As the nights grow longer and the air turns crisp, there’s no better time to pick up a good mystery, especially one with a spooky twist. For those who prefer their chills on the cosier side, these Halloween-themed crime stories deliver the perfect mix of eerie atmosphere, clever puzzles and intriguing characters.

From pilgrims’ tales of mass murder, to Hercule Poirot solving a killing at a children’s party, to more modern sleuths encountering witchcraft and ghostly slayings, these stories capture the spirit of the season while keeping the bloodshed light and the mysteries tantalising, making them a delightful treat for mystery lovers who want to get into the Halloween spirit without the nightmare-inducing frights.

1 – Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie

When best-selling crime author Ariadne Oliver is roped into helping organise a children’s Halloween party at the home of wealthy widow Rowena Drake, she anticipates a rather dull evening. However, after 13-year-old Joyce Reynolds is found drowned in the apple-bobbing bucket shortly after announcing to all those present that she once saw a murder, Ariadne calls on old friend Hercule Poirot to identify the killer and discover if there is any truth to Joyce’s shocking claim.

With its spooky and disorientating atmosphere, coupled with its fiendishly clever central puzzle mystery, Agatha Christie’s Hallowe’en Party is the archetypical Halloween-themed cosy crime novel. Poirot is in fine form as he digs into the history of Woodleigh Common and the pasts of those who attended the party to discover who could have reason and opportunity to kill Joyce, and the able assistance provided by Ariadne ensures that the story still has a good dose of humour.
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2 – Flight of a Witch by Ellis Peters

When beautiful but rebellious 18-year-old Annet Beck returns after being missing for five days in October, she claims to have no memory of what happened to her and to believe that she has only been gone for a couple of hours. The last person to see Annet before she disappeared was the Becks’ lodger, Tom Kenyon, who spotted her walking over the Hallowmount, a place said to have been the home of witches. Determined to see if Annet is telling the truth, Tom attempts to discover if amnesia, witchcraft or something even more sinister is behind her disappearance, although he doesn’t make much progress until his investigation intersects with a case being worked on by Detective Inspector George Felse.

Despite being eclipsed in terms of popularity by the Brother Cadfael books, Ellis Peters’ Felse Investigations series is equally good and equally long-running, and Flight of a Witch presents another complex case for Detective Inspector Felse and his young son, Dominic, to investigate. While Felse senior might not believe in the supernatural, he is all too aware of the existence of mundane evil, which allows Peters to provide in-depth psychological insights into various characters’ thoughts and motivations.
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3 – Death in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope

While her two previous housesitting experiences have led to her becoming embroiled in murder most foul, Thea Osbourne is convinced that the decision to join new boyfriend, Detective Superintendent Phil Hollis, in another stranger’s house for a cosy Halloween break is a good one. Sadly for Thea and her loyal spaniel Hepzibah, a body is discovered on the nearby Notgrove Barrow, having been laid out like a ritual killing. As Thea reluctantly teams up with an old friend of Phil’s to look into the murder, the prospects of a romantic Halloween become less and less likely.

Rebecca Tope’s Death in the Cotswolds upends the bucolic appearance of another Cotswolds village by introducing plenty of murder and mayhem during the preparations for Samhain, and the Halloween-y ambience of the story is nicely enhanced by the references to the secrets of paganism and the Freemasons. While previous books in the series were narrated by Thea, the story this time is told from the perspective of Phil’s friend Ariadne, which provides some additional insight into both Thea’s tendency to fall head first into murder cases and her skill as an amateur sleuth.
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4 – Asking for the Moon by Reginald Hill

A departure from the duo’s normal caseload, two of the works featured in Asking for the Moon are ghost stories that offer surprising insights into the personal lives and inner worlds of Dalziel and Pascoe. In Pascoe’s Ghost, the young detective is somewhat out of his depth when sent to stake out a graveyard in case the ghost of a woman who inexplicably disappeared a year earlier should happen to show up. Then, in Dalziel’s Ghost, the desire to find some dirt about an accountant’s diverse clientele means that the pair are compelled to spend the night in a supposedly haunted house and, after passing a bit too much time drinking whisky, Dalziel reveals some surprising information about his past.

Although the stories included in Asking for the Moon might lack the depth of Reginald Hill’s Dalziel and Pascoe novels, they serve as intriguing character studies that help to flesh out both detectives. The atmosphere of Pascoe’s Ghost is especially creepy, with the missing woman’s husband receiving peculiar phone calls and her brother claiming to have seen her ghost, meaning that even the sceptical Pascoe begins to suspect that something strange is afoot. For his part, Dalziel’s duplicitous nature comes to the fore in Dalziel’s Ghost, although there’s a good deal of humour in his shenanigans.
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5 – Ghostly Murders by Paul Doherty

Chaucer’s pilgrims are continuing to make their way from London to Canterbury when heavy rain causes them to take shelter in the quaint village of Scawsby. To pass the time until the weather clears, the local priest relates the story of two ordained brothers, Philip and Edmund, who were once tasked with rebuilding the church and, therefore, relocating the original graveyard. As they moved the coffins, the brothers are horrified to discover that some were empty while others contained the bodies of people who appeared to have been buried alive. When Philip’s decision to investigate the deaths triggers a spate of new disappearances and murders, it appears that rumours about Scawsby being haunted might not be rumours after all.

Fourteenth century Kent is evocatively recreated in Paul Doherty’s Ghostly Murders, and the central mystery is every bit as compelling as the world-building. The puzzle actually stretches back even further in time, allowing the inclusion of massacred Knights Templar, hidden treasures, murderous villagers and nefarious clergymen. With the grisly condition of the discovered bodies and the spooky sightings of ghostly Templars, the story is perfect for a rainy Halloween night.
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6 – Trick or Treachery by Jessica Fletcher and Donald Bain

And, in honour of the 40th anniversary of Murder, She Wrote, special seasonal mention goes to Trick or Treachery…

As if the risk of premature death isn’t high enough already, the approach of Halloween seems to be making life in Cabot Cove even more precarious than ever, at least for those in Jessica Fletcher’s social circle. Two new arrivals in town – Matilda Swift, who lives in a cottage by the cemetery and is rumoured to be a witch, and Lucas Tremaine, a medium and paranormal investigator on the hunt for the legendary ghost of Hepzibah Cabot – have set folks’ nerves on edge. When Matilda is murdered while everyone else is apparently living it up at the town’s annual Halloween party, Jessica steps in to help Sheriff Mort Metzger catch the culprit.

Trick or Treachery is a super-seasonal spinoff from the much loved television show Murder, She Wrote. While the characters in the book are a little different from in the series, the story is just as twisting and engaging. Matilda’s murder is suitably bloodless for a cosy mystery, but the plethora of suspects and their various motives for wanting to do away with her mean that there are plenty of threads to unpick. In fact, the whys and wherefores are so complex that it’s lucky that Jessica Fletcher happened to be on the scene of yet another murder!
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Here’s an excellent selection of Halloween crime reads we compiled in October 2021.