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Coming October 29!
Susan Dennard’s glittering adult debut!
It’s Philadelphia, 1876. The Dead are shambling out of Laurel Hill Cemetery, and Eleanor Fitt—broke, unmarried, and much too fluent in Shakespeare—has just learned her brother’s been taken by a necromancer.
Armed with a parasol and no money, Eleanor tracks down the Spirit-Hunters, a ragtag team who consist of an elegant theurgist, a woman with a baseball bat, and a (much too charming) engineer.
Investigator. Liar. Medium. Thief. Eleanor’s about to play every role forbidden to young ladies.
Because while the dead might be rising, sometimes it’s the living we ought to fear more.
Coming April 2027!
Book 2 of Eleanor Fitt and the Spirit-Hunters
The Dead might have returned to their graves in Philadelphia, but the story of the Spirit-Hunters is only just beginning.
France awaits, and Egypt after that, along with many more creatures from beyond the spirit veil!
1. Is Strange & Deadly the same book as Something Strange and Deadly?
Nope! Strange & Deadly (2026) is a brand-new adult novel. In fact, it’s my adult debut! Something Strange and Deadly was my 2012 young adult debut, and it’s a completely separate book. Yes, I know: it’s confusing.
Read the Author’s Note on this page for more info!
2. Do I need to read the 2012 books first?
NO. PLEASE DO NOT, IN FACT. Strange & Deadly is mean to replace my debut series as the story of Eleanor Fitt and the Spirit-Hunters.
If you want to track down an original 2012 copy after you read Strange & Deadly, I won’t stop you! But don’t blame me when you find a totally different kind of book and story.
(Again, read the Author’s Note for details on the differences!)
3. I read the original trilogy back in the day. Is this for me too?
Absolutely! You might recognize Eleanor and some story elements, but I can promise that you won’t know what’s coming.
This is a completely new tale with my seventeen years of experience and fully-honed voice shining on the page.
4. Is Strange & Deadly YA or adult?
Adult. It’s a gaslamp historical fantasy for adult readers with some darker, more mature moments and an older heroine.
5. Is it part of a series?
Indeed!
Strange & Deadly is Book 1 of the Strange & Deadly series. Book 2 will arrive in April 2027, and the third and final book will follow after that.
6. Why do I see old copies of Something Strange and Deadly selling for $100+?
The 2012 books are out of print, so the only copies left are used ones from third-party sellers. They set their own prices, and clearly they set them high.
But hey, you don’t need to read those books anyway! The new trilogy is the CANON trilogy for Eleanor Fitt and the Spirit-Hunters.
This book should not exist.
A strange sentence to write, no? But there’s a story that goes along with it. You see, in 2009, I wrote a book that would ultimately become my debut novel: Something Strange and Deadly.
It wasn’t a very good book. I don’t say this to disparage younger, beginner Sooz—nor to offend the people who enjoyed it (thank you!). Obviously, the tale was good enough to get an agent and a three-book deal with HarperCollins. What it wasn’t, however, was a Susan Dennard book.
In the seventeen years since I wrote Something Strange and Deadly, I have published fourteen books, written many more, and grown comfortable in my voice, my style, and my intuitive process. So while I can look at Something Strange and Deadly (and its sequels) and see hints of the writer I would one day become…
The full “Sooz DNA” wasn’t baked yet.
In 2023, the rights for my debut series reverted back to me, and I planned to one day toss the books up online for fans of Susan Dennard. Then bam. I’d never think of Eleanor Fitt and the Spirit-Hunters again.
Except, well…that’s not what happened, is it? When I opened the book back in March of 2026 to finally make a few light tweaks and edits, I immediately hated the opening lines. To be fair, I’ve never liked the opening lines, since I’d changed them for my first editor in 2010—back when I hadn’t yet gained certainty in my craft and confidence in my voice.
So I cut the opening lines and wrote new ones. Then I cut the opening page and wrote a new one. And okay, yes, page two didn’t work either, so I had to redo that…
Suddenly I was ten pages in, and not a single word of the original book had been preserved. I remember sitting in my car, laptop open while my kid was at ballet practice, and thinking, Oh my gosh, am I really doing this? Am I really going to rewrite every line of this book?
Yes. Yes, I did. And in the end, I didn’t even rewrite it so much as craft an entirely new tale with similar vibes and scaffolding.
New Eleanor just wasn’t like old Eleanor—not in personality, nor in her personal relationships. Which meant she didn’t make the same decisions as original Eleanor, which in turn meant she didn’t end up at the same locations or creating the same plot.
Plus, the Spirit-Hunters and the side characters were all different from their original iterations (especially Daniel Sheridan), and I wound up completely overhauling my magic system…
Oops!
But my goodness was I having fun. It was glorious! A brand-new book was pouring out of me, and over the next few weeks, I wrote tens of thousands of words.
I cannot overstate the joy I felt writing this book, friends. I used to cringe whenever I thought of Eleanor Fitt and the Spirit-Hunters. They belonged to an embarrassingly beginner debut series, and hey, don’t you want to read my later, better-crafted books instead?
Now Eleanor Fitt and the Spirit-Hunters are part of that better craft. In fact, I don’t think there is a more me book out there right now. The reboot, Strange & Deadly, mashes all the genres of my previous books into a single volume: fantasy like in the Witchlands, mystery like in The Executioners Three, dark magic and secret societies like in The Luminaries, and strong characters with slow-burn romance like in…oh yeah, every book I write!
So all of this is to say: I hope you have as much fun reading this book as I had writing it. Thanks for being here.
—Sooz
Coming October 29!
Susan Dennard’s glittering adult debut!
It’s Philadelphia, 1876. The Dead are shambling out of Laurel Hill Cemetery, and Eleanor Fitt—broke, unmarried, and much too fluent in Shakespeare—has just learned her brother’s been taken by a necromancer.
Armed with a parasol and no money, Eleanor tracks down the Spirit-Hunters, a ragtag team who consist of an elegant theurgist, a woman with a baseball bat, and a (much too charming) engineer.
Investigator. Liar. Medium. Thief. Eleanor’s about to play every role forbidden to young ladies.
Because while the dead might be rising, sometimes it’s the living we ought to fear more.
Coming April 2027!
The Dead might have returned to their graves in Philadelphia, but the story of the Spirit-Hunters is only just beginning.
France awaits, and Egypt after that, along with many more creatures from beyond the spirit veil!
1. Is Strange & Deadly the same book as Something Strange and Deadly?
Nope! Strange & Deadly (2026) is a brand-new adult novel. In fact, it’s my adult debut! Something Strange and Deadly was my 2012 young adult debut, and it’s a completely separate book. Yes, I know: it’s confusing.
Read the Author’s Note on this page for more info!
2. Do I need to read the 2012 books first?
NO. PLEASE DO NOT, IN FACT. Strange & Deadly is mean to replace my debut series as the story of Eleanor Fitt and the Spirit-Hunters.
If you want to track down an original 2012 copy after you read Strange & Deadly, I won’t stop you! But don’t blame me when you find a totally different kind of book and story.
(Again, read the Author’s Note for details on the differences!)
3. I read the original trilogy back in the day. Is this for me too?
Absolutely! You might recognize Eleanor and some story elements, but I can promise that you won’t know what’s coming.
This is a completely new tale with my seventeen years of experience and fully-honed voice shining on the page.
4. Is Strange & Deadly YA or adult?
Adult. It’s a gaslamp historical fantasy for adult readers with some darker, more mature moments and an older heroine.
5. Is it part of a series?
Indeed!
Strange & Deadly is Book 1 of the Strange & Deadly series. Book 2 will arrive in April 2027, and the third and final book will follow after that.
6. Why do I see old copies of Something Strange and Deadly selling for $100+?
The 2012 books are out of print, so the only copies left are used ones from third-party sellers. They set their own prices, and clearly they set them high.
But hey, you don’t need to read those books anyway! The new trilogy is the CANON trilogy for Eleanor Fitt and the Spirit-Hunters.
Author’s Note
This book should not exist.
A strange sentence to write, no? But there’s a story that goes along with it. You see, in 2009, I wrote a book that would ultimately become my debut novel: Something Strange and Deadly.
It wasn’t a very good book. I don’t say this to disparage younger, beginner Sooz—nor to offend the people who enjoyed it (thank you!). Obviously, the tale was good enough to get an agent and a three-book deal with HarperCollins. What it wasn’t, however, was a Susan Dennard book.
In the seventeen years since I wrote Something Strange and Deadly, I have published fourteen books, written many more, and grown comfortable in my voice, my style, and my intuitive process. So while I can look at Something Strange and Deadly (and its sequels) and see hints of the writer I would one day become…
The full “Sooz DNA” wasn’t baked yet.
In 2023, the rights for my debut series reverted back to me, and I planned to one day toss the books up online for fans of Susan Dennard. Then bam. I’d never think of Eleanor Fitt and the Spirit-Hunters again.
Except, well…that’s not what happened, is it? When I opened the book back in March of 2026 to finally make a few light tweaks and edits, I immediately hated the opening lines. To be fair, I’ve never liked the opening lines, since I’d changed them for my first editor in 2010—back when I hadn’t yet gained certainty in my craft and confidence in my voice.
So I cut the opening lines and wrote new ones. Then I cut the opening page and wrote a new one. And okay, yes, page two didn’t work either, so I had to redo that…
Suddenly I was ten pages in, and not a single word of the original book had been preserved. I remember sitting in my car, laptop open while my kid was at ballet practice, and thinking, Oh my gosh, am I really doing this? Am I really going to rewrite every line of this book?
Yes. Yes, I did. And in the end, I didn’t even rewrite it so much as craft an entirely new tale with similar vibes and scaffolding.
New Eleanor just wasn’t like old Eleanor—not in personality, nor in her personal relationships. Which meant she didn’t make the same decisions as original Eleanor, which in turn meant she didn’t end up at the same locations or creating the same plot.
Plus, the Spirit-Hunters and the side characters were all different from their original iterations (especially Daniel Sheridan), and I wound up completely overhauling my magic system…
Oops!
But my goodness was I having fun. It was glorious! A brand-new book was pouring out of me, and over the next few weeks, I wrote tens of thousands of words.
I cannot overstate the joy I felt writing this book, friends. I used to cringe whenever I thought of Eleanor Fitt and the Spirit-Hunters. They belonged to an embarrassingly beginner debut series, and hey, don’t you want to read my later, better-crafted books instead?
Now Eleanor Fitt and the Spirit-Hunters are part of that better craft. In fact, I don’t think there is a more me book out there right now. The reboot, Strange & Deadly, mashes all the genres of my previous books into a single volume: fantasy like in the Witchlands, mystery like in The Executioners Three, dark magic and secret societies like in The Luminaries, and strong characters with slow-burn romance like in…oh yeah, every book I write!
So all of this is to say: I hope you have as much fun reading this book as I had writing it. Thanks for being here.
—Sooz