How to Read the Witch Woods Funeral Home Series
If you are looking for a lighthearted, clean, and humorous cozy mystery series with a supernatural twist, Morgana Best’s Witch Woods Funeral Home is a perfect choice. The series follows Laurel Bay, a young woman who inherits her father’s struggling funeral home in the fictional Australian town of Witch Woods. Laurel has a major secret: she can see and speak to ghosts. To keep her business afloat and her mother out of trouble, Laurel must team up with the town's spectral residents and a handsome, secretive accountant named Basil to solve local murders.
Because the series has a continuous character arc—including the developing relationship between Laurel and Basil, and the increasingly wild antics of Laurel's mother, Thelma—it is highly recommended to read the books in order. Here is the complete reading order for the series:
- A Ghost of a Chance (2015): In the series opener, Laurel returns to Witch Woods to take over the family funeral home. Her plans to revive the business are derailed when a local woman is murdered right on the premises. To save her livelihood, Laurel must team up with the local spirits and Basil, the new accountant, to find the killer.
- Nothing to Ghost About (2015): Business is still slow when a second murder occurs—this time, a victim is found strangled in the funeral home's bathroom. Laurel has to navigate a long list of suspects, a wisecracking ghost, a snooping journalist, and her mother's overzealous religious beliefs to crack the case.
- Make the Ghost of It (2016): Laurel has recently discovered a massive secret about Basil, but she has no time to dwell on it. An old friend of Basil’s convinces him to go skydiving. Despite Basil's hesitation, they go through with the jump, leading to a tragic incident. Laurel must untangle the truth behind the jump while keeping her eccentric mother in check.
- Ghost Stories (2016): Comedy takes center stage when Thelma mistakenly hosts a convention of ghost story writers, believing they are theologians writing about the "Holy Ghost." When her GPS breaks before a road trip, Thelma hires a male escort under the impression that he is a literal navigation guide. When the escort is found dead in her bedroom, Laurel has to clear her mother's name.
- Ghost Blusters (2017): Thelma is possessed by the spirit of a deceased punk rocker. The ghost refuses to leave unless Laurel solves their murder. Laurel is forced to race against the clock, all while dealing with the bizarre situation of a possessed Thelma behaving surprisingly politely and performing a chaotic singing act at a church concert.
- RePossessed (2020): In the sixth book, Thelma is struck by lightning, which causes her spirit to possess a local man with a terrible reputation. When this man becomes the prime suspect in a murder case, Laurel must find the real killer to prevent her mother from being imprisoned in another person's body.
Publication Order vs. Chronological Order
For the Witch Woods Funeral Home series, the publication order and the chronological storyline order are identical. Morgana Best wrote and released these books sequentially, starting in 2015 and concluding the main narrative arc in 2020 with RePossessed. There are no prequels, side novellas, or separate short stories that disrupt this timeline, making it incredibly easy for new readers to follow the plot from start to finish.
Core Characters and Setting
The success of the series relies heavily on its memorable, quirky cast and its distinct setting:
- Laurel Bay: The industrious protagonist who inherits the funeral home. Her unique ability to communicate with the dead makes her a natural detective, though she prefers a quieter life.
- Basil: The mysterious accountant who helps Laurel manage the funeral home's finances. He harbors his own secrets, including the shared ability to see ghosts, and becomes Laurel's partner and love interest.
- Thelma: Laurel’s overbearing, deeply religious, and highly dramatic mother. Thelma is the source of much of the series' laugh-out-loud humor, frequently finding herself in bizarre situations ranging from hiring escorts to becoming possessed.
- Witch Woods: A fictional, eccentric small town in the Australian outback. The setting provides a cozy, remote, and slightly eerie atmosphere that fits the paranormal themes perfectly.
What to Know Before You Start
Before diving into the series, readers should know that Morgana Best writes in the "clean and wholesome" cozy mystery style. This means the books focus on humor, quirky character dynamics, and light puzzle-solving rather than graphic violence or explicit content. Best is also known for her playful use of language, including funeral-themed puns (such as "ewalogy" for sheep grazing near the cemetery). The series is currently complete at six books, offering a satisfying wrap-up to the overarching mystery of Laurel's family business.
Spin-offs and Related Series
While Morgana Best is a incredibly prolific author with over 50 books to her name—including popular series like The Kitchen Witch, Witches and Wine, and The Middle-Aged Ghost Whisperer—the Witch Woods Funeral Home series stands completely on its own. There are no official crossover events or spin-off series featuring Laurel Bay or Basil. Readers can enjoy the series as a self-contained story without needing to read any of Best's other works to understand the plot.