How to Read the Haunted Home Renovation Mysteries
For the best reading experience, it is highly recommended to read the Haunted Home Renovation Mystery series in publication order. While each installment features a self-contained murder mystery that is resolved by the final pages, the overarching character growth, professional challenges, and evolving personal relationships of protagonist Melanie 'Mel' Turner build steadily from book to book. Reading them out of order will spoil key developments in Mel's personal life and business endeavors.
The series is set against the backdrop of the San Francisco Bay Area, featuring Victorian architecture, foggy streets, and historical lore. The reading sequence includes eight full-length novels and one key crossover novella that links this world to another of Juliet Blackwell's popular series.
The Complete Reading Order Path
- If Walls Could Talk (2010): This debut introduces Mel Turner, who has taken over her father's historic home renovation business. While working on a historic San Francisco Victorian, she discovers she has a family gift: the ability to see and communicate with ghosts. When a renovation party ends in murder, Mel must use her new connections in both the living and dead worlds to clear her name and find the real killer.
- Dead Bolt (2011): Mel takes on the restoration of a historic house in Pacific Heights, but her work is interrupted by the suspicious death of a neighbor. As she uncovers long-buried family secrets and confronts a hostile spirit, Mel must navigate local preservationists and a murderer who wants the past to remain buried.
- Murder on the House (2012): In this third installment, Mel is hired to renovate an old mansion that the owners want to turn into a bed-and-breakfast. After spending a night in the notoriously haunted house, she discovers a very fresh corpse. Mel has to sort through historical legends and current suspects to solve the crime.
- Home for the Haunting (2013): Mel is tasked with restoring a mansion in the historic district of Oakland. The job becomes complicated when the owner is found dead and Mel is confronted by the ghosts of children who once lived in the home. She must investigate the home's dark history to find a modern killer.
- A Haunting is Brewing (2014): This key novella serves as a direct crossover event between the Haunted Home Renovation Mysteries and Juliet Blackwell's Witchcraft Mystery series. Mel Turner teams up with Lily Ivory, San Francisco's resident vintage-clothing shop owner and witch, to solve a mystery involving haunted mannequins and a suspicious death during a Halloween charity event.
- Keeper of the Castle (2014): Mel travels to the historic town of Point Reyes to renovate an old lighthouse keeper's cottage. Away from her usual San Francisco turf, she finds herself dealing with local coastal legends, shipwreck mysteries, and a community harboring secrets that lead to murder.
- Give Up the Ghost (2015): Back in San Francisco, Mel is hired to renovate a house in the historic Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. The house has a colorful history dating back to the 1960s, and the spirits residing within are determined to keep their secrets safe from Mel's crowbars.
- A Ghostly Light (2017): Mel takes on a project at a historic property on an island in the San Francisco Bay. The isolation of the island, combined with aggressive spirits and a historic mystery surrounding a missing treasure, makes this one of her most dangerous renovations yet.
- The Last Curtain Call (2020): Mel is hired to restore a historic San Francisco theater, only to find a squatter murdered on the premises. She must delve into the theater's dramatic past, deal with theatrical ghosts, and find the killer before the final curtain falls on her own career.
The Witchcraft Mystery Crossover Explained
One of the most unique aspects of the Haunted Home Renovation Mysteries is its connection to Juliet Blackwell's other hit series, the Witchcraft Mysteries. The crossover is officially established in the 2014 novella A Haunting is Brewing. In this story, Melanie Turner's renovation work intersects with Lily Ivory's magic when a historic San Francisco mansion hosting a Halloween fundraiser becomes the site of supernatural activity and murder.
For readers who want to experience both sides of the story, A Haunting is Brewing is officially designated as Book 4.5 in the Haunted Home Renovation series and Book 6.5 in the Witchcraft Mystery series. Reading it at this specific point provides the perfect bridge between both protagonists' storylines.
What to Know Before You Start
Author Juliet Blackwell brings a high degree of authenticity to the series. Before becoming a full-time novelist, she worked as a professional faux-finish artist and historic home renovator. This real-world expertise shines through in the detailed descriptions of drywalling, plaster repair, architectural styles, and the daily grind of running a construction crew in San Francisco. Mel Turner is not just a sleuth; she is a working contractor who has to worry about building permits, subcontractor delays, and structural integrity alongside paranormal investigations.
The tone of the series is classic cozy mystery: lighthearted, engaging, and focused on community, but elevated by its atmospheric setting and the spooky rules of its ghost lore. Mel's ability to see the dead is not a superpower that solves cases instantly; rather, the ghosts often speak in riddles, have their own agendas, or are just as confused about their deaths as the living, forcing Mel to do traditional detective work to get to the bottom of each crime.
Current Status of the Series
The Haunted Home Renovation Mystery series currently concludes with the eighth novel, The Last Curtain Call, published in 2020. Juliet Blackwell has focused on other writing projects in recent years, including standalone historical mystery novels such as Asylum Hotel (2025) and the forthcoming The Séance Garden (2026). While there has been no official announcement regarding a ninth book in the series, the existing eight novels and crossover novella offer a complete and satisfying narrative arc for fans of cozy paranormal mysteries.