Wendy Webb’s novels are known for their atmospheric settings, and if you enjoy stories set around the Great Lakes, you are in for a treat. She is great at building suspense. Her books often have a gothic feel; picture mysterious old houses and long-buried family secrets.
For readers who love this combination of atmosphere, suspense, and gothic touches, and want to find authors with a similar style, here is a list you might appreciate.
Simone St. James writes absorbing ghost stories and suspenseful mysteries, blending atmosphere, history, and the supernatural in ways that fans of Wendy Webb will appreciate.
In her novel “The Sun Down Motel,” St. James takes readers into a mysterious roadside motel in the small town of Fell, New York.
The story alternates between two timelines—one in 1982, when Viv Delaney worked as a night clerk before mysteriously disappearing, and another in 2017, when her niece Carly arrives determined to find answers.
Strange occurrences, ghostly figures, and chilling secrets weave together both women’s stories as Carly investigates her aunt’s vanishing decades earlier.
Readers who enjoy the eerie towns, haunted settings, and layered plots Wendy Webb creates in books like “The Fate of Mercy Alban” will find a similar draw in Simone St. James’s atmospheric storytelling.
Jennifer McMahon is an author readers of Wendy Webb might enjoy. Her novels blend mysteries with supernatural elements and family secrets. In “The Winter People,” McMahon tells the eerie tale of a small Vermont town haunted by tragic events from a century earlier.
Sara Harrison Shea mysteriously died shortly after her daughter’s death in 1908, leaving behind diary entries hinting at dark secrets. In the present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie discovers Sara’s hidden diary within her mother’s possessions.
As Ruthie investigates her own mother’s disappearance, she gradually learns about the town’s unsettling past and the legends that still linger there. McMahon’s storytelling builds an atmosphere that keeps readers glued to each page, anxious to uncover the next secret.
Readers who enjoy Wendy Webb’s blend of mystery, atmosphere, and family secrets may appreciate novels by Kate Morton. Morton weaves engaging stories that often span generations, filled with emotional depth and unexpected revelations.
Her novel, “The Forgotten Garden”, is centered around Nell’s journey to uncover the truth about her mysterious origins. After learning she was found abandoned on a ship as a child, Nell sets off to discover her roots.
The investigation takes her from Australia to Cornwall, England, revealing deeply held family secrets stretching back to the early 1900s.
The novel alternates between Nell’s search and glimpses into the lives of her ancestors, creating a vivid and suspenseful narrative readers find hard to put down.
Readers who enjoy Wendy Webb’s atmospheric plots and supernatural twists will find plenty to intrigue them in the novels of Riley Sager. Sager writes psychological thrillers filled with suspenseful puzzles, dark secrets, and unexpected turns.
In “Home Before Dark,” protagonist Maggie Holt returns to Baneberry Hall, a creepy old mansion that her family fled decades earlier because of ghostly experiences.
Maggie doesn’t believe any of it was true—until eerie events start happening again, making her question everything she knows about her past and the supposedly haunted house.
The book blends past family memories with Maggie’s present-day discoveries in a tense narrative filled with mystery and suspense right up to the very last page.
Readers who love Wendy Webb’s blend of ghostly mystery and subtle magic will enjoy Sarah Addison Allen. Allen’s novels have cozy Southern towns, family secrets, and magical realism woven smoothly into everyday life.
In “Garden Spells,” the Waverley sisters are known throughout their small North Carolina town for their mysterious garden. Each plant in this garden has special properties, and the sisters’ recipes and potions affect those who consume them in unexpected ways.
When Claire’s free-spirited sister Sydney returns home after years away, old secrets and family history resurface, creating tensions but also second chances. Allen’s writing gently combines the ordinary with magical elements, making her stories warm and enchanting reads.
Heather Gudenkauf is an author known for suspenseful novels set in small towns. If you enjoy Wendy Webb’s atmospheric mysteries that combine family secrets and past tragedies, you might appreciate Gudenkauf’s “The Weight of Silence.”
The story begins when two young girls vanish without a trace from a quiet neighborhood. As families and authorities search for answers, long-held secrets start to surface, revealing hidden tensions beneath the town’s peaceful facade.
Gudenkauf’s relatable characters and thoughtful storytelling offer emotional depth and twists that keep you guessing until the very end.
Camilla Bruce is an author known for crafting atmospheric novels filled with suspense, mystery, and a touch of supernatural intrigue. If you enjoyed Wendy Webb’s blend of eerie settings and hidden family secrets, Camilla Bruce’s book “You Let Me In” could be a perfect fit.
This novel follows the story of Cassandra Tipp, a famous writer who mysteriously disappears, leaving behind a manuscript that reveals unsettling truths about her strange past.
Her tale blurs the lines between dark fantasy and reality, making readers question what is true and what is imagined.
The haunting atmosphere, mysterious characters, and emotional layers make this book hard to put down, particularly for those who love chilling tales set in shadowy worlds.
Joanne Harris is an author whose storytelling blends the mysterious and magical with everyday realities. Readers who enjoy Wendy Webb’s atmospheric narratives might also appreciate Harris’s novel “Chocolat.”
Set in a quiet French village, the story follows Vianne Rocher, a charming and somewhat mysterious woman who opens a delightful chocolate shop during Lent. Vianne has a curious talent for sensing people’s inner desires through her sweet creations.
This gift quickly sparks suspicion among villagers, especially with the local priest, who sees her influence as a threat to tradition.
Through rich descriptions, insightful character portrayal, and a subtle hint of magic, Harris invites readers into a tale that explores themes of temptation, belonging, and self-discovery.
Books by Susanna Kearsley offer an atmospheric blend of historical intrigue, mystery, and just a touch of romance. Readers who enjoy the ghostly secrets and richly drawn settings of Wendy Webb might find themselves drawn to Kearsley’s novel “The Winter Sea.”
This story follows Carrie McClelland, a writer who visits the windswept coast of Scotland to research her new book. Slowly, Carrie is pulled into the world of her own ancestors from the early 1700s, uncovering an old love story and family secrets hidden by time.
The blend of historical fact and emotional fiction captures the sense of mystery, romance, and subtle suspense readers find compelling in Wendy Webb’s novels.
Barbara Michaels crafts suspenseful gothic mysteries filled with atmospheric settings and supernatural elements. Her book “Ammie, Come Home” revolves around a historic Georgetown house haunted by a restless spirit.
When young Ruth Bennett moves into the house, eerie occurrences soon follow. Unexplained occurrences like phantom footsteps, ghostly apparitions, and unsettling whispers turn the home into a chilling place.
As secrets of the past emerge, Ruth and her friends must unlock the tragic history of Ammie—the ghost desperate to be heard. Fans of Wendy Webb’s eerie tales will find this story full of suspense, mysterious hauntings, and plenty of intrigue.
Carol Goodman is an author known for atmospheric mysteries filled with eerie settings and supernatural elements reminiscent of Wendy Webb’s style.
In “The Lake of Dead Languages,” Goodman tells the story of Jane Hudson, a Latin teacher returning to the prestigious boarding school she once attended. Here, memories of a tragic past resurface when mysterious events repeat themselves in unsettling ways.
As Jane tries to unravel both the school’s secrets and her classmates’ hidden motives, readers are drawn deeper into a world where history, secrets, and gothic suspense blend together masterfully.
Laura Benedict crafts atmospheric mysteries filled with psychological suspense and eerie family secrets. In her novel “The Stranger Inside,” Kimber Hannon returns from a weekend away to find someone else has moved into her home.
Locked out of her own house by a man claiming rightful residency, Kimber is thrown into a confusing nightmare. She soon uncovers troubling secrets from her past that someone seems determined to expose, blurring the lines between victim and culprit.
Readers who enjoy Wendy Webb’s haunted, suspenseful mysteries will find Benedict’s complex plots and unsettling atmospheres equally engaging.
Readers who enjoy Wendy Webb’s atmospheric mysteries may also appreciate Megan Miranda, an author known for suspenseful plots and engaging storytelling.
In her novel “All the Missing Girls,” Miranda crafts a unique narrative told in reverse chronological order, which keeps readers guessing until the very last page.
The story follows Nicolette Farrell, who returns to her hometown ten years after her best friend’s puzzling disappearance. When another girl goes missing shortly after she arrives, Nicolette must confront old secrets and the complicated relationships she left behind.
This cleverly structured mystery builds tension with every chapter and delivers unexpected twists as the truth gradually unfolds.
Readers who enjoy Wendy Webb’s atmospheric mysteries and ghostly tales may also appreciate author V.E. Schwab. Schwab blends fantasy, mystery, and rich storytelling to create memorable books that linger with readers.
In her novel, “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue,” Schwab introduces Addie, a young woman who, desperate to escape a life she doesn’t want, makes a bargain that curses her to eternal life but to be forgotten by everyone the moment they look away.
Across centuries and continents, Addie’s persistence, loneliness, and hidden legacy unfold beautifully, until one day she encounters someone who remembers her name. Schwab crafts a tale about identity, memory, and connection that’s both enchanting and haunting.
Alice Hoffman creates richly textured novels where magic quietly mingles with ordinary reality. If you enjoy Wendy Webb’s blend of mystery and eerie suspense, you might like Hoffman’s style as well.
Consider her novel “Practical Magic,” the story of two sisters who belong to a line of women cursed—or blessed—with powers that isolate them from their small town.
As the sisters try to distance themselves from this legacy, their lives circle back to the very magic they’ve tried hardest to reject. This tale weaves spells, family bonds, and human desires into something that’s both moving and mysterious.
Hoffman crafts characters that feel distinctly real, even as supernatural elements shape their destinies.