The Ghosts of Marshley Park

A once quaint, gothic English graveyard becomes a crime scene after the murder of a 16-year-old New York socialite in Innes’s romantic murder mystery. When the ghost of Jade Roberts wakes up in a graveyard after her visit to London goes awry, she enlists the help of Julian Pendell, a handsome teenage British spirit with a tragic past, to unravel the details of her death. Taking advantage of their spectral forms, they collect clues and present them to the assigned police detective and occult-obsessed locals, growing closer as they explore questions of life, death, and what lies in between. When malevolent spirits and interference from the living threaten to separate Jade and Julian for good, they must work together to protect their budding relationship and the world beyond the graveyard. Told in the duo’s alternating perspectives, Jade’s self-assured and oftentimes stubborn narrative is balanced by Julian’s polite demeanor. The story’s romantic elements sometimes overshadow the mystery’s intrigue, but the protagonists’ banter is plentiful and flirtatious, making for an absorbing love story featuring a spooky mystery. Conversations regarding mental health and an author’s note contextualize an instance of suicide. All characters are cued as white. Ages 14–up. (Self-published)