The Unburied — Charles Palliser

In Victorian England, Dr. Courtine is invited to spend the days before Christmas with Austin, a friend from his youth, in the Cathedral Close of Thurchester. Courtine hopes to research an unsolved mystery at the cathedral library, but when Austin captivates him with the story of the town ghost--a macabre tale of murder and deception dating back two centuries--Courtine finds himself drawn instead into a haunting world of avarice, skullduggery, and exceptional evil.