COSY FANTASY · SEASIDE GHOSTS · FOUND FAMILY
There is room for you here.
At the end of Harrow Street in Saltgrave, a retired exorcist opens his door to the living and the dead. Abel Crane once made his living sending ghosts away. Now he is learning to listen, with Joyce Stemp supervising the kettle, a gargoyle in the gutter and Lottie’s bakery next door.
Follow the house from autumn through Christmas, spring and summer in four gently funny, moving stories about finding company, making a home and choosing when to say goodbye.
Where to begin
The series is complete in four books. Begin with The Retired Exorcist Takes In Lodgers and follow the seasons in order for Abel and Joyce’s full story. Books 2 and 3 can also be enjoyed on their own; save Book 4 for last.
Visit each book page for its description and opening chapter.
START HERE · BOOK 1 · AUTUMN
The Retired Exorcist Takes In Lodgers
A quiet retirement comes with unexpected company.
Abel Crane buys a seaside house hoping for a quiet retirement. Joyce Stemp still keeps an eye on the rooms, Captain Jory Rourke wants news of his boat, and Mortimer the gargoyle has complaints about the gutter. With help from the baker next door and a boy who can hear the dead, Abel begins to ask why his lodgers have stayed.
Continue through the seasons
Christmas, spring and summer bring new guests—and new decisions for Abel.
BOOK 2 · CHRISTMAS
The Retired Exorcist Keeps Christmas
One family, two versions of Christmas, and a guest they cannot see.
Irene Wilmot wants one more Christmas with her family, but none of them can see or hear her. As snow closes the roads, Abel finds himself between Irene and her granddaughter Marian, who remember their family Christmases rather differently. An old song and a crooked paper star may help them find room for each other.
BOOK 3 · SPRING
The Retired Exorcist Plants a Garden
An overgrown garden stands between a brother and sister.
Hettie Lyle has been waiting eighty years for her little brother. Abel finds Albert, now ninety, living just up the hill. Bringing them together means making a garden his chair can reach. As neighbours lend advice and the flower show approaches, a visitor from the Order brings questions about Abel’s former work.
BOOK 4 · SUMMER · SERIES FINALE
The Retired Exorcist Lets Her Go
A summer by the sea, and a goodbye only Joyce can choose.
The summer rooms are booked and Abel is beginning to feel at home when the Order asks him to take on one last job. Joyce has something of her own to tell him. With the regatta approaching and Lottie asking him to stay, Abel must decide what he wants from the life he has built—and how to honour Joyce’s choice.