Stephen King's 10 Best Non-Horror Tales
5. Joyland
King's second, and arguably superior, novel for the Hard Case Crime label, Joyland's appearance on this list is a bit of a cheat, as it does contain supernatural elements, but at its core, it's a hardboiled crime novel, and a rather good one, even if the climactic scene is a tad convenient.
Set at the slowly fading amusement park Joyland in North Carolina, it's a ghost story layered with a crime tale: a haunted funhouse sets the scene, and summer student employee Devin Jones becomes entangled in the mystery of who killed the young girl who haunts the ride.
Along the way, there are fortune tellers, a mysterious woman with a terminally ill son, more ghosts, and all the mystery you could ask for in this whodunit.
The novel was nominated for an Edgar Award (named for Edgar Allen Poe) in 2014 for Best Paperback Original.