Ghost Barn: A Dave Gurney Novel

by John Verdon

Retired NYPD detective Dave Gurney becomes ensnared in a case of murderous political intrigue tearing apart a once bucolic Upstate New York town

The final, thrilling chapter in the fair play Dave Gurney saga finds the storied detective, often compared to Sherlock Holmes, confronted with an intractable nemesis while trying to fix his splintered marriage. 

Ghosts are returning from the past to trouble Gurney’s peace as a local election sees a powerful real estate mogul with plans for a massive development face off against a librarian and ardent conservationist. Protests erupt, battle lines are drawn between ideological camps, and the future of a once idyllic hamlet hangs in the balance. When bodies start turning up, and the local police turn a blind eye, Gurney suspects he’s the town’s only hope to stop the carnage that is tearing everybody apart. But involvement comes at a price. His last case nearly got his best friend killed, and it shattered his marriage. In the aftermath, he’s focused on breaking his reliance on police work in hopes of rekindling things with his wife, Madeleine. Can he ignore what’s happening and potentially let a murderer run amok or will he once again dive into the darkness, giving into his obsessive need to solve the unsolveable—even if it costs him Madeleine for good? One thing is this harrowing, confounding case will be his last.

400 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 29, 2026

About the author

JOHN VERDON has held several executive positions with Manhattan advertising firms, but like his protagonist, he recently relocated with his wife to rural upstate New York.

Reviews

[Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed Ghost Barn by John Verdon, which was #gifted to me by @CounterpointPress -- I haven't read any of the previous books, but I will now. BTW, it works perfectly as a standalone. Both the plot and the characters are well developed and I had no issues with missing backstory.

The main character, Dave Gurney, is a retired NYPD detective who is well-respected for his deductive skills. When a series of murders take place in a small town upstate, Gurney goes to work. It is a slow burn, with the tension and tautness building quietly as the pages turn. This pacing allows the reader to get to know all of the characters and invest in the outcome. Gurney is a likable character and is the reason I will try to go back and read any previous books.

If you are a mystery fan, you will enjoy this one.

[Bisa Lovric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read all John Verdon's books, some of them more than once, that's how much I loved them. His last book, 'The Ghost Barn,' though, is a book that has great writing but a hard-to-believe story. It's well-written on a technical level (great prose, good dialogue, humorous at times, has well developed characters, old and new ones, etc.) but fails to feel believable or earned in its plot. It's also very tedious at times and a bit boring.

A ten year old boy turns into sociopath when he grows up because he was tortured by his foes at that age and nobody believed him. It doesn't say that he complained to his parents, and why not?! If I were his parent, I'd rise hell to expose the culprits, but he complained to some young appointed counsellors who didn't believe him and just ignored him. So all his life he dreamt of revenge to kill his tormentors, those counsellors, and a few more people. You really have to suspend your disbelief to buy this plot.

Also, Gurney and his wife go back together, just like that and predictably, and he gives up on detective's work because he realized that he should also love life and nature's beautiful creatures and collours instead of darkness just like Madeleine does. And before that, he couldn't live without solving homicide puzzles and mysteries. Oh, what a fairytale! Give me a break! All in all, this wrap around book is the worst of all his books about Dave Gurney. The best one of all nine, in my opinion, is Peter Pan must die. A really great, believable story. I read it twice. Hopefully Verdon will write now about something and somebody else entirely and as well as he wrote his earlier books.

[Alicia Garcia-Webster · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great mystery thriller! Ghost Barn had me riveted throughout the duration, which is really saying something, because it is a hefty book coming in at almost 400 pages. It is the last in a series, but it served perfectly well as a standalone. I had not read any of Verdon's other books in the series, and yet I had no problem keeping track of either the plot or the characters. It is about a series of murders that take place in a small town in upstate New York, and the steps that retired NYPD detective, Dave Gurney, takes to solve them. This is my kind of mystery whodunnit: a slow burn, plenty of time to get to know all of the characters intimately, and deep-dives into possible motivations for all. My only drawback for the book was the character of Madeleine, Gurney's wife from whom he was separated. She is not present for the first 80% of the book, and everything up to that point was serving to keep me on the edge of my seat. But when she re-entered Gurney's life, she just seemed to be irrelevant, constantly mucking up the gears, or adding insights that were neither helpful nor elucidating. I think the book would have worked better without this character thrown into the mix, but that's a small point, and ultimately did not take away from my overall enjoyment or recommendation of it. Ghost Barn was an invigorating ride of a book, and if you like mysteries or thrillers, I would suggest adding this one to your TBR. **I received this ARC for free, but all opinions are my own.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dave is not the greatest hsband....but he's a good investigator.

[Kevin Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great finale to the Gurney series. I thoroughly enjoyed them all.