Ellie Mack was the perfect daughter. She was fifteen, the youngest of three. She was beloved by her parents, friends, and teachers. She and her boyfriend made a teenaged golden couple. She was days away from an idyllic post-exams summer vacation, with her whole life ahead of her. And then she was gone. Now, her […]
Book Reviews
Book Review: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, […]
Book Review: “The Haunting of Ashburn House” by Darcy Coates
People whisper rumors about a family murdered at Ashburn House. They say its old owner, Edith, went mad in the building, and that restless ghosts walk the halls at night. When Adrienne arrives on the gothic house’s doorstep, all she has is a suitcase, twenty dollars, and her pet cat. She doesn’t know why her […]
Book Review: “Silent Victim” by Caroline Mitchell
Emma is a loving wife, a devoted mother … and an involuntary killer. For years, she’s been hiding the dead body of the teacher who seduced her as a teen. It’s a secret that might have stayed buried, if only her life had been less perfect. A promotion for Emma’s husband, Alex, means they can […]
Book Review: “Cursed Tides” by Jade Kerrion
She no longer wants to be a part of his world. But he must convince her to save it … Ashe is one mission away from earning her soul. Nearly three centuries after her disastrous on-land escapade, the former mermaid has a final assignment: protect a marine biologist on his quest to save the oceans. […]
Book Review: “A Banquet of Consequences” by Elizabeth George
The suicide of William Goldacre is devastating to those left behind who will have to deal with its unintended consequences—could there be a link between the young man’s leap from a Dorset cliff and a horrific poisoning in Cambridge? After various issues with her department, Barbara Havers is desperate to redeem herself. So when a […]
Book Review: “The Last Time I Lied” by Riley Sager
Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. But the games ended the night Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin into the darkness. The last she–or anyone–saw of […]
Book Review: “A Great Reckoning” by Louise Penny, A Chief Inspector Gamache novel
When an intricate old map is found stuffed into the walls of the bistro in Three Pines, it at first seems no more than a curiosity. But the closer the villagers look, the stranger it becomes. Given to Armand Gamache as a gift the first day of his new job, the map eventually leads him […]
Book Review: “The Obsession” by Nora Roberts
Naomi Bowes lost her innocence the night she followed her father into the woods. In freeing the girl trapped in the root cellar, Naomi revealed the horrible extent of her father’s crimes and made him infamous. No matter how close she gets to happiness, she can’t outrun the sins of Thomas David Bowes. Now a […]
Book Review: “What She Knew” by Gilly MacMillan
Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son, Ben, when he asks if he can run ahead. It’s an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry—until Ben vanishes. Police are called, search parties go out, and Rachel, already insecure after her recent divorce, feels […]