The Ghost Women by Jennifer Murphy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Ghost Women is an atmospheric blend of Dark Academia, Police Procedural and Occult Horror, all in a believable historical setting. I had no idea what to expect going into this, having never read from Jennifer Murphy before, and man, was I impressed.
Our story kicks off on a hot Summer morning in 1972, when the body of Abel Montague, a wealthy student at St. Luke’s Institute for the Arts, is found hanging upside down from a tree in the forest abutting the school.
In his back pocket, a tarot card, and you guessed it, it’s The Hanged Man. Upon examination, it’s clear that his body has been arranged in the exact pose as the man on the card.
Detective Lola Germany is the investigator in charge of Abel’s murder and we do get her perspective throughout the novel. She’s originally from the area, and ended up being my favorite character.
As she starts her investigation, interviewing students and the school administration, Lola meets Abel’s live-in girlfriend, Pearl. It’s clear Pearl is not just upset about Abel’s death, she’s hiding something.
Lola’s digging takes her further into Pearl and Abel’s world, and brings her into contact with Pearl’s group of girlfriends. They’re all a little quirky and do consider themselves a coven of witches.
They’ve also openly been using the tarot. Could the coven be involved in Abel’s murder? Perhaps helping Pearl, if Abel has crossed her in some way?
But soon more people are found dead. Again, their bodies arranged to match a tarot card left at the scene. Lola realizes these ritualistic killings could be connected to something much larger, and older, than she’d initially expected.
I ended up enjoying this story so much. More than I thought I would, actually. I loved the 1972-setting and the location being in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.
It does have Dark Academia vibes, being set at a secluded private art school, and that’s not always my jam, but having the perspective of Detective Lola looking into the mysterious murders definitely helped for my personal tastes.
I thought the mystery was also very intriguing. The incorporation of the tarot cards into the murders was fun and only added to the atmosphere. I liked the occult feel it brought to the story.
Additionally, Murphy’s writing was just great. It was so fluid and compelling. I’m surprised more people aren’t talking about this one. I need more people to read it.
My only minor issues were some of the perspectives, of the young ladies at the school, I did have a little bit of trouble differentiating amongst them. That could have been totally the headspace I was in at the time of reading it though. So take that with a grain of salt.
Thank you to the publisher, Dutton, for providing me a copy to read and review. I’m very happy to have been introduced to this author; looking forward to more!