The Ghost Women, Jennifer Murphy
The Ghost Women, Jennifer Murphy
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The Ghost Women

Author: Jennifer Murphy

Narrator: Megan Tusing, Christine Lakin, Kate Reid, Jennifer Rubins, Taylor Meskimen, Louisa Zhu

Unabridged: 10 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 02/24/2026


Synopsis

A mysterious art academy in the woods, a deck of ancient tarot cards, a centuries-old secret

On a hot August morning in 1972, the body of Abel Montague, a student at St. Luke’s Institute of the Arts, is found hanging from a tree in the forest. An ancient Hanged Man tarot card is found in the back pocket of his pants and his body has been positioned into the exact pose illustrated on the card.

When Detective Lola Germany arrives at St. Luke’s—a former monastery that once housed a secret order of monks who carried out witch trials and executions—she believes they are dealing with a ritualistic murder. While interviewing school administrators and Abel’s classmates, Lola discovers Abel’s live-in girlfriend, Pearl, seems shaken but also might be hiding something—along with her group of friends who call themselves witches.

When more students are found dead, each body arranged like a tarot card, Lola realizes she is trapped in a web of power and ambition that spans centuries. Soon the lines between past and present, spiritual and tangible, begin to blur, and the only way to survive is to seek answers from places she never imagined.

About The Author

Jennifer Murphy holds an MFA in painting and art history from the University of Denver and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Washington. She is the recipient of the 2013 Loren D. Milliman Scholarship for creative writing and was a contributor at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference from 2008 through 2012. The author of I Love You More and Scarlet in Blue, a Michigan Notable Book, as well as the winner of the Nancy Pearl Book Award for Fiction, she lives in Alexandria, Virginia.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Linzie (suspenseisthrillingme) on February 21, 2026

What happens when you take an elite, secret boarding school, witchcraft, a bunch of murders, and stir to combine? Well, you get the dark academia magic that is The Ghost Women. Creepy, sinister, and packed with a ratcheting sense of dread, I found myself swept up in this novel from the very first wo......more

Goodreads review by Amy on September 22, 2025

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. When brutal and mysterious murders start occurring at St Lukes Institute of Arts, Detective Lola Germany gets assigned to the case. On campus, a coven of four talented artists who dabble in witchcraft appear to know more than what they let on, which makes Detective......more

Goodreads review by Anne on October 16, 2025

This is an odd but very fascinating look at witches and Tarot cards which I know next to nothing about. It's a chilling tale about St. Luke's Institute of the Arts which--rumor has it--is run like a Secret Society. Detective Lola has been told a student has been found dead in the forest and it's rum......more

Goodreads review by Jason on December 17, 2025

Thank you NetGalley and Dutton for the Advanced Reader’s Copy of The Ghost Women by Jennifer Murphy. This novel is to be published on February 24, 2026. The novel starts with a young woman being murdered, burned alive, in 1437, on Waverly Island. She was accused of witchcraft. Her name was Matilda an......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer on October 18, 2025

This was a great read for spooky season. Set in the 1970's at St. Luke's a prestigious Art School. It opens with a student's mysterious death and a tarot card left behind. Lola a detective is sent in to try & solve the case however more bodies just keep appearing. While at St. Luke's she learns of t......more


Quotes

Praise for The Ghost Women:

“An intoxicating brew of murder, witchcraft, and artistic ambition, The Ghost Women is as propulsive as it is addictive. Murphy expertly ratchets up the tension even as she lets the Low Country atmosphere seep across every page and develops a cast of characters any reader would immediately recruit for their personal coven. The result is the southern gothic of my dreams; fans of Liz Moore will devour this one.”
—Katy Hays, New York Times bestselling author of The Cloisters

“Tarot cards! The 1970s! Witches! And an island boarding school! How could I resist such irresistible elements, especially when they’re in the brilliant hands of Jennifer Murphy? A rising body count at an exclusive school jumpstarts a tantalizing not-your-ordinary-by-a-mile mystery with deep roots in the spiritual and the practical, in dangerous lies and an increasingly threatening truth. Magical. Mysterious. Sublime.”
—Caroline Leavitt, The New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You and Days of Wonder

“Witchcraft, secrets, art, love, jealousy and murder, what’s not to like? Jennifer Murphy’s The Ghost Women has all that and more. In a tale of fifteenth-century deadly games passed down through generations, Murphy explores good, evil and the possibility of the supernatural with a deft hand. A real page-turner.”
—B.A. Shapiro, bestselling author of The Art Forger and of The Lost Masterpiece

“Moody, atmospheric, and relentless… Amidst ancient rituals, long-lost tarot cards, and mist-swathed forests, Murphy’s tale of art and murder reveals that the most potent magic of all is the friendship between women. Perfect for fans of Donna Tartt and Rachel Gillig, this is dark academia at its finest.”
—Leigh Esposito, author of The Tarocco Saga

“This fast-paced novel set in the South Carolina Lowcountry combines magic, mysticism, and mystery into an engrossing and entertaining story that is difficult to put down. Recommended for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Alex Michaelides.”
Library Journal

“Murphy crafts a foreboding atmosphere from the jump and makes the occult elements at the center of the story feel entirely plausible. This is a winner.”
Publishers Weekly