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Synopsis:
Recently widowed and rendered penniless by her Ponzi-scheming husband, Julia Bishop is eager to start anew. So when a stranger appears on her doorstep with a job offer, she finds herself accepting the mysterious yet unique position: caretaker to his mother, Amaris Sinclair, the famous and rather eccentric horror novelist whom Julia has always admired…and who the world believes is dead.
When she arrives at the Sinclairs’ enormous estate on Lake Superior, Julia begins to suspect that there may be sinister undercurrents to her “too-good-to-be-true” position. As Julia delves into the reasons of why Amaris chose to abandon her successful writing career and withdraw from the public eye, her search leads to unsettling connections to her own family tree, making her wonder why she really was invited to Havenwood in the first place, and what monstrous secrets are still held prisoner within its walls.
Technically, this story is along the lines of a cozy paranormal type mystery but it didn’t feel like that to me. I don’t really like cozy mystery types because there isn’t a lot of depth or challenge to them. I was pleasantly surprised at how the mystery developed throughout the book.
I have to say though, I would question things a lot more than the main character, Julia, did. I’m way too inquisitive to just accept vague answers and the “I’ll explain everything later over tea”. If I’m seeing weird things I’m going to have a lot to say and getting some answers STAT! It’s not a negative aspect of the book. Julia wasn’t a ditz who just bounced around and screamed where appropriate. She had a legitimate reason to be reserved in freaking out and that’s all I’m going to say because I don’t want to give any spoilers.
Holy flipping ending though! I didn’t see it coming. The twist in the epilogue left me slightly confused and sitting with my mouth hanging open like an idiot and questioning life.
In conclusion, I liked it and if you like historic houses and paranormal mysteries that are clean, you’ll probably like it too. Happy reading! 📚
FireReader Book Reviews 