The year is 1720. Having escaped from the West Indies with a priceless diamond, two former pirates arrive in Crowford. Edward Runnymede and Albert Briggs' plan is to wait for a man to arrive from London, so they can sell the diamond and retire. But that plan is about to go very wrong.

Soon a dark figure appears in the streets, watching the rundown old alehouse where the men are renting a room. And while Jack Bonham is supposed to have died on the other side of the world, his ghostly presence spells disaster for Runnymede and Briggs. Although he’s rotting away, Jack refuses to rest until he's gained vengeance for the betrayal that left him in a shallow grave.

Meanwhile, Dorothy Plumstead finds herself living on the streets of Crowford after losing everything. She soon finds new employment at The Widow's Grin, one of the town's most notorious alehouses, where one wrong word can get a man killed. But as she gets to know the owners’ son, Dorothy finds herself increasingly drawn to the dead man who’s watching the building at night.

The Curse of the Widow's Grin is another standalone book in the long-running Ghosts of Crowford series, about a spooky English town where the ghosts outnumber the living and nothing is ever quite what it seems.

First published: July 2026
Genre: Ghost / Horror
Series or Standalone: Anthology Series