Monday, October 26, 2009

Halloween Mysteries: A List

Mystery Readers Journal has done several theme issues, including one this past year on Crime for the Holidays. My favorite holiday is Halloween, and I have a very long list of mysteries set during Halloween. No surprise! I don't really have enough room to list them all, but thought I'd list a few to get you through the day. This is an updated list from last year.

Green Water Ghost by Glynn Marsh Alam
Witches Bane
by Susan Wittig Albert
Antiques Maul by Barbara Allan
The Long Good Boy by Carol Lea Benjamin
Death of a Trickster by Kate Borden
Post-Mortem Effects by Thomas Boyle
A Graveyard for Lunatics by Ray Bradbury
The Cat Who.. Talked to Ghosts by Lilian Jackson Braun
The Hunt Ball by Rita Mae Brown
Death on All Hallowe'en by Leo Bruce
Wycliffe and the Scapegoat by W.J. Burley
The Wizard of La-La Land by R. Wright Campbell
Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie
Ghostly Murders by P. C. Doherty
Wolf in Sheep's Clothing by Ann Campbell
Frill Kill by Laura Childs
Not in My Backyard by Susan Rogers Cooper
A Catered Halloween by Isis Crawford
Silver Scream by Mary Daheim
A Map of the Dark by John Dixon
Died to Match by Deborah Donnelly
Cat with an Emerald Eye by Carole Nelson Douglas
Sympathy For The Devil by Jerrilyn Farmer
Blackwork by Monica Ferris
Halloween Murder by Shelley Freydort
A Few Dying Words by Paula Gosling
Trick or Treat by Leslie Glaister
A Few Dying Words by Paula Gosling
Trick or Treat by Kerry Greenwood
Quoth the Raven by Jane Haddam
Revenge of the Cootie Girls by Sparkle Hayter
The Fallen Man by Tony Hillerman
Long Time No See by Susan Isaacs
Murder Among Us by Jonnie Jacobs
Ghastly Glass by Joyce and Jim Lavene
Tricks: an 87th Precinct Mystery by Ed McBain
Poisoned Tarts by G.A. McEvett
Trick or Treat Murder by Leslie Meier
Nightmare in Shining Armor by Tamar Myers
Halloween House by Ed Okonowicz
The Body in the Moonlight by Katherine Hall Page
Twilight by Nancy Pickard
Murder at Witches Bluff by Silver Ravenwolf
A Hole in Juan by Gillian Roberts
Murder Ole! by Corinne Holt Sawyer
Dance of the Scarecrows by Ray Sipherd
Murder of a Royal Pain by Denise Swanson
Mourning Shift by Kathleen Taylor
Inked Up by Terri Thayer
Charlie's Web by L.L. Thrasher
Strange Brew by Kathy Hogan Trochek
The Scarecrow Murders by Mary Welk
Killer Mousse by Melinda Wells
All Hallow's Eve by Charles Williams
All Hallow's Evil by Valerie Wolzien

Short story mavens don't worry: Here's a list of Halloween Mystery Short Stories:
Trick and Treats edited by Joe Gores & Bill Pronzini
Asking for the Moon (includes "Pascoe's Ghost" and "Dalziel's Ghost") by Reginald Hill
Murder for Halloween by Cynthia Manson
The Haunted Hour, edited by Cynthia Manson & Constance Scarborough
Murder for Halloween: Tales of Suspense, edited by Michele Slung & Roland Hartman.
Mystery for Halloween (an anthology), edited by Donald Westlake

Not enough? Get out your Edgar Allen Poe and reread "The Telltale Heart". Not quite Halloween, but in the spirit are any number of horror books or Vampire Books including Les Klinger's Annotated Dracula.

Boo!

3 comments:

Mary Welk said...

Thanks for the wonderful list, Janet. I'm certainly going to look up some of those books.

And if I may add a title to the list, please consider my book, The Scarecrow Murders, an amateur sleuth mystery set in a rural college town during Bruck University's Halloween Homecoming Days.

Thank you!

Mary Welk

Kathleen A. Ryan said...

Hi Janet,
I linked to your list in my Halloween blog post today! Great list, thank you!
Here's the link:
http://www.womenofmystery.net/2009/10/halloween-happenings.html

Happy Halloween!

Ali Karim said...

Wonderful list, Janet MRI seriously dents my bank balance as I head off to Amazon!

Thanks for the insight

Ali