Books like Cold Moon Over Babylon by Michael McDowell

In an elite New England college, a charismatic classics professor lures a group of eccentric students into obsessive study, leading them from intellectual curiosity to corruption, betrayal, and ultimately murder.

In the unforgettable Le Cirque des Rêves, two young magicians, Celia and Marco, are locked in a nocturnal duel of wonder and will—an impossible game where love and magic collide on a stage of breathtaking spectacle.

The story of two boys and their dark journey through a haunted carnival

A London detective finds himself apprenticed to Britain’s last wizard, turning everyday policing into a supernatural adventure.

A son uncovers his family's hidden past as his grandfather’s deathbed confessions span a mail-order novelty business, World War II, and the space program.

An undercover reporter follows a celebrity into rehab to uncover juicy gossip about her personal life.

It's the night of the full Cold Moon - the month of December according to the lunar calendar. A young man is found dead in lower Manhattan, the first in a series of victims of a ruthless killer calling himself the Watchmaker. His obsession with time drives the Watchmaker to plan the murders with the precision of fine timepieces, and the victims die prolonged deaths while an eerie clock ticks away their last minutes on earth. Amelia is not only Lincoln's eyes and ears at crime scenes on the Watchmaker case, but she's now running her own homicide investigation - her first case as lead detective. The policewoman's unwavering efforts in pursuing the killers of a businessman, who left behind a wife and son, sets into motion clockwork gears of its own, with consequences reaching to people and events that will endanger not only many lives but Lincoln's and Amelia's future together.

Sir Giles Chapman, a widower haunted by a disastrous marriage, finds unexpected hope when Joanna, the daughter of a country clergyman, enters his life and stirs the love he thought lost.

"What was the worst thing you've ever done? In the sleepy town of Milburn, New York, four old men gather to tell each other stories--some true, some made-up, all of them frightening. A simple pastime to divert themselves from their quiet lives. But one story is coming back to haunt them and their small town. A tale of something they did long ago. A wicked mistake. A horrifying accident. And they are about to learn that no one can bury the past forever ..."--