We are delighted to be revealing the cover for The Haunting of Avis Lovelock by MK Hardy, which follows a professional sceptic who must join forces with a professional spiritualist who has a knack for getting under her skin in this supernatural Victorian mystery.
Releasing on 27 August 2026, The Haunting of Avis Lovelock is now available for preorder, so read on to discover the cover (designed by James Macey at Blacksheep) and its synopsis!
Avis Lovelock is a professional sceptic. Using her sharp insights and powers of observation, she sets out to debunk every nefarious spirit medium and psychic she can find. When American businessman Carlton Brooksbank invites her aboard the ocean liner Excambion to take her skills to America, Avis discovers she has been hired to prove to potential buyers that the vessel is not haunted.
As she begins her investigations, she runs afoul of the famous twin spiritualists onboard, Gideon and Rachel Duquesne. They are her polar opposites, and Rachel especially has a knack for getting under her skin. The more Avis works to discredit her adversaries and absolve the ship of its haunted reputation, the more she starts to have visions of water filling her cabin, drowned bodies on decks, and flickering lights on the sea. Then someone is found dead.
To discover the truth, Avis must join forces with her opponents, and confront some haunting secrets of her own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MK Hardy is the pen name for Morag Hannah and Erin Hardee, two geeky women living and writing together in Scotland. They are both communications specialists working in higher education. With backgrounds ranging from museum interpretation to web design, and from science communication to ghost tours, they are devoted to storytelling in almost every aspect of their lives and work. When they are not telling stories they can be found singing in choirs, foraging for fungi, and working on their 1880s fixer-upper. Their debut sapphic gothic horror The Needfire was published by Solaris in July 2025.
