The game is played in a third-person view as the player navigates the protagonist, detective Ronan O'Connor, around a fictionalized version of the American town, Salem.

[2] There are hundreds of collectibles in the game, including 'Ghost Girl Messages' and various different types of scraps of paper which contain information about Ronan's life.

Police Detective Ronan O'Connor is able to track down the Bell Killer, but is thrown out of a window and shot to death during a fight.

He returns in the form of a ghost, and learns that in order to reach the afterlife and meet his wife Julia, he must first discover the identity of his killer.

Joy is in search of her missing mother Cassandra, who was consulting with the police on the Bell Killer case, and initially refuses to help Ronan.

A review of Cassandra's research leads the pair to a mental hospital to find the Bell Killer's surviving victim, Iris.

Infiltrating the facility, they learn Iris possesses the same ability to see ghosts and realize the Bell Killer is killing psychic mediums.

Believing Baxter is the Bell Killer, Ronan leaves the museum and notices several police cars heading toward the church.

Once there, Ronan learns that the Bell Killer attacked the building, crushing Iris to death, and slaughtering several people who stood in his way.

There, Ronan discovers evidence of the Bell Killer's activities and clues implying that the killings have been occurring for hundreds of years.

As he prepares to hang Joy, Ronan manages to force Abigail's spirit out of Rex, and the pair battle by inflicting painful memories on each other.

[6] About the process, Brunner later stated "There are a lot of assumptions that we weren't even aware of, that we were making on both sides, about how to fictionally support who you are as a character in this world.

It scrapes by on the power of its central whodunnit mystery, but I can't help but feel that Murdered: Soul Suspect is ten hours' worth of unfinished business.

"[19] GameSpot's Tom McShea praised certain aspects of the story, saying: "Despite [the] issues, at no point was I disenchanted by Soul Suspect.

McShea wrapped up the review by saying: "Murdered: Soul Suspect has a lot more spirit than its taciturn protagonist could ever muster.