Pre-order The Ghost Women!
Pre-order The Ghost Women!
A mysterious art academy in the woods, a deck of ancient tarot cards, a centuries-old secret.
On a hot August morning in 1972, the body of Abel Montague, a student at St. Luke’s Institute of the Arts, is found hanging from a tree in the forest. An ancient Hanged Man tarot card is found in the back pocket of his pants and his body has been positioned into the exact pose illustrated on the card.
When Detective Lola Germany arrives at St. Luke’s—a former monastery that once housed a secret order of monks who carried out witch trials and executions—she believes they are dealing with a ritualistic murder. While interviewing school administrators and Abel’s classmates, Lola discovers Abel’s live-in girlfriend, Pearl, seems shaken but also might be hiding something—along with her group of friends who call themselves witches.
When more students are found dead, each body arranged like a tarot card, Lola realizes she is trapped in a web of power and ambition that spans centuries. Soon the lines between past and present, spiritual and tangible, begin to blur, and the only way to survive is to seek answers from places she never imagined.
Praise for The Ghost Women
“An intoxicating brew of murder, witchcraft, and artistic ambition, The Ghost Women is as propulsive as it is addictive. Murphy expertly ratchets up the tension even as she lets the Low Country atmosphere seep across every page and develops a cast of characters any reader would immediately recruit for their personal coven. The result is the southern gothic of my dreams; fans of Liz Moore will devour this one.”
- Katy Hays, New York Times bestselling author of The Cloisters
“Moody, atmospheric, and relentless… Amidst ancient rituals, long-lost tarot cards, and mist-swathed forests, Murphy’s tale of art and murder reveals that the most potent magic of all is the friendship between women. Perfect for fans of Donna Tartt and Rachel Gillig, this is dark academia at its finest.”
- Leigh Esposito, author of The Tarocco Saga
“Tarot cards! The 1970s! Witches! And an island boarding school! How could I resist such irresistible elements, especially when they’re in the brilliant hands of Jennifer Murphy? A rising body count at an exclusive school jumpstarts a tantalizing not-your-ordinary-by-a-mile mystery with deep roots in the spiritual and the practical, in dangerous lies and an increasingly threatening truth. Magical. Mysterious. Sublime.”
- Caroline Leavitt, The New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You and Days of Wonder
“Witchcraft, secrets, art, love, jealousy and murder, what’s not to like? Jennifer Murphy’s The Ghost Women has all that and more. In a tale of fifteenth-century deadly games passed down through generations, Murphy explores good, evil and the possibility of the supernatural with a deft hand. A real page-turner.”
- B.A. Shapiro, bestselling author of The Art Forger and of The Lost Masterpiece
“Yowza. This book is deep and weird and all in all a very good mystery. There’s some very good deep gothic southern noir and the 70’s plays very well against the backdrop of weird private arts college meets dangerous cult. The tarot theme throughout is just the right amount of unsetting hint of the supernatural and the at first two and then more swapping POVs helps the story feel more frenetic as it approaches the climax. Loved this!”
- Thomas Wilkerson, Manager, BookPeople
“You guys have no idea how much I loved this book! This has really been the best thriller/murder mystery I’ve read all year. For context, there is murder, mystery, serial killings, tarot cards, burlap dolls, staged crime scenes, witch burnings, a secret art school, seers and witches. The book is witchy, terrifying, addictive and I’ve run out of more adjectives. I have never posted a review the very next day after finishing it, but I had to this time, because it’s good.
I admire Jennifer Murphy as it is evident the research she has done for this. I got to know so much about tarot cards and all. And I was really excited to know how this whole thing was going to be wrapped up in the end. I couldn’t sleep until I finished it.
So, I’ll slow down the hype and will write a few things about the book. The story is set in 1972, on a secluded island in South Carolina, with the mysterious death of an art student at the St. Luke’s university of arts, a school built on the grounds of a centuries old monastery that once held witch trials and executions. Detective Lola Germany, who has her own dark past, leads the investigation and as the murders pile up, I started suspecting everyone including Lola. By the end, I really wished there was like a sequel for this novel.
I loved everything about this book, it’s structure. It’s pacing, the way each character was portrayed to raise suspicion, how seamlessly Jennifer blended the paranormal with the natural. And the cover, it’s what made me look into the book in the first place. The cover is simple, scary and contains the main elements in the book in it. If you couldn’t guess, it’s a five star for me.”
- Sharifa, Good Reads Influencer (5 Stars)
“WOW. The Ghost Women is in my top 5 books of the year! Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton Publishing for the honor of reading this for an honest review.
Jennifer Murphy doesn’t just roll out one murder and one secret. The body count rises, the arrangements become fresh puzzles, the lines between past and present blur. The masterfully maintained tension makes the reader ask: what is really happening here? And more importantly, who holds the power? Who writes the ritual? Who survives? This isn’t a cozy whodunit, it’s an undercurrent of power, art, spirituality, and gendered dynamics. The stakes feel elemental and high.
I rarely re-read books, but I will definitely read this again.”
- Danielle, Good Reads Influencer (5 Stars)