The world has always been filled with mysteries. Where does the sun go at night? Why is there lightning during a storm? What happens when we die? The fun thing about humans is we can’t just let those mysteries go unsolved. The unknown is frightening, maybe even dangerous, and we live on a whole planet full of it. So we search for answers, and when we don’t know an answer, we have a habit of making one up. For millennia, we’ve been filling in the gaps in our knowledge with stories of gods and ghouls and the odd fairy thrown in for good measure.
Eventually, science overtook mythology and answers shifted from fantastical beings with quick tempers to planetary rotation and electric charges. But one subject still remains wrapped in mystery and mystique: Death.
Every culture in every era throughout history has had their own explanations for what happens after we die, and modern beliefs remain just as varied. But whether we have pearly gates or hungry worms to look forward to, the one certainty is we’ll all find out in the end. Until then, all we have are stories.
When I wrote my debut novel, A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer, I think I was partly trying to answer the question for myself. But, as a neurotic millennial exploring the ultimate scary unknown, the only way I could even think to approach the subject was through humor. So the last great mystery, death, became a mundane office job. Hey, if death is the great equalizer then surely the second greatest involves cubicles and paperwork.
Of course, for my protagonist, modern-day corporate grim reaper Kathy Valence, the mystery of death is old news at this point. The bigger mystery is why her most recent soul pickup, Conner, is missing. And when she eventually tracks him down, why he swears someone at her company, S.C.Y.T.H.E., killed him.
Solving the mysteries of life against a backdrop of death, or in the face of other unknowns, is no easy feat. Thankfully for Kathy, she’s not the only one. Below are seven fun, innovative reads that really put some “life” into the afterlife.
Soulless by Gail Carriger
Carriger’s steampunk take on the Victorian era is bursting at the seams with beings who could tell you a thing or two about death. In a world where vampires and werewolves are staples in polite society, protagonist Alexia Tarabotti finds herself lacking in the same supernatural spirit. Or, more specifically, lacking in a soul. This unusual affliction makes her an antidote for paranormal powers, which is a handy skill to have until it inadvertently leads to her very unceremoniously killing a vampire, which goes against all sense of propriety and etiquette. But someone or something else is harming high society vamps, on purpose no less, and Alexia teams up with a handsome werewolf government operative to solve the mystery of the disappearing immortals. This book is full of humor, intrigue, and Victorian manners, and introduces a one-of-a-kind world you’ll have to be unwillingly dragged out of.
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathon Stroud
Ghosts are not only real but deadly in this introduction to the Lockwood & Co series, which follows a trio of teen ghostbusters solving the mysteries of the dead to stay alive. This young adult novel follows Lucy Carlyle, a talented agent trained to fight against “The Problem,” an epidemic of ghosts appearing throughout England. Children and teens, being the only age groups actually able to see or otherwise sense ghosts, play an important role in keeping their communities safe, and the Psychic Detective Agency Lucy joins is set up for the same purpose, only this one is run by her young contemporary, the charismatic Antony Lockwood. Together with the brains of the operation, George, the team is charged with clearing the most haunted house in England, but there’s more to this haunting than ghouls. The world Stroud creates is so grounded in reality, and so intricately constructed, that you can’t help but expect to find a Visitor glowing in the streetlights outside your window.
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
If we were to play a game of “Spot the Difference” with this list, you wouldn’t be wrong for picking this option. Dirk Gently isn’t a paranormal mystery in the traditional sense. But then, if you’re familiar with the off-the-wall writing of Douglas Adams, I’m sure you know “traditional” isn’t an adjective you’d find in the same universe as most of his work. Dirk Gently is what the love child of Doctor Who and Monty Python would look like, only somehow more absurd. The plot can only properly be explained in the book itself, but suffice it to say there is murder, time travel, and a horse stuck in the bathroom. Everything is connected, but the how and the why of it can only be untangled by someone with a name like Dirk Gently.
A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong
It takes a pretty special detective to solve their own attempted murder—twice. After being strangled in an alleyway in modern-day Edinburgh, Scotland, Detective Mallory wakes up in the body of a Victorian maid who’d had the very same rope around her neck 150 years earlier. Now Mallory gets to put her 21st-century knowledge to the test and help her cute undertaker boss figure out who keeps trying to kill her across lifetimes. This book struck the perfect balance between pithy, macabre, and supernatural to keep me hooked (though it certainly didn’t hurt that I got to read it while traveling through Edinburgh myself, thankfully with no ropes involved).
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
It’s one thing to be charged with solving a mystery as an amateur sleuth, but quite another when you wake up each morning as a different amateur sleuth, on a day that keeps repeating itself. For Turton’s protagonist, Aiden, this is really just the beginning of his problems. One thing he knows for certain is that Evelyn Hardcastle, daughter of the house he finds himself staying at, will be shot dead at the ball that night—and every night until he discovers her killer. But while a classic detective would interrogate the suspects, Aiden finds himself inhabiting their bodies each in turn, going through their motions on the day of the murder and putting the pieces together as he goes. This is such an inventive take on the genre and is executed to perfection.
The Restorer by Amanda Stevens
Set against the lush backdrop of Charleston, South Carolina, Amelia Gray is a cemetery restorer who can see ghosts. This unwanted—and unfortunately un-returnable—gift comes in handy when a woman’s body turns up on her job site. Amelia’s knowledge of graves, and their residents, makes her an ideal consultant for the detective on the case. But communing with the dead could mean risking her life. I devoured this series like chips back when I first discovered it a decade ago, and sometimes I still find myself tempted to go back for another bite.
The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James
Set in 1920s England, The Haunting of Maddy Clare follows impoverished young woman named Sarah Piper who takes a job assisting a ghost hunting team. Together they investigate a barn supposedly haunted by the ghost of a young girl who took her own life there. Unfortunately for Sarah, the ghost of Maddy Clare is not only real but she hates men, leaving Sarah to take on more than she bargained for. This is a rich story full of scares, mystery, and just the right amount of romance to help keep the nightmares at bay.