband kept telling me that rather than retype the list each year when I brought it up to date, I should store it on my computer so that I could just “strike out” the books that I had read or add the new books that the author had written during the last year. I did all of this for several years before I actually started the site. My husband thought that since I liked chronological lists of my favorite cozy authors, there were probably people out there who would also like lists of their favorite authors’ chronological lists. And, since I am always on the lookout for new Cozy Mystery authors, I knew that there were others looking for new authors to add to their lists.

As for my “authority”… Several times on the site I have written that I simply love the cozy genre of mysteries. I don’t tout myself as an expert of any sort… I simply like my cozy mysteries, and like to read books in their correct chronological order. I became very frustrated having to pick out all of the books by one author out of the library shelves just so that I could get their chronological publishing dates. (Of course… it doesn’t need saying that I always re-shelved the books in the correct alphabetical order!!!)

Yes, I do believe that I have connected readers to books that they will enjoy. I receive a good deal of mail from site readers, and many of them have told me that they found a new author (or two, or three!) from perusing the site.

I get most of my information from the different authors’ websites, from a wonderful librarian who writes me letters keeping me posted on new books from some of the authors on the site, or new series from some of the authors on the site, and from readers of the site. I am amazed at how many people want the site to be a good site, which is complete with up-to-date information. And, the amount of author recommendations astounds me! I am very lucky for all of the site readers’ input!

Since I always go to the authors websites, I believe that the “validity of any information” is 100%. Of course, since not all authors have websites, I have actually had to contact some of them so that they can provide me with the correct information via emails. And, in some cases, the authors’ websites are organized in such a way that it is difficult to decipher the books’ order… that’s when I hit the internet and Google everything I can.

I have a search feature on the blog part of the website, but haven’t thought about putting one in on the main site. I rely on my husband to fix/upgrade/”computerize” the site and he is so very good about doing all of the actual computer work that I hesitate asking him to have to work through that type of feature. But, I am sure that we will discuss it….”

***Actually, I should not have said 100% accurate… I have received letters from site readers a few times where I have been told that my dates were off by a year or two, and once, I was corrected by a fan of an author who told me that I had “topsy-turvied” two books… But, since I always correct things (after verifying the need) on the site that are brought to my attention, I think that I can safely say that I strive to be 100% accurate.

♦Not in my answers is this: Thank you all for the author recommendations and the comments. This website has grown because of the response of people like you!♦

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