Can I tell you a secret? There’s a ghost living in my apartment. Seriously!
Her name is Cordelia Graves, and she died (in my bathroom!) a short while before I moved even. Everyone thinks she committed suicide. Even Cordelia admits it’s possible. But I think she was murdered.
I should probably introduce myself. I’m Ruby Young. I’m twenty years old and recently moved here to Boston, into the previously mentioned haunted apartment.
Why is it any of my business whether or not the ghost of the former tenant killed herself or not? Well, for one, she’s my friend. Sure, it’s weird having a friend I can’t see. Or hear. Or touch. But she’s always looking out for me. For another, given half a chance, together, we can figure out who killed her. No kidding! We’ve already solved one murder together. Last winter, working together, we caught a real-life killer.
But today, I realized that we might have to put the mystery of who killed Cordelia, if in fact she was killed, on the back burner because I just found a dead body at work. And not just any dead body. It was a guy I kinda liked. He was funny and always nice to me. Finding him dead in was a shock.
I think it’s time Cordelia and I don our seersucker hats, again. The mystery of who killed my dead roommate—like the ghost haunting my apartment—isn’t going anywhere.
In Death at the Door, published by Minotaur Oct 21, 2025, when Death knocks, Ruby and Cordelia answer.
DEATH AT THE DOOR — A Ruby and Cordelia Mystery, Book 2
Genre: Cozy Mystery w/paranormal elements
Release: October 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
The odd couple of crime-solving returns in Olivia Blacke’s Death at the Door, where a ghost and her living roommate find another mystery on their doorstep.
Ruby Young is slowly adjusting to her new life in Boston. A big part of that is her unexpected roommate—the ghost of the woman who lived there before. For Cordelia Graves, she may no longer be breathing, but it’s still her apartment and Ruby is the somewhat unwanted houseguest. They’re both happy they’ve managed to become friends, which is a miracle considering they struggle to communicate with each other. Cordelia even set Ruby up with her old job.
When Ruby discovers the body of a delivery guy at work, the new life she’s been building hangs in the balance. The last time Cordelia dragged Ruby into a murder investigation, it was almost two ghosts living in the apartment, not one. Determined to protect Ruby, Cordelia tries to shield her from the investigation, but Ruby has other ideas. It will take both of them working together to navigate the fine line between the dead and the living to bring a killer to light.
About the author
Olivia Blacke (she/her) is the Anthony Award-winning author of the Ruby and Cordelia Mysteries, as well as the cozy Record Shop Mysteries and the Brooklyn Murder Mysteries. She had her first ghost encounter when she was five, but wasn’t involved with an active crime scene until much later, when she accidentally stepped into a chalk outline on a Manhattan sidewalk. Armed with a Criminology degree, she channels her love of the supernatural and passion for writing into darkly humorous supernatural mysteries. She wants to be a unicorn when she grows up.
Olivia is a 2025 Anthony Award winner for Best Paranormal mystery.