Till Death: A Ghost Detective Short Story

Title: Till Death
Series: Ghost Detective Short Stories #5
Genre: ,
Pages: 24
Publication Date: 27/08/2021

Double funerals are a rare thing in a tiny cemetery. Both deceased becoming ghosts even more so.

While resident ghosts Clothilde and Robert wait for their new compatriots to emerge from their caskets, the screams coming from below seem tinged with quite a bit more... anger than usual.

The promise of "till death do us part" takes on a whole new meaning with the fresh arrivals.

This story is included in the collection Unfinished Business, Volume 1.

I liked the previous story in this series, and this one is just as much fun.

Tangent Online

Till Death was on Tangent Online's recommended reading list for 2021, with two stars.

Tangent Online

Also in this series:


In Other Books

This story was first published in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine Issue #13.

Included in Unfinished Business, Vol 1.

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Family History: A Ghost Detective Short Story

Title: Family History
Series: Ghost Detective Short Stories #6
Genre: ,
Pages: 24
Publication Date: 22/10/2021

In French cemeteries, “perpetuité” only lasts for a hundred years. If the deceased’s family wants to keep their dead buried, they must pay the rent.

If not, the municipality will excavate the tomb to liberate the space for a new family.

After the latest excavation, Robert and Clothilde find themselves faced with a ghost much older than themselves — along with the daunting task of solving a century-old mystery.

Is it still possible to find eternal rest for their new friend?

This story is included in the collection Unfinished Business, Volume 2.

The ghosts are fully developed characters, as are the living people in the story. The plot is clever and involving, and the sense of time and place is richly conveyed.

Tangent Online

Family History was on Tangent Online's recommended reading list for 2021.

Tangent Online

Also in this series:


In Other Books

This story was first published in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine Issue #14.

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Heritage: A Ghost Detective Short Story

Title: Heritage
Series: Ghost Detective Short Stories #7
Genre: , ,
Pages: 28
Publication Date: 31/10/2021

On the Day of the Dead, families decorate the cemetery's tombstones with chrysanthemums of all colors according to French tradition.

Even amid the rainbow of petals, one grave stands out. The last resting place of the young man who died six months ago. His mother brings him roses, while lamenting that her son's "not there."

As the resident ghosts, Robert and Clothilde can indeed confirm his absence in the afterlife — but it may not be for the usual reasons.

This story is included in the collection Unfinished Business, Volume 2.


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First published in the 2021 Halloween Spectacular, Halloween Harvest.

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New Beginnings: A Ghost Detective Short Story

Title: New Beginnings
Series: Ghost Detective Short Stories #8
Genre:
Pages: 24
Publication Date: 15/09/2022

The cemetery’s newest arrival seems more surprised to find herself dead than a woman in her seventies should be. Her mourners exhibit an equally perplexing level of shock.

Robert and Clothilde, the resident ghosts, investigate the woman’s unfinished business as usual, but before long, another newcomer joins them.

And another one.

And another…

Quiet companionship becomes a thing of the past while our ghost detectives battle an invisible and intangible foe. How long until Clothilde and Robert’s cherished solitude returns?

This story is included in the collection Unfinished Business, Volume 2.


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Far From Home: A Ghost Detective Short Story

Title: Far From Home
Series: Ghost Detective Short Stories #9
Genre: ,
Pages: 24

Solving crimes from the confines of a cemetery where no one can see or hear you can be difficult at the best of times. The victim’s ghost usually won’t remember who killed them, and the murder suspects can’t hear the ghost detective’s interrogation.

Even so, for the most part, Robert and Clothilde manage just fine.

However, discovering the name on a headstone does not belong to the body beneath it throws something of a wrench in their method.

How can they help the ghost find peace when the police aren’t even investigating the right murder?

This story is included in the collection Unfinished Business, Volume 2.


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Severed Ties: A Ghost Detective Short Story

Title: Severed Ties
Series: Ghost Detective Short Stories #10
Pages: 36
Publication Date: 07/07/2022

Depending on the quality of one's company (or the lack thereof), Christmas can be the most wonderful and heartwarming day — or the absolute worst.

And of course, a nice covering of snow never hurts.

Clothilde and Robert never experienced a white Christmas in their thirty years as ghosts. As long as they had each other, nobody complained.

When the latest ghost arrives, buried the day before Christmas, Robert and Clothilde's decades-old traditions for the holiday are interrupted. Their new guest, impeccably polite though he may be, appears to have no desire to address his unfinished business.

Why does he linger if none of it matters to him?

This story is included in the collection Unfinished Business, Volume 2.

The quality of the tales in this series is high, and the latest example is no exception. Both the ghosts and the living are fully developed characters. The story has a powerful effect on the reader’s emotions, without sentimentality.

Tangent Online

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The story was first published in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, Issue #15, then reissued in Jingle My Bells.

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Eternal Bond

Title: Eternal Bond
Series: Ghost Detective Short Stories #11
Genre: ,
Pages: 30
Publication Date: 11/08/2023

Waking up in a sealed casket on its way to be buried would freak anyone out. Who wouldn't scream themselves hoarse — and try to claw their way out?

Anyone who dies with unfinished business wakes up as a ghost. If this wasn't enough, the casket will only release them once they accept their new status, adding a whole new level of terror.

But today's arrival stays quiet until the last mourner, a young woman at the front of the funeral procession, finally leaves...

That is when the screaming starts.


Also in this series:
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