Book picks similar to
The Municipality of Lost Souls by Jeannie Wycherley


horror
historical-fiction
arc
supernatural-suspense

The Life and Times of Rowan Daly


Rex Owens - 2021
    They settle in the mining town of New Hope. In 1934 the best paying job is dynamiting rock in the pit—a job Eli volunteers to do with disastrous consequences. When he’s killed, Rowan is alone and abandoned with no way to support herself. Rowan is recruited to be a Pack Horse Librarian and soon finds herself delivering books to hill families, facing her fears of abandonment, and learning about the unique rural folks she serves. It’s just the beginning for Rowan—being a Pack Horse Librarian changes her future, giving her a life she could never have imagined.

The Mystery of Chateau Beaumont (Triquetra Series Book 1)


L.C. Kincaide - 2019
    What better way to embrace a new decade heralding her thirties than to rise to new challenges and make exciting changes in her life?Embarking on the project in the small town of Beaumont, with the expert help of her reticent but skilled and handsome contractor, the work progresses smoothly. Only one thing puzzles her, though — the townsfolk who refuse to speak of the people who once lived there, only to say that one day years ago, the family mysteriously disappeared.Digging into the Chateau’s past, Hannah discovers a distressing past, and more disturbing is how it relates to her future.What began as an exciting adventure spirals into a terror she never could have imagined.Hanna’s story is the first book in the Triquetra Series about three close friends and the unpredictable turns their lives take.

Olde Tudor: A ghost story


David Ralph Williams - 2018
    In fact, he becomes the owner of two homes. One, a delightful Tudor cottage. The other, an ancient sepulchral cavern. The land on which they both stand a once sacred site in prehistory. Alistair’s practiced curiosity finds him meddling with things that should remain untouched. Cut off from the rest of the town by bad weather and sick with fever, he is tormented by something beyond the tangible world.

Letters in Time


Susan Reiss - 2021
    Michaels, Maryland. Her plan is to rest and recover from the horrendous car accident that almost took her life. When the movers find an antique plantation desk hidden in the garage, she has it moved into the Cottage. The next morning, a mysterious letter appears dated 1862 and signed by a stranger named Daniel, who declares his love for Emma. Does she believe in ghosts? Should she respond? Then, the police arrive to investigate a murder committed across the creek from her Cottage. Is there a connection? Does Daniel hold the secret that can save her from a murderer? Letters in Time is the first book in a new series of historical fiction mysteries set in St. Michaels, Maryland Eastern Shore, named in 1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz.

Something Strange and Deadly


Susan Dennard - 2012
    . . .Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about.Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she's just read in the newspaper:The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor . . . from her brother.Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she'll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including the maddeningly stubborn yet handsome Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.

The Wrong Girl


C.J. Archer - 2013
    Hannah Smith just wishes she wasn't that girl. As a narcoleptic and the companion to an earl's daughter with a strange affliction of her own, Hannah knows she's lucky to have a roof over her head and food in her belly when so many orphans starve on the streets. Yet freedom is something Hannah longs for. She did not, however, want her freedom to arrive in the form of kidnapping.Taken by handsome Jack Langley to a place known as Freak House, she finds herself under the same roof as a mad scientist, his niece, a mute servant and Jack, a fire starter with a mysterious past. They assure Hannah she is not a prisoner and that they want to help her. The problem is, they think she's the earl's daughter. What will they do when they discover they took the wrong girl?

The Haunting of Blackburn Manor: Complete Series Box Set


Blake Croft - 2019
    Evil just got a new address… After months on the run from an abusive relationship, Linda Green is ready to slow down and start her life over again. Exhausted from ever-present fear and stress, she yearns for the peace that a fresh start can bring. A fresh start she hopes to find at Blackburn Manor. The lush green trees and serene nature surrounding the manor feel so calming to her frazzled soul that Linda is ready to take advantage of everything this peaceful oasis has to offer. No internet, no distractions. It’s perfect. Until she sees the faces in the window. Not one to believe much in the supernatural, Linda shrugs it off as just a feeling. But the longer she’s at the manor, the more the feeling of uneasiness grows. From the creepy old neighbor who watches her every move to the moving shadows and unexplained phone calls in the middle of the night, something is just not right. She can trust no one. Not even herself. As Linda begins to uncover the history of the place, she is sure that something strange is going on at Blackburn Manor. Something sinister that hides in the shadows, deep within walls cloaked with secrets. Something that will stop at nothing to keep those secrets hidden. The Haunting of Blackburn Manor is a chilling supernatural tale of what happens when a woman’s search for sanctuary turns into a desperate and terrifying attempt to save her own life. Evil truly has a new address...

The Wimbourne Book of Victorian Ghost Stories: Volume 1


Alastair GunnRhoda Broughton - 2016
    Wimbourne Books presents the first in a series of rare or out-of-print ghost stories from Victorian authors. With an introduction by author Alastair Gunn, Volume 1 in the series spans the years 1852 to 1899 and includes stories from a wide range of female authors; English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh and American. Includes tales by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Charlotte Riddell, Isabella Banks and Gertrude Atherton. Readers new to this genre will discover its pleasures; the Victorian quaintness, the sometimes shocking difference in social norms, the almost comical politeness and structured etiquette, the archaic and precise language, but mostly the Victorians’ skill at stoking our fears and trepidations, our insecurities and doubts. Even if you are already an aficionado of the ghostly tale there is much within these pages to interest you. Wait until the dark of the stormy night arrives, lock the doors, shutter the windows, light the fire, sit with your back to the wall and bury yourself in the Victorian macabre. Try not to let the creaking floorboards, the distant howl of a dog, the chill breeze that caresses the candle, the shadows in the far recesses of your room, disturb your concentration.

The Curse of Morton Abbey


Clarissa Harwood - 2021
    But few people in late-Victorian England will entrust their legal affairs to a woman, and Vaughan is desperate to prove herself.Once at Morton, Vaughan discovers that someone is determined to drive her away. An intruder tries to enter her bedroom at night, gunshots are fired outside her window, and an eerie crying echoes from the uninhabited second floor. Even Netherton, the nearest village, seems odd: the picturesque houses and perfect-looking families are haunted by dark secrets connected to Morton Abbey itself.To complete her work and solve the mystery at the heart of Morton, Vaughan needs the help of Joe Dixon, the handsome gardener, and Nicholas Spencer, her employer’s irascible invalid brother. But with her questions diverted, her progress thwarted, and her sleep disrupted by the crying, will Vaughan escape Morton Abbey with her sanity intact or be cursed by the secrets within?

Fogbound: A Ghost Story


Cara Swann - 2016
    In fact, the entire community seems to be cursed and haunted. But why? An atmospheric, old-fashioned ghost story that follows each family as they fight for survival and try to unravel the mystery of a fogbound spirit. (Mystery/supernatural suspense)

Darker Still


Leanna Renee Hieber - 2011
    It was the most exquisite portrait I'd ever seen--everything about Lord Denbury was unbelievable...utterly breathtaking and eerily lifelike.There was a reason for that. Because despite what everyone said, Denbury never had committed suicide. He was alive. Trapped within his golden frame.I've crossed over into his world within the painting, and I've seen what dreams haunt him. They haunt me too. He and I are inextricably linked--bound together to watch the darkness seeping through the gas-lit cobblestone streets of Manhattan. Unless I can free him soon, things will only get Darker Still.

The Haunting of Beatrix Greene Episode 1 (The Haunting Of Beatrix Greene, #0.1)


Rachel Hawkins - 2020
    If they cannot put aside their prejudices—and growing passion—and find a way to banish the ghost together, one of them could be its next victim.Get a sneak peek of The Haunting of Beatrix Greene by bestselling authors Rachel Hawkins, Ash Parsons, and Vicky Alvear Schecter.

The Nosferatu Conspiracy: The Sleepwalker


Brian James Gage - 2020
    This contrasts suppressed documents citing the royal family mysteriously disappeared after fires ravaged Saint Petersburg in December 1916 (OS).Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was supposedly murdered by high-ranking Russian officials on December 16, 1916 (OS), for his unprecedented and perceived nefarious influence over the royal family. He was poisoned, shot twice, and clubbed into submission, yet remained alive. His attackers finally drowned him underneath the icy Neva River.Rasputin’s autopsy was reportedly performed three days later by Professor Kossorotov, a high-ranking Okhrana agent and future Kremlin operative. Cause of death: drowning. The document states Rasputin broke free of his bindings and his fingernails showed signs he’d tried to claw through the ice.The stories surrounding Rasputin’s death are gross falsifications. His body was never recovered for examination, and his status within the Russian intelligence community to this day remains: At Large.This is the true story of Rasputin’s paranormal coup d'etat and his conjuring of ancient vampires that destroyed Saint Petersburg, Russia, in December 1916.History is a lie. The truth will be exposed.

A Stitch in Time


Kelley Armstrong - 2020
    As a young girl, Bronwyn could pass through a time slip in her great-aunt’s house, where she visited William Thorne, a boy her own age, born two centuries earlier. After a family tragedy, the house was shuttered and Bronwyn was convinced that William existed only in her imagination. Now, twenty years later Bronwyn inherits Thorne Manor. And when she returns, William is waiting. William Thorne is no longer the boy she remembers. He’s a difficult and tempestuous man, his own life marred by tragedy and a scandal that had him retreating to self-imposed exile in his beloved moors. He’s also none too pleased with Bronwyn for abandoning him all those years ago. As their friendship rekindles and sparks into something more, Bronwyn must also deal with ghosts in the present version of the house. Soon she realizes they are linked to William and the secret scandal that drove him back to Thorne Manor. To build a future, Bronwyn must confront the past.

The Letter


Marianne Spitzer - 2012
    What could she have in common with the town’s richest man? Curiosity draws her to the will reading where she learns she has inherited a vast sum. The conditions of her inheritance require she change her name and reside in the Malone mansion. Long considered haunted by the residents of Malone Springs, Kellie, her fiancé and four friends move in ignoring the rumors. Strange and frightening events begin to plague Kellie before she moves and grow more frightening once she and her friends settle in. Adopted at birth, her adoptive parents killed in an auto accident leave Kellie to investigate her ancestors on her own. What she discovers leads her into more danger and mystery as she learns the true nature of her biological grandfather. Could his evil deeds hurt her from beyond the grave? Who’s responsible for the strange occurrences? What happened to her biological parents? As one solved mystery leads Kellie into another, she and her friends try to solve them all before tragedy strikes.