Every year in October, I line up all the witchy and ghosty books for a spooky season reading sprint. The genre and setting may vary along the spooky spectrum, but the flavor I’ve been reaching for this year is “mystery with a side of spiritualism.” I love books that feature séances and tarot, whether the mystery is solved with the help of the cards or some spectral assistance, or the whodunit itself is to determine whether the person pulling the cards or summoning the spirits is gifted or just a fraud.
The five books on this list are either actual mysteries or books with a strong mystery element. Two are modern mysteries, one with witches, and three are historical Gothics set in London, Paris, and Edinburgh. All of them feature tarot, spiritualism, and in some cases both. If you like your spooky season reading lighter on the scare scale and more on the moody, vibey, mystery side of things, you’ve come to the right place.
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Mysteries with Séances and Tarot
Cards on the Table by Lana Harper and Jilly Gagnon
Two sisters descended from Bridget Bishop get a life-changing opportunity to do witchy work for a very wealthy widow. But when they arrive at the estate to start the gig, they’re embroiled in a murder mystery that someone is clearly trying to pin on them.
Death in the Cards by Mia P. Manansala
A high school student who really wants to get in on her family’s PI business finally gets her wish: when a classmate she recently pulled cards for disappears, she hopes solving the case will earn her a spot as an investigator. But ya know: danger.
A Dreadful Splendor by B.R. Myers
In this Gothic murder mystery set in London, a woman who swindles the rich via séance has just been arrested for her latest con. Then a stranger appears with an offer she really can’t refuse: he’ll get her out of jail if she can use her particular set of skills to stage a haunting and prove his wife was murdered. But she may not have to stage the haunting after all.
The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner
Here’s another Gothic, this one set both in Paris and London. A woman teams up with a world-famous spiritualist to solve the brutal murder of her sister, who was killed on the same evening as the head of something called the London Séance Society. But when the women team up with the society to solve both crimes, they realize they might now be involved in a crime as well.
Hazardous Spirits by Anbara Salam
I read Anbara Salam’s The Salvage last year and immediately ran to her backlist, which is how I discovered this Gothic read. In 1920s Edinburgh, a woman’s husband has confessed to her that he can communicate with the dead. But when the couple gets involved with a society of psychics and mediums, she begins to wonder if he’s a fraud or the real deal.
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