In The Girl Who Died, Una travels to an isolated village in northern Iceland to teach two young girls. The community has a population of only ten. The climate is cold and foggy. The neighbors are less than friendly. And then there is the nightly visitation from the ghostly girlContinue Reading
I have been reading a lot of mysteries lately where the characters and even the setting were prioritized above the mystery itself. Having read other locked room mysteries by this author, I was looking forward to the challenge. And the Plague Court Murders did not disappoint! “Cats with their throatsContinue Reading
It Will Just Be Us is a new Southern gothic suspense tale set in the Shirley Jackson universe of ghosts and madness. Living in their family’s historic but dilapidated mansion, Samantha and her mother see the ghosts of their own pasts every day. But when Samantha’s sister Elizabeth arrives veryContinue Reading
“The last time I saw the pendant, it was on Becca’s neck. She was my best friend. And I killed her.”—Heather, Now, from the Dead Girls Club. There were four members of the Dead Girls Club. Dead Becca didn’t send the pendant. Heather didn’t send it to herself. That leftContinue Reading
Dr. William Abbey’s trouble is threefold. First, he is a mediocre doctor at best in 1884. Much better at diagnosing disease than curing it. Second, he falls in love with a woman above his station, leading to debts and eventually exile to South Africa. While there, he watches the executionContinue Reading
Haunted House Ghost: Death At The Fall Festival (Braxton Campus Mysteries) by James J. Cudney My Review It’s Halloween and Professor Kellan is renovating his newly purchased rundown mansion in the Haunted House Ghost. A current mystery and a historic one compete for Kellan and his potential girlfriend, Sheriff April’sContinue Reading
The Shape of Night is an abrupt departure from this author’s usual police procedural. It’s an atmospheric gothic romantic suspense story with some modern twists thrown in. Ava has a terrible guilt-driven secret. In addition, she is over a year past the publisher’s deadline on her latest cookbook. Hoping toContinue Reading
The Immortal Prudence Blackwood is a historical police procedural with a paranormal/fantasy twist. Prudence Blackwood is a barren and abandoned twenty-six-year-old when she stumbles into a mysterious and ancient hall in 1785. After cutting her finger on the wall, Prudence dies. Two days later, she arises out of her graveContinue Reading
It seems like the Ghost of Hollow House may have been Agatha Christie as this tale fits right in her wheelhouse. In Victorian England, Mina uncovers fraudulent mediums. She also writes fictional mysteries that include spiritual elements. When she is asked to uncover the reason for the haunting of aContinue Reading
The Invited is a ghost story of multigenerational family drama rather the mystery I expected. Helen and Nate decide to quit their teaching jobs and move to rural Vermont. They buy a large parcel of land and begin building their house. The land includes a bog where a suspected witch,Continue Reading
Priest holes, mysterious ghosts, secret passages and skeletons figure prominently in Footsteps in the Dark. Siblings Peter, Celia and Margaret inherit the Priory, a large ancient country estate, from their Uncle. They, along with Celia’s husband Charles, decide to move in. Footsteps in the Dark was originally published in 1932.Continue Reading
Watersnakes is a modern fairy tale that is highly recommended. An eerie fable about a ghost who carries the soul of an ancient king, and whose teeth are the king’s warriors. She kisses a living girl and vomits an octopus, who begs to be taken to the sea. Best forContinue Reading
Southern paranormal cozy mystery with ghosts, witches and a murder or two. Hope, Faith and Charity plan to open a Wiccan school and white witches’ potion shop in rural Sunflower County Mississippi. Sarah Booth Delaney and her partner in the Delaney Detective Agency, Tinkie Richmond, are paid to dig upContinue Reading
An eerie ambience suffuses The Broken Girls. It is a mystery wrapped in a ghost story or perhaps the other way around. “Ghosts and dead babies and murdered girls. What next?” Roberta, Katie, Cece and Sonia were all dumped at Idlewild Hall, an all-girl boarding school in 1950 Vermont. RobertaContinue Reading
Lydie is a short tear-jerker that rewards readers with beautiful artwork and a compelling plot. Set in a French cul-de-sac in an unnamed French town, Lydie tells the story of a set of neighbors that band together to help Camille, a mentally impaired French girl, in a very unusual way.Continue Reading
Formulaic mystery with a small town atmosphere and a refreshing romance. Amy Webber has run back to her aunt’s house in small town Taylorsford Virginia following a disastrous and public breakup with her boyfriend. Her job as a public library Director with only one employee, Sunny Fields, is fun butContinue Reading