Books like 'Secret of Laurel Oaks'
Readers who enjoyed Secret of Laurel Oaks by Lois Ruby also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical fantasy mystery horror supernatural paranormal historical-fiction ghosts friendship gothic
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The Witch's Tree by Elena Collins
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA tale as old as time. A spirit that has never rested.Present dayAs a love affair comes to an end, and with it her dreams for her future, artist Selena needs a retreat. The picture-postcard Sloe Cottage in the Somerset village of Ashcombe promises to be the perfect place to forget her problems, and Selena settles into her new home as spring arrives... -
![The Lady of the Loch by Elena Collins]()
The Lady of the Loch by Elena Collins
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratings‘Although I believe I will die here in this castle, my spirit will never be silent.’Ravenscraig Castle, Scotland. 1307When the castle she works in is sacked by the army of Prince Edward of England, kitchen maid Agnes Fitzgerald manages to escape north of Inverness to throw herself at the mercy of the Lord and Lady at Ravenscraig Castle... -
![Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty, Lale Günseli Bayır]()
Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty, Lale Günseli Bayır
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsSerafina's defeat of the Man in the Black Cloak has brought her out of the shadows and into the daylight realm of her home, Biltmore Estate. Every night she visits her mother in the forest, eager to learn the ways of the catamount...Categorized as:
friendship gothic historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure animals audiobook -
![The Attic on Queen Street by Karen White]()
The Attic on Queen Street by Karen White
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsReturn to the house on Tradd Street for one last time as the bestselling series featuring psychic medium Melanie Trenholm comes to a hauntingly spectacular finale.After the devastating events of the past few months, the last thing Melanie Trenholm wants is to think about the future... -
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![Serafina and the Splintered Heart by Robert Beatty, Битти Роберт]()
Serafina and the Splintered Heart by Robert Beatty, Битти Роберт
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe storms are coming.... Something has happened to Serafina. She has awoken into a darkness she does not understand, scarred from a terrible battle, only to find that life at Biltmore Estate has changed in unimaginable ways. Old friends do unthinkable things and enemies seem all around...Categorized as:
friendship gothic historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure animals audiobook -
![The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud]()
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsWhen the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in . . .For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions.Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career... -
![Callie by Bill Thompson]()
Callie by Bill Thompson
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDeep in the bayous of southern Louisiana, an ancient mansion called Beau Rivage sits empty and abandoned. Arceneaux family members built the house and lived there for two hundred years. The house is inherited by Callie Pilantro, a down-on-her-luck granddaughter of Juliet Arceneaux, its most recent owner who died there a few months ago... -
![Salt & Broom by Sharon Lynn Fisher]()
Salt & Broom by Sharon Lynn Fisher
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA gifted healer unravels the mysteries of a cursed estate—and its enigmatic owner—in a witchy retelling of Jane Eyre . "Salt and broom, make this room Safe and tight, against the night." Trunks packed with potions and cures, Jane Aire sets out on a crisp, clear morning in October to face the greatest challenge of her sheltered girls’-school existence... -
![Somebody Stop Ivy Pocket by Caleb Krisp]()
Somebody Stop Ivy Pocket by Caleb Krisp
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAre you ready for Ivy Pocket? The wickedly funny, completely unreliable maid of no importance returns—this time as a coffin maker’s daughter—in this action-packed sequel to Anyone but Ivy Pocket. School Library Journal says, “Fans of . . . Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events will love Ivy Pocket’s zany adventures...Categorized as:
ghosts gothic historical-fiction law-enforcement action-adventure book children children-books -
![The House of Memory by Carolyn Haines]()
The House of Memory by Carolyn Haines
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratings2nd book in the Pluto's Snitch... -
![The Ghost of Tobacco Road by Dale J. Young]()
The Ghost of Tobacco Road by Dale J. Young
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOn the banks of the Skeleton River in a remote part of North Carolina lies the small town of Starlight. Once known for its tobacco fields and rural charm, Starlight has seen better days. Now most of the stores on Main Street are boarded up, and many of the residents have left town for good... -
![Forgotten Men by Bill Thompson]()
Forgotten Men by Bill Thompson
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe once-famous Hotel Iberia was where society's finest gathered in the days before 1859 when Victory, Louisiana became a ghost town. A building where people had laughed, dined and passed the time among friends became something dark, sinister and evil. The town was dead, so no one complained when the Victory Institution for the Criminally Insane opened in the old hotel...Categorized as:
ghosts historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure adult archaeology book fiction -
![The Amazing Mr Blunden by Antonia Barber]()
The Amazing Mr Blunden by Antonia Barber
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIt was such an old house it sometimes seemed to Lucy that all the past was gathered up inside it as if in a great box; as though it had a life of its own that continued to exist just beyond the reach of her eyes and ears...Categorized as:
ghosts gothic historical-fiction paranormal 20th-century action-adventure book children -
![The Ghost of Midnight Lake by Lucy Strange]()
The Ghost of Midnight Lake by Lucy Strange
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom award winning author Lucy Strange comes a thrilling ghost story about a strong willed heroine who will follow even the most restless spirit in order to untangles the dark mystery of her own past.It's 1899. The Earl of Gosswater has died, and twelve-year-old Agatha has been cast out of her ancestral home - the only home she has ever known - by her cruel cousin, Clarence...Categorized as:
friendship ghosts gothic historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal abuse action-adventure -
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![Sleepy Hollow: Bridge of Bones by Richard Gleaves]()
Sleepy Hollow: Bridge of Bones by Richard Gleaves
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"My earliest memory is of discovering my grandfather's severed head." The HEADLESS HORSEMAN has risen and rides. JASON CRANE is the Horseman's target. But Jason must stay and fight, to protect those he loves. For Sleepy Hollow is falling to evil. Now Jason Crane lives under a tyrannical guardian. Jason Crane must descend into fearful darkness. And Jason Crane has an appointment with death..Categorized as:
ghosts gothic historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure book fiction folk-horror -
![The Complete Short Stories by Ambrose Bierce, Jerome Hopkins]()
The Complete Short Stories by Ambrose Bierce, Jerome Hopkins
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBefore he trailed off into the wilds of Mexico, never to be heard from again, Ambrose Bierce achieved a public persona as "bitter Bierce" and "the devil's lexicographer." He left behind a nasty reputation and more than ninety short stories that are perfect expressions of his sardonic genius...Categorized as:
ghosts gothic historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure adult anthologies classics -
![Time Windows by Kathryn Reiss]()
Time Windows by Kathryn Reiss
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Miranda moves with her family to a new house in a small Massachusetts town, she discovers a mysterious antique--a dollhouse. Through the windows, she is shocked to find what seem to be living people in the tiny rooms, and gradually she realizes that scenes from the lives of the big house’s past inhabitants are being replayed there...Categorized as:
ghosts historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal abuse action-adventure book children -
![The Book of Beloved by Carolyn Haines]()
The Book of Beloved by Carolyn Haines
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAs a young woman widowed by World War I, Raissa James is no stranger to ghosts. But when an invitation arrives from Caoin House, her uncle’s estate in Mobile, Alabama, she’s finally ready to cast off the shadows of her past... -
![Dreadful Sorry by Kathryn Reiss]()
Dreadful Sorry by Kathryn Reiss
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Molly's recurrent nightmares become waking visions after she nearly drowns at a party. Soon she's witnessing events through the eyes of a girl who lived in her father's house nearly a century before... -
![Blackwater 6: The Rain by Michael McDowell]()
Blackwater 6: The Rain by Michael McDowell
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsAs the Caskey family and their town of Perdido rode the crest of prosperity in the 60s, matriarch Elinor had good reason to be proud of her domain. But slowly, silently, unimaginable horrors were creeping into their midst.At the height of revelry, at the peak of chaos, in the fearful silence of blackest night, preternatural horror pounced upon the Caskeys... -
![The Hanging of Hettie Gale by Tess Burnett]()
The Hanging of Hettie Gale by Tess Burnett
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA mother's love will never die. Neither will a mother's fury . . . The moor is a difficult place for a young woman to grow up in the eighteenth century, and life for Hettie Gale is no different. Abused by her father and abandoned by her family, she builds a new life for herself and her young son... -
![Grimm Curiosities by Sharon Lynn Fisher]()
Grimm Curiosities by Sharon Lynn Fisher
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsIn Victorian England, a young woman inherits her father’s curiosity shop and all its ghostly secrets in a bewitching novel by the author of Salt & Broom.It’s 1851 in old York. Lizzy Grimm struggles to save her late father’s charmingly creepy yet floundering antique shop, Grimm Curiosities. Then, during a particularly snowy December in this most haunted city in England, things turn…curiouser... -
![The Bayou by Arden Powell]()
The Bayou by Arden Powell
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 7 ratings"Eugene didn’t know if he believed in the devil beyond the wicked things people did of their own accord, but if the devil had a face, it would look like Johnny Walker’s."Small-town Louisiana, 1935.When Eugene was twelve, a girl from town disappeared. Everyone said the gators must have got her when she strayed too near the bayou. No foul play, just a terrible accident... -
![Banished by C.J. Archer]()
Banished by C.J. Archer
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAn infestation of evil ghosts is too much for spirit medium Cara to handle alone. She summons Quin, and together they attempt to discover where the ghosts came from, and why they refuse to leave this realm. To protect the residents, Cara and Quin must work closely together, leading to old feelings resurfacing between them... -
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![The Hollows by C.L. Monaghan]()
The Hollows by C.L. Monaghan
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings**A unique blend of MURDER, MYSTERY and MAGIC** 1860 never looked so good! London 1860 Midnight Gunn is no ordinary detective- born during a solar eclipse as Halley's Comet blazed a trail through the sky- his supernatural birthright is both a help and a hindrance when solving crimes. Detective Inspector Arthur Gredge, of Scotland Yard, is the only one who knows Gunn's secret... -
![The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories by Michael Cox]()
The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories by Michael Cox
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Victorians excelled at telling ghost stories. In an age of rapid scientific progress, the idea of a vindictive past able to reach out and violate the present held a special potential for terror. Throughout the nineteenth century, fictional ghost stories developed in parallel with the more general Victorian fascination with death and what lay beyond it... -
![House of Shadows by Pamela Hartshorne]()
House of Shadows by Pamela Hartshorne
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen Kate Vavasour wakes in the hospital, she remembers nothing of the family gathered around her, or of her life before the accident. The doctors diagnose post-traumatic amnesia and say the memories should start returning. Which they do—but these memories are not hers. They belong to Isabel Vavasour, who lived and died at Askerby Hall more than 400 years earlier... -
![The Stars We Walked Upon by M.L. Bullock]()
The Stars We Walked Upon by M.L. Bullock
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCarrie Jo Stuart's dream catching has gotten out of control and threatens to wreck her happy home. She decides to tell her husband a secret that changes everything, but Ashland has ghosts of his own. Ashland's childhood friend Detra Ann Dowd battles a frightening supernatural being but travels across time to receive help from an unexpected ally... -
![The Stars That Fell by M.L. Bullock, Emily Lawrence]()
The Stars That Fell by M.L. Bullock, Emily Lawrence
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSecrets Never Stay Hidden Just Ask Any Ghost When Carrie Jo and Ashland Stuart uncovered the truth about the ghosts of Seven Sisters, they were sure that the supernatural activity would end. When they return home to Mobile after their honeymoon, they soon realize they were wrong”"not everyone is at rest. Something or someone is reaching out to the dream catcher... -
![The Winter Spirits: Ghostly Tales for Frosty Nights by Bridget Collins, Susan Stokes-Chapman]()
The Winter Spirits: Ghostly Tales for Frosty Nights by Bridget Collins, Susan Stokes-Chapman
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom the creators of The Haunting Season comes a dazzling collection of never-before-seen ghostly tales.The tradition of a haunted tale at Christmas has flourished across the centuries... -
![Shadows Stir at Seven Sisters by M.L. Bullock]()
Shadows Stir at Seven Sisters by M.L. Bullock
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhere is Calpurnia Cottonwood? Find the Answers in Shadows Stir at Seven Sisters Seven Sisters, an antebellum restoration in downtown Mobile, has come to life recently...and not in ways historian Carrie Jo Jardine had expected...Categorized as:
ghosts gothic historical-fiction paranormal 21st-century action-adventure adult book -
![The Swallow: A Ghost Story by Charis Cotter]()
The Swallow: A Ghost Story by Charis Cotter
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn 1960s Toronto, two girls retreat to their attics to escape the loneliness and isolation of their lives. Polly lives in a house bursting at the seams with people, while Rose is often left alone by her busy parents. Polly is a down-to-earth dreamer with a wild imagination and an obsession with ghosts; Rose is a quiet, ethereal waif with a sharp tongue...Categorized as:
friendship ghosts gothic historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal book children -
![Heart Burn by C.J. Archer]()
Heart Burn by C.J. Archer
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTime is running out for Hannah. With her life hanging by a thread and Tate trying to kidnap her, she finds help in an unusual quarter - the man who put the narcoleptic memory block on her as a child. Yet the powerful hypnotist may not be all that he seems... -
![The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell]()
The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a gripping tale of obsession, superstition and ambition, set against the atmospheric backdrop of Victorian London. Be careful what you wish for it may just come true.At The Mercury Theatre in London's West End, rumours are circulating of a curse... -
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![The Ghosts of Tullybrae House by Veronica Bale]()
The Ghosts of Tullybrae House by Veronica Bale
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTHE PATH TO HER DESTINY LIES IN SOLVING A CENTURIES-OLD MYSTERY Emmie Tunstall is in over her head. Not yet thirty, and she’s been hired as curator at Tullybrae House. A three-hundred year old manor in the Scottish Highlands, Tullybrae has more antique and historically significant artefacts than a museum. It will fall to Emmie to inspect, research and catalogue every last one... -
![House of Echoes by Barbara Erskine]()
House of Echoes by Barbara Erskine
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe past isn't always dead or buried...When Joss Grant, adopted at birth, inherits Belheddon Hall – a beautiful old house on the East Anglian coast – it is like a dream come true. Eager to begin a new life there with Luke, her husband, and Tom, her small son, she is also impatient to find out about her newly discovered family who lived there for generations... -
![The Haunting of H. G. Wells by Robert Masello]()
The Haunting of H. G. Wells by Robert Masello
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA plot against England that even the genius of H. G. Wells could not have imagined. It’s 1914. The Great War grips the world—and from the Western Front a strange story emerges…a story of St. George and a brigade of angels descending from heaven to fight beside the beleaguered British troops. But can there be any truth to it?H. G...Categorized as:
ghosts gothic historical-fiction paranormal 20th-century adult alternate-history audiobook -
![The Curse of the Blue Figurine by John Bellairs]()
The Curse of the Blue Figurine by John Bellairs
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJohnny Dixon doesn't believe that the ghost of mad Father Baart haunts the town church. But then he takes an old scroll and a seemingly harmless figurine from the church basement, accepts a magic ring from a mysterious stranger--and is plunged into a terrifying adventure that may cost him his life...Categorized as:
ghosts gothic historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal 20th-century action-adventure book -
![Midnight is a Lonely Place by Barbara Erskine]()
Midnight is a Lonely Place by Barbara Erskine
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAfter a broken love affair, biographer Kate Kennedy retires to a remote cottage on the wild Essex coast to work on her new book until her landlord's daughter uncovers a Roman site nearby and long-buried passions are unleashed! In her lonely cottage, Kate is terrorized by mysterious forces... -
![The Ghost Belonged to Me by Richard Peck]()
The Ghost Belonged to Me by Richard Peck
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratings"More death! More, if you do not stop it. Others lost, like me in the black water. Save them!"When Alexander first sees the eerie glow in the dormer window of the barn, it sets his heart pounding. And when he ventures into the barn in the dark of night, his breath catches in his throat. Suddenly Blossom Culp's words come back to him: "You can make contact with the Unseen...Categorized as:
ghosts historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal 20th-century action-adventure book children -
![Possession by C.J. Archer]()
Possession by C.J. Archer
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn alternate cover edition can be found here.When the ghost of a notorious killer possesses the body of an upper class youth, London's pre-eminent medium, Emily Chambers, must exorcise it before the spirit goes on a rampage... -
![Moonlight Falls on Seven Sisters by M.L. Bullock]()
Moonlight Falls on Seven Sisters by M.L. Bullock
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen a young, wealthy heiress, Calpurnia Cottonwood, disappears from Seven Sisters in 1850, rumors swirl. But no trace of the girl had ever been found--until now. Historian Carrie Jo Jardine and her handsome employer, Ashland Stuart, find clues to the heiress' whereabouts and even more mysteries are revealed. With Carrie Jo's ability to dream about the past, she watches a sinister plot unfold... -
![Playing With Fire by C.J. Archer]()
Playing With Fire by C.J. Archer
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsPRAISE FOR THE WRONG GIRL (BOOK 1 IN THE 1ST FREAK HOUSE SERIES):"It is incredibly well written and pulls you in from page one." ~ Annaleen, Amazon and Goodreads reviewer"This was one fantastic read! A really fascinating story which I couldn't put down, so this is easily a 5 stars... -
![Jane-Emily by Patricia Clapp]()
Jane-Emily by Patricia Clapp
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsEmily was a selfish, willful, hateful child who died before her thirteenth birthday. But that was a long time ago.Jane is nine years old and an orphan when she and her young Aunt Louisa come to spend the summer at Jane’s grandmother’s house, a large, mysterious mansion in Massachusetts. Then one day . . -
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![Sleepy Hollow: Rise Headless and Ride by Richard Gleaves]()
Sleepy Hollow: Rise Headless and Ride by Richard Gleaves
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNOTE: This E-Book edition INCLUDES "THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW" by Washington Irving (full text)!"May I present the Last Descendant of Ichabod Crane..."JASON CRANE just turned seventeen years old.He's a STAR WARS fan and a history geek. He doesn't believe in ghosts or the afterlife. He doesn't believe in psychic powers or tarot cards. He doesn't believe in the Headless Horseman...Categorized as:
ghosts gothic historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure audiobook book classics -
![The Titanic Locket by Suzanne Weyn]()
The Titanic Locket by Suzanne Weyn
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDon't touch anything in The Haunted Museum!It looks like the high point of Samantha's spring vacation is going to be a glimpse of a cute boy she sees at The Haunted Museum in England... -
![The Apparition Phase by Will Maclean]()
The Apparition Phase by Will Maclean
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSome ghosts never leave us.SHORTLISTED FOR THE MCKITTERICK PRIZE 2021'A wild rural gothic with some slick plotting . . . the perfect novel for our phantom present' Guardian'Outstanding . . -
![Who's Sorry Now? by Maggie Robinson]()
Who's Sorry Now? by Maggie Robinson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLondon, England 1925 A Russian prince. A wealthy heir. An impoverished earl's daughter. Which one will make an untimely exit from the London social scene? Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Devenand Hunter finds himself in the middle of a series of upper-class deaths in London...Categorized as:
ghosts historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal 20th-century adult amateur-sleuth audiobook -
![Wife of the Left Hand by M.L. Bullock]()
Wife of the Left Hand by M.L. Bullock
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAvery Dufresne had the perfect life--a rock star boyfriend, a high-profile career in the anchor chair on a national news program. Until a dangerous threat brings her perfect world to a shattering stop. Avery loses everything but when she emerges from the darkness she finds she has a new ability--a supernatural one... -
![A Thin Ghost and Others by M.R. James]()
A Thin Ghost and Others by M.R. James
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCollection of stories by Montague Rhodes James, a noted medieval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge and of Eton College. He is best remembered today for his ghost stories in the classic Victorian Yuletide vein...
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