Finding Mabel

• Genre & Subgenre: Historical Supernatural Mystery | Female Sleuth Detective Fiction | 1960s British Police Procedural | Folk Horror Crossover
• Setting: A fictional English coastal town called Easterwich in 1967.
• Core Tropes & Themes: Woman sleuth investigator, erased geography, Whitehall government secrets, documented British folklore, and post-war institutional secrecy.
• Perfect For Readers Searching For: An atmospheric historical mystery featuring a strong female investigator, where a realistic police enquiry gradually crosses into British folklore and the genuinely supernatural. Readers who enjoy the folklore and investigative atmosphere of Elly Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway mysteries, the mid-century unease of C. J. Cooke’s The Ghost Woods, and the historical supernatural mysteries of Rhiannon Ward and Rebecca Netley should feel at home in Easterwich..

Plot Summary: After twenty-eight years of service, Sergeant Joyce Turner faces the collapse of her career over a single mistake. Her only path to redemption is locating a missing woman named Mabel. As a veteran female sleuth navigating the rigid, male-dominated landscape of mid-century policing, Turner’s investigation takes a surreal turn when she uncovers a chilling anomaly: the entire English coastal town of Easterwich has been quietly erased from official maps. Her inquiries quickly awaken a dormant, secretive office within Whitehall that has spent decades guarding a profound supernatural secret.