Kate's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 27 Mar 2025 17:25:22 -0700 60 Kate's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The God of the Woods 199698485 When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.]]> 490 Liz Moore Kate 0 currently-reading 4.16 2024 The God of the Woods
author: Liz Moore
name: Kate
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/27
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Village Fete Murder (Julia Bird Mysteries #3)]]> 62610345
The annual village celebration at Berrywick House is underway, complete with over-decorated cake stalls, fiercely contested flower competitions, and even a maze for the disappointed losers to hide in. Julia Bird, now a well-known � even notorious � member of the community, with her trusty Labrador Jake, has thrown herself headlong into the festivities. But her reputation for adding drama to any event stands up yet again when she discovers a dead body in the maze�

It seems Ursula Benjamin, village know-it-all and prickly baking competition participant, has been strangled � and the killer has to be someone at the fete. As Julia grapples with finding yet another murder in Berrywick, she starts to wonder, could one of the competitive cake-bakers have taken the contest to deadly new heights? Or is there something darker in Ursula’s life that led to her untimely demise?

Embroiled once again in a murder enquiry, Julia isn’t about to leave the investigation to the police. Like it or not, she’s involved, and she’s going to help them solve the mystery. But when there’s another death, and it’s clear the murders aren’t isolated incidents, the stakes become even higher. Can Julia figure out the identity of the killer, and prevent any further dastardly deeds, before the wholesome spirit of the village is ruined forever?]]> 255 Katie Gayle 1803148977 Kate 4 4.38 A Village Fete Murder (Julia Bird Mysteries #3)
author: Katie Gayle
name: Kate
average rating: 4.38
book published:
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/03/27
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]]> The God of the Woods 199700434 When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide.

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances.

Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet, The God of the Woods is a story of inheritance and second chances, the tensions between a family and a community, and a history that will not let any of them go.]]> 478 Liz Moore 0593418913 Kate 0 to-read 4.10 2024 The God of the Woods
author: Liz Moore
name: Kate
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> All the Dangerous Things 60784636
Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year.

Isabelle's entire existence now revolves around finding him, but she knows she can’t go on this way forever. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster—but his interest in Isabelle's past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabelle start to doubt her recollection of the night of Mason’s disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust... including herself. But she is determined to figure out the truth no matter where it leads.]]> 326 Stacy Willingham 1250803853 Kate 0 to-read 4.04 2023 All the Dangerous Things
author: Stacy Willingham
name: Kate
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Secrets of the Chocolate House (Found Things, #2)]]> 43263457 The second novel in a bewitching series "brimming with charm and charisma" that will make "fans of Outlander rejoice!" (Woman's World Magazine)

New York Times bestselling author Paula Brackston’s The Little Shop of Found Things was called “a page-turner that will no doubt leave readers eager for future series installments� (Publishers Weekly). Now, Brackston returns to the Found Things series with its sequel, Secrets of the Chocolate House.

After her adventures in the seventeenth century, Xanthe does her best to settle back into the rhythm of life in Marlborough. She tells herself she must forget about Samuel and leave him in the past where he belongs. With the help of her new friends, she does her best to move on, focusing instead on the success of her and Flora’s antique shop.

But there are still things waiting to be found, still injustices needing to be put right, still voices whispering to Xanthe from long ago about secrets wanting to be shared.

While looking for new stock for the shop, Xanthe hears the song of a copper chocolate pot. Soon after, she has an upsetting vision of Samuel in great danger, compelling her to make another journey to the past.

This time she'll meet her most dangerous adversary. This time her ability to travel to the past will be tested. This time she will discover her true destiny. Will that destiny allow her to return home? And will she be able to save Samuel when his own fate seems to be sealed?]]> 308 Paula Brackston 1250072441 Kate 0 to-read 4.03 2019 Secrets of the Chocolate House (Found Things, #2)
author: Paula Brackston
name: Kate
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Little Shop of Found Things (Found Things, #1)]]> 31450585 Outlander

New York Times bestselling author of The Witch's Daughter Paula Brackston returns to her trademark blend of magic and romance to launch a new series guaranteed to enchant her audience even more.

Xanthe and her mother Flora leave London behind for a fresh start, taking over an antique shop in the historic town of Marlborough. Xanthe has always had an affinity with some of the antiques she finds. When she touches them, she can sense something of the past they come from and the stories they hold. So when she has an intense connection to a beautiful silver chatelaine she has to know more.

It’s while she’s examining the chatelaine that she’s transported back to the seventeenth century. And shortly after, she's confronted by a ghost who reveals that this is where the antique has its origins. The ghost tasks Xanthe with putting right the injustice in its story to save an innocent girl’s life, or else it’ll cost her Flora’s.

While Xanthe fights to save her amid the turbulent days of 1605, she meets architect Samuel Appleby. He may be the person who can help her succeed. He may also be the reason she can’t bring herself to leave.

With its rich historical detail, strong mother-daughter relationship, and picturesque English village, The Little Shop of Found Things is poised to be a strong start to this new series.]]> 386 Paula Brackston 1250072433 Kate 0 to-read 3.79 2018 The Little Shop of Found Things (Found Things, #1)
author: Paula Brackston
name: Kate
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Garden of Promises and Lies]]> 56268987 The third installment of a bewitching series brimming with charm and charisma that will make fans of Outlander rejoice! (Woman's World Magazine).

New York Times bestselling author Paula Brackston's second novel in the Found Things series, Secrets of the Chocolate House, was called a time-swapping romance [that] will please fans of Alice Hoffman (Publishers Weekly). Now, Brackston returns to the Found Things series with a third book, The Garden of Promises and Lies.

As the bustle of the winter holidays in the Little Shop of Found Things gives way to spring, Xanthe is left to reflect on the strange events of the past year. While she's tried to keep her time-traveling talents a secret from those close to her, she is forced to take responsibility for having inadvertently transported the dangerous Benedict Fairfax to her own time. Xanthe comes to see that she must use her skills as a Spinner if she and Flora are ever to be safe, and turns to the Spinners book for help.

It is then that a beautiful antique wedding dress sings to her. Realizing the dress and her adversary are connected in some way, she answers the call. She finds herself in Bradford-on-Avon in 1815, as if she has stepped into a Jane Austen story.

Now in Xanthe's time, Fairfax is threatening Xanthe into helping him with his evil doings, and demonstrates all too clearly how much damage he is capable of causing. With Fairfax growing ever more powerful, Xanthe enlists the help of her boyfriend Liam, taking him back in time with her. It is a decision that might just ensure she prevails over her foe, but only by putting her life--and his--on the line.]]> 336 Paula Brackston 1250804019 Kate 0 to-read 4.30 2020 The Garden of Promises and Lies
author: Paula Brackston
name: Kate
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Raging Storm (Two Rivers #3)]]> 66579671
Fierce winds, dark secrets, deadly intentions.

When Jem Rosco―sailor, adventurer, and legend―blows into town in the middle of an autumn gale, the residents of Greystone, Devon, are delighted to have a celebrity in their midst. But just as abruptly as he arrived, Rosco disappears again, and soon his lifeless body is discovered in a dinghy, anchored off Scully Cove, a place with legends of its own.

This is an uncomfortable case for Detective Inspector Matthew Venn. Greystone is a place he visited as a child, a community he parted ways with. Superstition and rumor mix with fact as another body is found, and Venn finds his judgment clouded.

As the winds howl, and Venn and his team investigate, he realizes that no one, including himself, is safe from Scully Cove’s storm of dark secrets.

“A friend of mine once joked that the work of Ann Cleeves is the closest the crime fiction genre comes to evoking ASMR―the euphoric, pleasant, spine-tingling sensation that’s all the rage on YouTube. The books never get too dark, never venture too far into dangerous territory, but aren’t outright cozy, either.”� The New York Times]]> 400 Ann Cleeves 1250836786 Kate 0 to-read 4.22 2023 The Raging Storm (Two Rivers #3)
author: Ann Cleeves
name: Kate
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[At the Bottom of the Garden: A Novel]]> 212433946 A murderess becomes the guardian of two very unusual girls in this mesmerizing gothic novel from acclaimed author Camilla Bruce.

Clara Woods is a killer—and perfectly fine with it, too. So what if she takes a couple of lives to make her own a little bit better? At the bottom of her garden is a flower bed, long overgrown, where her late husband rests in peace—or so she’s always thought.

Then the girls arrive.

Lily and Violet are her nieces, recently orphaned after their affluent parents died on an ill-fated anniversary trip. In accordance with their parents� will, the sisters are to go to their closest relative—who happens to be Clara. Despite having no interest in children, Clara agrees to take them, hoping to get her hands on some of the girls� assets—not only to bolster her dwindling fortune but also to establish what she hopes will be her a line of diamond jewelry.

There’s only one problem. Violet can see the dead man at the bottom of the garden. She can see all of Clara’s ghosts . . . and call them back into existence. Soon Clara is plagued by her victims and at war with the gifted girls in her care. Lily and Violet have become a liability—and they know far more than they should.]]> 359 Camilla Bruce 0593724968 Kate 0 currently-reading 3.51 2025 At the Bottom of the Garden: A Novel
author: Camilla Bruce
name: Kate
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Whispering Room 20629640 294 Amanda Stevens Kate 0 to-read 4.28 2009 The Whispering Room
author: Amanda Stevens
name: Kate
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Girl Behind the Gates 53542416 1939. Seventeen-year-old Nora Jennings has spent her life secure in the certainty of a bright, happy future - until one night of passion has more catastrophic consequences than she ever could have anticipated. Labelled a moral defective and sectioned under the Mental Deficiency Act, she is forced to endure years of unspeakable cruelty at the hands of those who are supposed to care for her.

1981. When psychiatrist Janet Humphreys comes across Nora, heavily institutionalised and still living in the hospital more than forty years after her incarceration, she knows that she must be the one to help Nora rediscover what it is to live. But as she works to help Nora overcome her past, Janet realises she must finally face her own.]]> 346 Brenda Davies 1529374553 Kate 4 4.52 2020 The Girl Behind the Gates
author: Brenda Davies
name: Kate
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/13
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Awakening (Zodiac Academy, #1)]]> 46261182 This is an alternate cover edition for ASIN B07SV21LFY

You have been selected to attend Zodiac Academy, where your star sign defines your destiny.

If you're one of the Fae, elemental magic is in your blood. And apparently it's in ours. As twins born in the month of Gemini, we're a rare breed even in this academy of supernatural a-holes.

Changelings were outlawed hundreds of years ago but I guess our birth parents didn't get the memo. Which means we're totally unprepared for the ruthless world of Fae.

Air. Fire. Water. Earth.

No one has ever harnessed all four of them, until we arrived. And it hasn't made us any friends so far.

As the rarest Elementals ever known, we're already a threat to the four celestial heirs; the popular, vindictive bullies who happen to be some of the hottest guys we've ever seen. It doesn't help that they're the most dangerous beasts in the Academy. And probably on earth too.

Our fates are intertwined, but they want us gone. They've only got until the lunar eclipse to force us out and they'll stop at nothing to succeed.

We never knew we had a birthright to live up to but now that we do, we intend to claim our throne.

We can't expect any help from the faculty when it comes to defending ourselves. So if the dragon shifters want some target practice, the werewolves want someone to hunt or the vampires fancy a snack then we have to be ready. But we've been looking after each other for a long time and fighting back is in our blood.

Today's horoscope: totally screwed.]]> 436 Caroline Peckham Kate 0 to-read 3.81 2019 The Awakening (Zodiac Academy, #1)
author: Caroline Peckham
name: Kate
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The House Next Door 34596370
I live next to a haunted house.

I began to suspect something was wrong with the gothic building when its family fled in the middle of the night, the children screaming, the mother crying. They never came back to pack up their furniture.

No family stays long. Animals avoid the place. Once, I thought I saw a woman's silhouette pacing through the upstairs room... but that seems impossible; no one was living there at the time.

A new occupant, Anna, has just moved in. I paid her a visit to warn her about the building. I didn't expect us to become friends, but we did. And now that Marwick House is waking up, she's asked me to stay with her.

I never intended to become involved with the building or its vengeful, dead inhabitant. But now I have to save Anna... before it's too late for the both of us.]]> 282 Darcy Coates Kate 5 3.85 2017 The House Next Door
author: Darcy Coates
name: Kate
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:

]]> The Keepers of Metsan Valo 57226569
In Metsan Valo, her family home on Lake Superior, Anni Halla’s beloved grandmother has died. Among her fond memories, what Anni remembers most vividly is her grandmother’s eerie yet enchanting storytelling. By firelight she spun tall tales of spirits in the nearby forest and waters who could heal—or harm—on a whim. But of course those were only stories�

The reading of the will now occasions a family reunion. Anni and her twin brother, their almost otherworldly mother, and relatives Anni hasn’t seen in forever—some with good reason—are all brought back together under one roof that strains to hold all their tension. But it’s not just Annie’s family who is unsettled. Whispers wind through the woods. Laughter bursts from bubbling streams. Raps from unseen hands rupture on the walls. Fireflies swarm and nightmares stir. With each odd occurrence, Anni fears that her return has invited less a welcoming and more a warning.

When another tragedy strikes near home, Anni must dive headfirst into the mysterious happenings to discover the truth about her home, her family, and the wooded island’s ancient lore. Plunging into the past may be the only way to save her family from whatever bedevils Metsan Valo.]]> 313 Wendy Webb 1542021618 Kate 5 4.07 2021 The Keepers of Metsan Valo
author: Wendy Webb
name: Kate
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/21
date added: 2025/01/21
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Remains (Ruth Galloway, #15)]]> 61812770 The discovery of a missing woman’s bones force Ruth and Nelson to finally confront their feelings for each other as they desperately work to exonerate one of their own in this not-to-be-missed Ruth Galloway mystery from USA Today bestselling author Elly Griffiths.

When builders discover a human skeleton during a renovation of a café, they call in archeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway, who is preoccupied with the threatened closure of her department and by her ever-complicated relationship with DCI Nelson. The bones turn out to be modern—the remains of Emily Pickering, a young archaeology student who went missing in 2002. Suspicion soon falls on Emily’s Cambridge tutor and also on another archeology enthusiast who was part of the group gathered the weekend before she disappeared—Ruth’s friend Cathbad.

As they investigate, Nelson and his team uncover a tangled web of relationships within the archeology group and look for a link between them and the café where Emily’s bones were found. Then, just when the team seem to be making progress, Cathbad disappears. The trail leads Ruth a to the Neolithic flint mines in Grimes Graves. The race is on, first to find Cathbad and then to exonerate him, but will Ruth and Nelson uncover the truth in time to save their friend?]]> 361 Elly Griffiths 0358726484 Kate 5 4.23 2023 The Last Remains (Ruth Galloway, #15)
author: Elly Griffiths
name: Kate
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves:
review:

]]> Ghosts of Christmas Past 40209977 A present contains a monstrous secret.
An uninvited guest haunts a Christmas party.
A shadow slips across the floor by firelight.
A festive entertainment ends in darkness and screams.

Who knows what haunts the night at the dark point of the year? This collection of seasonal chillers looks beneath Christmas cheer to a world of ghosts and horrors, mixing terrifying modern fiction with classic stories by masters of the macabre. From Neil Gaiman and M. R. James to Muriel Spark and E. Nesbit, there are stories here to make the hardiest soul quail - so find a comfy chair, lock the door, ignore the cold breath on your neck and get ready to welcome in the real spirits of Christmas.

]]> 164 Tim Martin 1473663474 Kate 0 to-read 3.79 2017 Ghosts of Christmas Past
author: Tim Martin
name: Kate
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Secret of Happy Ever After]]> 12425416
For book-loving Anna, it’s a dream come true—and not just because it gives her an escape from her three demanding step-children and their adorable but hyperactive Dalmatian. Although she’s been thinking that her own fairytale ending hasn’t really turned out the way she hoped, Anna’s passion for the classics is transforming the shop. The customers, and even Michelle, are falling under the spell of the magical stories of romance, adventure, and lost dogs.

But when secrets from her past threaten Michelle’s new beginnings, and trouble strikes at the heart of Anna’s household, can the wisdom and courage of the stories in the bookshop help the two friends—and those they love—find their happy ever after?]]> 512 Lucy Dillon 1444727036 Kate 0 to-read 3.96 2011 The Secret of Happy Ever After
author: Lucy Dillon
name: Kate
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Sister in My House 35725099
Maria and Emma have not seen each other since their mother’s funeral two years ago. But now, Emma has come to visit Maria at her house in Spain, an unsettling intrusion on Maria’s quiet and solitary life. Over six days in the seaside town, the sisters cautiously recount the years of their separate adult lives. Their walks through the quiet town and evening talks on the terrace reveal almost more than Maria can deal with, until finally, the sisters confront their unspeakable family history.

A Sister in My House is a compelling drama of grief and betrayal, but ultimately it is a story of hope and forgiveness.]]> 224 Linda Olsson 0143131699 Kate 0 to-read 3.46 2016 A Sister in My House
author: Linda Olsson
name: Kate
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Enchanted Lies of Céleste Artois]]> 201627344 In this lush and lyrical fantasy, Ryan Graudin transports readers to the hidden magical pockets of early 1900s Paris, a place of enchanted salons, fortune tellers who can change your stars, and doorways that can take you to the most unexpected places—and introduces readers to the delightful Céleste Artois, a con artist who will make a deal with the devil in exchange for her life...and change the fate of the world.

Once, Céleste Artois had dreams of being an artist. But when the creative elite of Paris dashed those plans, she turned her talents to forgery and cons. She and the Enchantresses—her two fellow thieves and best friends—see Paris as a rich hunting ground for marks. Yet even though their hideout in Peré Lachaise cemetery is bursting with francs, Céleste cannot rest. There is always more to take. And the blood she has begun to cough into her handkerchief means her time is running out.

But everything changes when she encounters Rafe, a mysterious and beautiful stranger who leads her to an enchanted salon—a place where artists can bring wondrous imaginations to life. Céleste is captivated by this establishment, and learns of the existence of magical Paris, hidden in the pockets and alleys of the ordinary world, if one only knows where to look.

Rafe offers Céleste an irresistible deal: the gift of time in exchange for lending him and his benefactor her forging talents. But one must be careful making deals with devils, and there's more to this hidden world than meets the eye. Shadows have begun to circle Paris. And soon, the Enchantresses will find that true magic is far more powerful, and deadly, than they ever imagined.]]> 544 Ryan Graudin 0316418692 Kate 0 to-read 3.77 2024 The Enchanted Lies of Céleste Artois
author: Ryan Graudin
name: Kate
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Life on Svalbard: Finding Home on a Remote Island Near the North Pole]]> 205435940 Join Cecilia Blomdahl in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, the world’s northernmost town.

Located in the Arctic Ocean near the North Pole, Svalbard is a unique archipelago that boasts stunning wintry landscapes, endangered Arctic animals, and awe-inspiring natural phenomena. Since 2015, Cecilia has called this beautiful and remote location home. Along with her partner, Christoffer, and her dog, Grim, she has adjusted to life at the top of the world—where polar bears roam free and northern lights shine bright.

With evocative text and spectacular photography, Cecilia shares the joys and challenges of adapting to an inhospitable climate. Her story begins in the darkness of polar night, and the allure of her remote location is revealed gradually as sunlight returns months later. Through personal stories and firsthand advice, Cecilia offers insight for anyone seeking to thrive in unusual living conditions.

Whatever your location, Life on Svalbard will give you a deeper understanding of why people choose to live in extreme environments and perhaps help you find the hidden magic of where you live too.]]> 256 Cecilia Blomdahl 0744095093 Kate 0 to-read 4.47 Life on Svalbard: Finding Home on a Remote Island Near the North Pole
author: Cecilia Blomdahl
name: Kate
average rating: 4.47
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: to-read
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]]> Snow Drowned 205519745
Gracie Hutchinson has lived on Fall Island her whole life and knows there's some truth to those words. Fall's snowstorms have a spooky way of claiming people, making them disappear without a trace or driving them mad. Now, with a hundred-year-storm approaching, most of Fall's residents have fled to the mainland. But not Gracie. Left behind her with physician father, she braces for landfall.

Gracie's not the only one left behind. Her classmate Joseph Wescott, descendant of the legendary pioneer who founded Fall Island, has stayed, too. After a chance encounter, the two stumble across something more unsettling than the snow: a ritually mutilated corpse. By night, as the snow begins to fall, it becomes clear that whoever (or whatever) murdered the man they found has their sights set on Gracie.

Seeking refuge at Wescott Manor, Gracie feels safe surrounded by dozens of locals hunkered down in the huge house. But as the storm assaults the island, Gracie discovers secrets that have been kept since Fall was settled. If she can't uncover the hidden history and terrifying truth about Fall Island before the storm's end, she'll be the next to disappear into the snow.]]> 304 Jennifer D. Lyle 1728270944 Kate 0 to-read 3.35 2024 Snow Drowned
author: Jennifer D. Lyle
name: Kate
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Estate 205519756
After Camille ruins her career and reputation by misusing her powers, she vows to get her old life back. So when Maxime Foucault, an enigmatic aristocrat who owns a sprawling French estate, enlists her help in authenticating the statues of a mysterious artist, whose disappearance she has been trying to solve for years, she knows this could be her chance to turn her career around and get the man she's always wanted.

But something isn't right about the Foucault family and the grand chateau they inhabit, and as Camille gets sucked into its walls, she finds a world of luxury and greed that causes her to risk losing herself, and everything she has ever known, forever.

Filled with magic, suspense, the allure of Arthurian legend, and dark academia, The Estate unravels a mystery that spans generations—while blurring the fine lines between reality and imagination, creation and destruction, and being haunted or free.]]> 416 Sarah Jost 1728262739 Kate 0 to-read 3.50 2024 The Estate
author: Sarah Jost
name: Kate
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Coming To Find You 64645772 431 Jane Corry 0241996104 Kate 0 to-read 3.90 2023 Coming To Find You
author: Jane Corry
name: Kate
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Good Neighbors 52077434
Good neighbors do not destroy your life.

When Bryant and Harper Page move to Lancaster Mills, their first encounter with their new neighbors—Jason and Tori Fuller: beautiful, strange, and terrifying—is anything but a warm welcome. Despite their hesitations, the Pages are intrigued by the people they now share a street with. As their curiosity gets the best of them, they discover that there’s much more to the Fullers than meets the eye. Their new neighbors have secrets, that much is obvious, but just how dangerous could they be?

With two haunting shadows lingering over their house and lives, the Pages� relationship is tested in every way. What exactly makes a good neighbor? And what makes a good neighbor bad?
]]> 270 Kiersten Modglin Kate 0 to-read 3.79 2019 The Good Neighbors
author: Kiersten Modglin
name: Kate
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Merry and Bright 33928751
Soon Merry finds herself chatting with a charming stranger, a man with similar interests and an unmistakably kind soul. Their online exchanges become the brightest part of her day. But meeting face-to-face is altogether different, and her special friend is the last person Merry expects—or desires. Still, sometimes hearts can see what our eyes cannot. In this satisfying seasonal tale, unanticipated love is only a click away.]]> Debbie Macomber 0525491759 Kate 0 to-read 3.74 2017 Merry and Bright
author: Debbie Macomber
name: Kate
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> We Begin at the End 54280574 There are two kinds of families: the ones we are born into and the ones we create.

Walk has never left the coastal California town where he grew up. He may have become the chief of police, but he’s still trying to heal the old wound of having given the testimony that sent his best friend, Vincent King, to prison decades before. Now, thirty years later, Vincent is being released.

Duchess is a thirteen-year-old self-proclaimed outlaw. Her mother, Star, grew up with Walk and Vincent. Walk is in overdrive trying to protect them, but Vincent and Star seem bent on sliding deeper into self-destruction. Star always burned bright, but recently that light has dimmed, leaving Duchess to parent not only her mother but her five-year-old brother. At school the other kids make fun of Duchess—her clothes are torn, her hair a mess. But let them throw their sticks, because she’ll throw stones. Rules are for other people. She’s just trying to survive and keep her family together.

A fortysomething-year-old sheriff and a thirteen-year-old girl may not seem to have a lot in common. But they both have come to expect that people will disappoint you, loved ones will leave you, and if you open your heart it will be broken. So when trouble arrives with Vincent King, Walk and Duchess find they will be unable to do anything but usher it in, arms wide closed.

Chris Whitaker has written an extraordinary novel about people who deserve so much more than life serves them. At times devastating, with flashes of humor and hope throughout, it is ultimately an inspiring tale of how the human spirit prevails and how, in the end, love—in all its different guises—wins.]]> 384 Chris Whitaker Kate 0 to-read 4.33 2020 We Begin at the End
author: Chris Whitaker
name: Kate
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Murder in the Library (Julia Bird Mysteries #2)]]> 61036071
Julia Bird had imagined the quiet of rural life would be soothing after years in the city, but she finds she can’t just sit still. Determined to throw herself into village activities, she joins the library just in time to attend a talk by celebrated local author Vincent Andrews.

Charming, devilishly handsome and talented, Vincent teases the crowd with a reading from his forthcoming novel. Set in a village bearing strange similarities to Berrywick, with characters the audience start to recognise, Vincent hints of dark secrets to be revealed, to gasps of outrage from the room. The meeting ends in uproar, and, just hours later, Vincent’s dead body is discovered behind the bookshelves�

As one of the last people to see him alive, Julia feels morally bound to help the police investigate. With her trusty Labrador, Jake, at her side, she decides to do her own sleuthing and quickly discovers that Vincent’s personal life is messy, his finances are in disarray and his book sales are declining. But most of all, remembering her neighbours� faces at the book reading, Julia wonders if one of them could have lost the plot enough to kill�

As Julia interrogates the suspects, she walks straight into another scene of murder and mayhem, and realises Vincent’s manuscript is now missing. There’s someone out there who’s deadly serious about keeping their secrets unpublished. Will Julia be able to stop them, before anyone else gets hurt?]]> 255 Katie Gayle 1803141719 Kate 4 4.29 Murder in the Library (Julia Bird Mysteries #2)
author: Katie Gayle
name: Kate
average rating: 4.29
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[An English Garden Murder (Julia Bird Mysteries, #1)]]> 60678693
Recently divorced and reluctantly retired, Julia Bird has fled London to enjoy idyllic rural life in the Cotswolds. Determined to have the perfect English garden, her first job is to tear down the old shed, where she unearths much more than she’d bargained for� A body, apparently buried for decades. But who could it be, and who killed them? The police draw a blank, and even the gossip-fest that is the local bookclub can’t remember anyone going missing in the village.

Unable to get on with her garden until the mystery is resolved, Julia decides to conduct her own clandestine investigations. So, together with her wayward chocolate Labrador puppy Jake, Julia begins a whirlwind tour of the local residents. And everyone, it seems, has something to hide in this village. As she gets closer to the truth, Julia uncovers something even more shocking� Another body, this time of someone she actually knows.

Determined to unmask the killer and find out what connects the two dead bodies, Julia � newly nicknamed the Grim Reaper � ups the stakes and hones in on the most likely suspect. But if she hasn’t deduced correctly, then there is someone else in the village who has killed twice already. Will they be prepared to make it third time lucky to keep their secret safe?

This totally addictive page-turning cozy mystery is perfect for fans of M.C. Beaton, Faith Martin and Betty Rowlands.]]> 264 Katie Gayle 1803140666 Kate 4 4.24 2022 An English Garden Murder (Julia Bird Mysteries, #1)
author: Katie Gayle
name: Kate
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)]]> 68428 What if the whole world were a dead, blasted wasteland?

Mistborn
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison. Kelsier "snapped" and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

Kelsier recruited the underworld's elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Then Kelsier reveals his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel's plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she's a half-Skaa orphan, but she's lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets. She will have to learn trust if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

Brandon Sanderson, fantasy's newest master tale-spinner and author of the acclaimed debut Elantris, dares to turn a genre on its head by asking a simple question: What if the prophesied hero failed to defeat the Dark Lord? The answer will be found in the Mistborn Trilogy, a saga of surprises that begins with the book in your hands. Fantasy will never be the same again.]]> 541 Brandon Sanderson Kate 0 to-read 4.48 2006 Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Kate
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Whispering Dead (Gravekeeper, #1)]]> 55662284 USA Today bestseller and rising queen of atmospheric horror Darcy Coates returns with a ghost story that will haunt you long after the final page. She hears them whispering...

Homeless, hunted, and desperate to escape a bitter storm, Keira takes refuge in an abandoned groundskeeper's cottage. Her new home is tucked away at the edge of a cemetery, surrounded on all sides by gravestones: some recent, some hundreds of years old, all suffering from neglect.

And in the darkness, she can hear the unquiet dead whispering.

The cemetery is alive with faint, spectral shapes, led by a woman who died before her time...and Keira, the only person who can see her, has become her new target. Determined to help put the ghost to rest, Keira digs into the spirit's past life with the help of unlikely new friends, and discovers a history of deception, ill-fated love, and murder.

But the past is not as simple as it seems, and Keira's time is running out. Tangled in a dangerous web, she has to find a way to free the spirit...even if it means offering her own life in return.

Also By Darcy Coates:
The Haunting of Ashburn House
The Haunting of Blackwood House
Craven Manor
The House Next Door
Voices in the Snow]]> 272 Darcy Coates Kate 5 Good series

This book was just as enjoyable as the first book in the series. I'll be reading the third book soon.]]> 4.27 2021 The Whispering Dead (Gravekeeper, #1)
author: Darcy Coates
name: Kate
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/21
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves:
review:
Good series

This book was just as enjoyable as the first book in the series. I'll be reading the third book soon.
]]> A Haunting on the Hill 102188677
Holly Sherwin has been a struggling playwright for years, but now, after receiving a grant to develop her play, The Witch of Edmonton, she may finally be close to her big break. All she needs is time and space to bring her vision to life. When she stumbles across Hill House on aweekend getaway upstate, she is immediately taken in by the ornate, if crumbling, gothic mansion, nearly hidden outside a remote village. It’s enormous, old, and ever-so eerie—the perfect place to develop and rehearse her play.

Despite her own hesitations, Holly’s girlfriend, Nisa, agrees to join Holly in renting the house out for a month, and soon a troupe of actors, each with ghosts of their own, arrive. Yet as they settle in, the house’s peculiarities are made known: strange creatures stalk the grounds, disturbing sounds echo throughout the halls, andtime itself seems to shift. All too soon, Holly and her friends find themselves at odds not just with one another, butwith the house itself. It seems something has been waiting in Hill House all these years, and itno longer intendstowalk alone . . .
]]> 326 Elizabeth Hand 0316527327 Kate 0 to-read 3.27 2023 A Haunting on the Hill
author: Elizabeth Hand
name: Kate
average rating: 3.27
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/30
shelves: to-read
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]]> Episode Thirteen 61030527 From the macabre mind of Bram Stoker Award nominated author Craig DiLouie, Episode Thirteen is a heart pounding novel of horror and psychological suspense that takes a ghost hunting reality TV crew into a world they could never have imagined possible. A beautiful Russian doll of a story... Episode Thirteen hooks you, creeps you out, and then it overwhelms you. It's House of Leaves meets Haunting of Hill House, in all the best possible ways. -- Peter Clines, NYT bestselling author of The Broken Room


Fade to Black is the newest hit ghost hunting reality TV show. Led by husband and wife team Matt and Claire Kirklin, it delivers weekly hauntings investigated by a dedicated team of ghost hunting experts. Episode Thirteen takes them to every ghost hunter's holy grail: the Paranormal Research Foundation. This brooding, derelict mansion holds secrets and clues about bizarre experiments that took place there in the 1970s. It's also famously haunted, and the team hopes their scientific techniques and high tech gear will prove it. But as the house begins to reveal itself to them, proof of an afterlife might not be everything Matt dreamed of. A story told in broken pieces, in tapes, journals, and correspondence, this is the story of Episode Thirteen -- and how everything went terribly, horribly wrong.


An epistolary descent into a living nightmare . . . well-written and genuinely unsettling. Fans of paranormal documentaries, ghost-hunting shows, and found-footage horror will lose their minds over this one. - Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award winning author of Kin]]> 433 Craig DiLouie 0316443107 Kate 0 to-read 3.46 2023 Episode Thirteen
author: Craig DiLouie
name: Kate
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Ravenous Dead (Gravekeeper, #2)]]> 57959973
Keira, hired as Blighty Graveyard’s new groundskeeper, lives surrounded by the dead. They watch her through the fog. They wordlessly cry out. They’ve been desperately waiting for help moving on—and only Keira can hear them. But not every restless spirit wants to be saved.

Sometimes the dead hate the living too much to find peace.

As Keira struggles to uncover the tangled histories of some of the graveyard’s oldest denizens, danger seeps from the darkest edges of the forest. A vicious serial killer was interred among the trees decades before, his spirit twisted by his violent nature. He’s furious. Ravenous. And when Keira unwittingly answers his call, she may just seal her fate as his final intended victim.]]> 252 Darcy Coates Kate 5 4.41 2022 The Ravenous Dead (Gravekeeper, #2)
author: Darcy Coates
name: Kate
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/30
date added: 2024/10/30
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review:

]]> When We Meet Again 207293854 New York Times bestselling author Kristin Harmel, a beautifully repackaged and updated edition of When We Meet Again.


Emily Emerson is used to being alone; her dad walked out on the family when she was a just a kid, her mom died when she was eighteen, and her beloved grandmother has just passed away as well. But when she’s laid off from her reporting job, she finds herself completely adrift…until the day she receives a beautiful painting of a young woman standing at the edge of a sugarcane field under a violet sky. She recognizes the woman as her grandmother, but the painting arrived with no identification other than a handwritten note saying, “He never stopped loving her...�


Curious, Emily begins to do some digging and uncovers a fascinating moment in American history. Her trail leads her to the POW internment camps of 1940s Florida, where German prisoners worked for American farmers...and sometimes fell in love with American women. But how does this all connect to the painting? The answer to that question will take Emily on a road that leads from the sweltering Everglades to Munich, Germany and back before she’s done.


This new edition has been refreshed by the author and contains a new author’s note, along with a teaser of Harmel’s next historical novel.

]]> 384 Kristin Harmel 1668046059 Kate 5 4.27 2016 When We Meet Again
author: Kristin Harmel
name: Kate
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/25
date added: 2024/10/25
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]]> Come Home 12037026
But Jill’s life is turned upside down when her ex-stepdaughter, Abby, shows up on her doorstep late one night and delivers shocking news: Jill’s ex-husband is dead. Abby insists that he was murdered and pleads with Jill to help find his killer. Jill reluctantly agrees to make a few inquiries and discovers that things don’t add up. As she digs deeper, her actions threaten to rip apart her new family, destroy their hard-earned happiness, and even endanger her own life. Yet Jill can’t turn her back on a child she loves and once called her own.]]> 371 Lisa Scottoline 0312380828 Kate 0 to-read 3.58 2012 Come Home
author: Lisa Scottoline
name: Kate
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> House of Leaves 24800
Of course, neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of that impossibility, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story—of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of that unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams.]]> 710 Mark Z. Danielewski Kate 0 to-read 4.11 2000 House of Leaves
author: Mark Z. Danielewski
name: Kate
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Hot Blooded (New Orleans, #1) 545875 A cunning serial killer torments a New Orleans radio host in this thriller series debut by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Afraid to Die.

A prostitute lies strangled in a seedy French Quarter hotel room. Miles away, in a rambling plantation house on Lake Ponchartrain, late-night radio host Dr. Samantha Leeds receives a threatening crank call. But who would think to link the two?

As more dead bodies turn up, Samantha's ominous caller persists, along with someone claiming to be a woman from her past—who's been dead for years. With Detective Rick Bentz convinced that the serial killer prowling the streets is somebody close to Samantha, she doesn't dare trust anyone. Especially not Ty Wheeler, her seductive new neighbor who seems to know more about her than a stranger should.
Somebody has discovered Samantha's darkest secret. Somebody is convinced that lives must be sacrificed to pay for her sins. So far, the victims have been strangers. But as a cold-blooded killer grows bolder, Samantha wonders if she will be the next to die.]]> 463 Lisa Jackson 0821768417 Kate 0 to-read 3.96 2001 Hot Blooded (New Orleans, #1)
author: Lisa Jackson
name: Kate
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Family Remains (The Family Upstairs, #2)]]> 58855185 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell comes an intricate and affecting novel about twisted marriages, fractured families, and deadly obsessions in this standalone sequel to The Family Upstairs.

Early one morning on the shore of the Thames, DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the scene of a gruesome discovery. When Owusu sends the evidence for examination, he learns the bones are connected to a cold case that left three people dead on the kitchen floor in a Chelsea mansion thirty years ago.

Rachel Rimmer has also received a shock—news that her husband, Michael, has been found dead in the cellar of his house in France. All signs point to an intruder, and the French police need her to come urgently to answer questions about Michael and his past that she very much doesn’t want to answer.

After fleeing London thirty years ago in the wake of a horrific tragedy, Lucy Lamb is finally coming home. While she settles in with her children and is just about to purchase their first-ever house, her brother takes off to find the boy from their shared past whose memory haunts their present.

As they all race to discover answers to these convoluted mysteries, they will come to find that they’re connected in ways they could have never imagined.

In this masterful standalone sequel to her haunting New York Times bestseller, The Family Upstairs, Lisa Jewell proves she is writing at the height of her powers with another jaw-dropping, intricate, and affecting novel about the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love and uncover the truth.]]> 452 Lisa Jewell 1982178892 Kate 0 to-read 3.82 2022 The Family Remains (The Family Upstairs, #2)
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Kate
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Christmas Past (The Chronicles of St Mary's, #8.6)]]> 36103416
Max, Leon and Matthew - together at last for Christmas at St Mary's - a time of conspicuous consumption, riotous misbehaviour and the traditional illegal Christmas jump. And this time, it's inter-generational.

Donning her unfamiliar mother hat, Max takes Matthew back to 19th century London, where they plan to deliver a parcel of Christmas cheer to his former friends, but find themselves confronting the terrifying Old Ma Scrope in the process.

'Tis the season to be jolly.

It's also the season of goodwill towards all mankind.

Pity no one told Max.]]> 45 Jodi Taylor 1635969972 Kate 0 to-read 4.49 2017 Christmas Past (The Chronicles of St Mary's, #8.6)
author: Jodi Taylor
name: Kate
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Housekeeper 59649669
In the end, I have only myself to blame. I’m the one who let her in.

Jodi Bishop knows success. She's the breadwinner, a top-notch real estate agent. Her husband, Harrison . . . not so much. Once, he had big dreams. But now, he's a middling writer who resents his wife's success.

Jodi's father, Vic, now in his late seventies and retired, is a very controlling man. His wife, Audrey, was herself no shrinking violet. But things changed when Audrey developed Parkinson's ten years ago, and Vic retired to devote himself to her care. But while still reasonably spry and rakishly handsome, Vic is worn down by his wife's deteriorating condition.

Exhausted from trying to balance her career, her family, and her parents� needs, Jodi starts interviewing housekeepers to help care for Audrey and Vic. She settles on Elyse Woodley, an energetic and attractive widow in her early sixties, who seems perfect for the job. While Vic is initially resistant, he soon warms to Elyse’s sunny personality and engaging ways.

And Jodi is pleased to have an ally, someone she can talk to and occasionally even confide in. Until . . .

She shuts Jodi out. And Audrey's condition worsens—rapidly. Who is this woman suddenly wearing her mother’s jewelry? What is she after? And how far will she go to get it?]]> 352 Joy Fielding 059315892X Kate 0 to-read 3.80 2022 The Housekeeper
author: Joy Fielding
name: Kate
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> We Used to Live Here 199798006
As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they’ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they’re working in the house one day, there’s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.

As soon as the strangers enter their home, inexplicable things start happening, including the family’s youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family can’t seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family—or is Eve just imagining things?

This unputdownable and spine-tingling novel “is like quicksand: the further you delve into its pages, the more immobilized you become by a spiral of terror. We Used to Live Here will haunt you even after you have finished it� (Agustina Bazterrica, author of Tender Is the Flesh).]]> 312 Marcus Kliewer 1982198788 Kate 0 to-read 3.67 2024 We Used to Live Here
author: Marcus Kliewer
name: Kate
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Ghostwriter 56095804 From New York Times Bestseller Alessandra Torre...
Four years ago, I lied. I stood in front of the police, my friends and family, and made up a story, my best one yet. And all of them believed me.

I wasn't surprised. Telling stories is what made me famous. Fifteen bestsellers. Millions of fans. Fame and fortune.

Now, I have one last story to write. It'll be my best one yet, with a jaw-dropping twist that will leave them stunned and gasping for breath.

They say that sticks and stones will break your bones, but this story? It will be the one that kills me.]]> 318 A.R. Torre Kate 0 to-read 4.44 2017 The Ghostwriter
author: A.R. Torre
name: Kate
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Family Upstairs (The Family Upstairs, #1)]]> 43822820 here.

Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am.

She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions. Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well—and she is on a collision course to meet them.

Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.

The can’t-look-away story of three entangled families living in a house with the darkest of secrets.]]> 352 Lisa Jewell 1501190105 Kate 4 3.93 2019 The Family Upstairs (The Family Upstairs, #1)
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Kate
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/10/05
shelves:
review:

]]> Nearest Thing to Crazy 17738820
As Ellie slots effortlessly into the village social scene, Dan’s wife begins to feel increasingly alienated from her friends and isolated from her family, but, for the life of her, she can’t fathom why...]]> 320 Elizabeth Forbes 1908122587 Kate 0 to-read 3.85 2013 Nearest Thing to Crazy
author: Elizabeth Forbes
name: Kate
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Isle of Winds (The Changeling, #1)]]> 28173857 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B018R66MRI


Isle of Winds is the first instalment in a Middle-Grade age fantasy series

Robin Fellows lives with his grandmother and lives what appears to be a rather ordinary life for a normal twelve year old boy.

But when Robin’s Gran dies, quite suddenly and a bit mysteriously, his world is turned upside down. A long lost relative comes out of the woodwork and whisks him away to a mysterious new home, Erlking Hall, a quiet estate in the solitary countryside of Lancashire.

Suddenly Robin must adjust to his new reality. But reality is no longer what he thought it was�

Erlking has many secrets � as do his newly found Great-Aunt Irene and her servants. After a strange encounter on the train and meeting a cold, eerie man on the platform, Robin begins to notice odd happenings at Erlking.

There is more than meets the eye to this old, rambling mansion.
Little does he know that there is more than meets the eye to himself.

Robin is the world’s last Changeling. He is descended from a mystic race of Fae-people, whose homeland, the Netherworlde, is caught in the throes of a terrible civil war.

Not only this, but in this new world there is a magical force that has infiltrated the human realm.

Before he can wrench power from the malevolent hands of the Netherworlde’s fearsome tyrant leader, Lady Eris, he must first search for the truth about himself and the ethereal Towers of Arcania.

The first instalment of The Changeling Series, Isle of Winds is an engrossing tale written in the traditions of high fantasy story-telling while carving out a magical new realm. It is perfect for fans of The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series.]]> 265 James Fahy Kate 0 to-read 4.26 2015 Isle of Winds (The Changeling, #1)
author: James Fahy
name: Kate
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Only One Left 62685463 Hung her sister with a rope

Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.

Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life

It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything.

“It wasn’t me,� Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead

As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.]]> 398 Riley Sager 0593183231 Kate 0 to-read 4.22 2023 The Only One Left
author: Riley Sager
name: Kate
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hiding Place (Detective Morgan Brookes #3)]]> 57321600
When nine-year-old Charlotte Standish goes missing from her street in the small town of Rydale Falls, it sparks a media frenzy. Detective Morgan Brookes leads a frantic hunt for the girl, but little Charlie seems to have vanished into thin air.

Chasing up a lead at Charlie’s school, Morgan is chilled to learn that this isn’t the first time a child has gone missing on this street. Another girl disappeared fifteen years ago, and Morgan is the only one who thinks the cases could be related. But in the moment that she takes her eye off Charlie’s case to investigate the link between the two girls, another child, Macy, goes missing.

The little girl peers down the dark alleyway. She isn’t supposed to take this shortcut, but it’s raining and all she wants is to get home quickly. She steps forward. But she never makes it home�

When nine-year-old Charlotte Standish goes missing from her street, it sparks a media frenzy in her small Lake District town. Her distraught parents are desperate to have their little blonde darling back, and Detective Morgan Brookes leads a frantic hunt for the girl. But Charlotte seems to have vanished into thin air.

Chasing up a lead at Charlotte’s school, Morgan is chilled to learn that another girl disappeared from the same street fifteen years ago. But the moment she begins to investigate the link, another local child goes missing. Ten-year-old Macy loves chocolate, her mum and her dog in that order, and Morgan’s heart twists at the thought of anyone harming this precious child.

The missing girls all lived close to each other so Morgan is sure that someone in this tight-knit community must know something. Going door to door, she is closing in on the truth when she gets a call that fills her with guilt. Can Morgan solve this case before any more innocent lives are taken?

A nail-biting, unputdownable crime thriller that will keep you up all night, for fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Patricia Gibney.]]> 289 Helen Phifer 1800196008 Kate 0 to-read 4.37 2021 The Hiding Place (Detective Morgan Brookes #3)
author: Helen Phifer
name: Kate
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/05
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]]> <![CDATA[Strange Jest: A Miss Marple Short Story (Miss Marple)]]> 13621864
Our careful observer of human nature knows that an examination of the scene is needed. Invited to Ansteys, the couple's ransacked family seat, Miss Marple ensconces herself in a household that has perhaps been too thoroughly investigated. She regales its members with what appear to be meaningless, infuriating anecdotes. Little do they know their importance and where they will lead!

Librarian's note: this entry relates to the short story, "Strange Jest." Collections and the other stories by the author are located elsewhere on ŷ. The Miss Marple series includes twelve novels and 20 short stories. Entries for the short stories can be found by searching ŷ for: "a Miss Marple Short Story."]]> 28 Agatha Christie 0062129686 Kate 4 3.57 1941 Strange Jest: A Miss Marple Short Story (Miss Marple)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kate
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1941
rating: 4
read at: 2016/04/12
date added: 2024/09/28
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]]> <![CDATA[A Christmas Tragedy: A Short Story (Miss Marple Mysteries)]]> 17824582 Previously published in the print anthology The Thirteen Problems.

At a health resort, Miss Marple becomes suspicious that a man she meets is planning on murdering his wife.

]]> 38 Agatha Christie 0062298062 Kate 0 to-read 3.81 1930 A Christmas Tragedy: A Short Story (Miss Marple Mysteries)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kate
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1930
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Third Grave (Savannah, #4)]]> 55936220 A thrilling new crime novel from the bestselling author of You Betrayed Me, perfect for fans of Sandra Brown and Iris Johansen! Return to the dark side of Savannah, Georgia where a crime writer and her detective husband are working a cold case, and hot on the trail of a killer who’s work isn’t done.

The old Beaumont mansion is a rotting shell of its once-grand self, especially after a disastrous hurricane sweeps through Georgia. The storm does more than dislodge shutters and shingles. It leads to a grisly find in the cellar. Three graves. But only two skeletons�

For Nikki, the discovery is a gift, the perfect subject for her next crime book—though Reed has made her promise not to keep involving herself in dangerous police business. But despite the increasing tension between them, Nikki can’t stay away from this story. Rumors are widespread that the burial site is the resting place of the Duval sisters—three young girls who went to the movies with their older brother, Owen, twenty years ago, and never returned. Forensics confirms that the remains belong to Holly and Poppy Duval. But where is the youngest sister, Rose?

Owen Duval was, and remains, the prime suspect, alibi or no. But as Nikki and Reed delve deep into the mystery, fractures in the case begin to show. There is more to the sisters� disappearance than anyone ever guessed. Far from an isolated act, those deaths were just the beginning. And there will be no rest, and no relenting, until the killer has buried the twisted truth along with his victims…]]> 364 Lisa Jackson 1496722256 Kate 4 4.30 2021 The Third Grave (Savannah, #4)
author: Lisa Jackson
name: Kate
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/21
date added: 2024/09/21
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review:

]]> The Widow of Pale Harbor 42867746
Maine, 1846. Gabriel Stone is desperate to escape the ghosts that haunt him in Massachusetts after his wife’s death, so he moves to Maine, taking a position as a minister in the remote village of Pale Harbor.

But not all is as it seems in the sleepy town. Strange, unsettling things have been happening, and the townspeople claim that only one person can be responsible: Sophronia Carver, a reclusive widow who lives with a spinster maid in the eerie Castle Carver. Sophronia must be a witch, and she almost certainly killed her husband.

As the incidents escalate, one thing becomes clear: they are the work of a twisted person inspired by the wildly popular stories of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. And Gabriel must find answers, or Pale Harbor will suffer a fate worthy of Poe’s darkest tales.]]> 360 Hester Fox 1488036624 Kate 2 3.49 2019 The Widow of Pale Harbor
author: Hester Fox
name: Kate
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2020/01/01
date added: 2024/09/17
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[This Is Why We Lied (Will Trent, #12)]]> 199793571 The next thrilling suspense featuring Will Trent and Sara Linton from Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Girls and After That Night!

Everyone here is a liar, but only one of us is a killer�

A secluded cabin retreat

For GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton, McAlpine Lodge seems like the ideal getaway to celebrate their honeymoon. Set on a gorgeous, off-the-grid mountaintop property, it’s the perfect place to unplug and reconnect. Until a bone-chilling scream cuts through the night.

A murderer in their midst

Mercy McAlpine, the manager of the Lodge, is dead. With a vicious storm raging and the one access road to the property washed out, the murderer must be someone on the mountain. But as Will and Sara investigate the McAlpine family and the other guests, they realize that everyone here is lying�.Lying about their past. Lying to their family. Lying to themselves.

Who killed Mercy McAlpine?

It soon becomes clear that normal rules don’t apply at McAlpine Lodge, and Will and Sara are going to have to watch their step at every turn. Trapped on the resort, they must untangle a decades-old web of secrets to discover what happened to Mercy. And with the killer poised to strike again, the trip of a lifetime becomes a race against the clock…]]> 464 Karin Slaughter 0063336723 Kate 0 to-read 4.19 2024 This Is Why We Lied (Will Trent, #12)
author: Karin Slaughter
name: Kate
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/13
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]]> What Have You Done? 201102399 The new binge-worthy novel from the “queen of the one-sit read,� and New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next Door

Nothing ever happens in sleepy little Fairhill, Vermont. But this morning that will change. And one innocent question could be deadly. What have you done?

The teenagers get their kicks telling ghost stories in the old graveyard. The parents trust their kids will arrive home safe from school. Everyone knows everyone. Curtains rarely twitch. Front doors are left unlocked.

But Diana Brewer isn’t lying safely in her bed where she belongs. Instead she lies in a hayfield, circled by vultures, discovered by a local farmer.

How quickly a girl becomes a ghost. How quickly a town of friendly, familiar faces becomes a town of suspects, a place of fear and paranoia.

Someone in Fairhill did this. Everyone wants answers.]]> 307 Shari Lapena 0593489969 Kate 0 to-read 3.73 2024 What Have You Done?
author: Shari Lapena
name: Kate
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/13
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Clinic 123416743 From the critically acclaimed author of Black Widows comes a thriller set in a remote rehab clinic on the Pacific Northwest coast, in which the death of a woman inside prompts her sister to enter the clinic as a patient in order to find the truth. Perfect for fans of Stacy Willingham and Tarryn Fisher!

Meg works for a casino in LA, catching cheaters and popping a few too many pain pills to cope, following a far different path than her sister Haley, a famous actress. But suddenly reports surface of Haley dying at the remote rehab facility where she had been forced to go to get her addictions under control.

There are whispers of suicide, but Meg can't believe it. She decides that the best way to find out what happened to her sister is to check in herself � to investigate what really happened from the inside.

Battling her own addictions and figuring out the truth will be much more difficult than she imagined, far away from friends, family � and anyone who could help her.]]> 444 Cate Quinn Kate 4 3.62 2024 The Clinic
author: Cate Quinn
name: Kate
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/13
date added: 2024/09/13
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]]> <![CDATA[The Family Upstairs (The Family Upstairs, #1)]]> 48673054
She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions. Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well—and she is on a collision course to meet them.

Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.

The can’t-look-away story of three entangled families living in a house with the darkest of secrets.]]> 384 Lisa Jewell 1501190113 Kate 5 3.98 2019 The Family Upstairs (The Family Upstairs, #1)
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Kate
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/24
date added: 2024/08/24
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]]> <![CDATA[The Unfit Heiress: The Tragic Life and Scandalous Sterilization of Ann Cooper Hewitt]]> 54817567 The Unfit Heiresschronicles the fight for inheritance, both genetic and monetary, between Ann Cooper Hewitt and her mother Maryon.

In 1934, aided by a California eugenics law, the socialite Maryon Cooper Hewitt had her "promiscuous" daughter declared feebleminded and sterilized without her knowledge. She did this to deprive Ann of millions of dollars from her father's estate, which contained a child-bearing stipulation. When a sensational court case ensued, the American public was captivated. So were eugenicists, who saw an opportunity to restrict reproductive rights in America for decades to come.]]> 304 Audrey Clare Farley 1538753359 Kate 0 to-read 3.61 2021 The Unfit Heiress: The Tragic Life and Scandalous Sterilization of Ann Cooper Hewitt
author: Audrey Clare Farley
name: Kate
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/12
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]]> <![CDATA[The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic]]> 1995294
More than four hundred abandoned suitcases filled with patients� belongings were found when Willard Psychiatric Center closed in 1995 after 125 years of operation. They are skillfully examined here and compared to the written record to create a moving—and devastating—group portrait of twentieth-century American psychiatric care.]]> 205 Darby Penney 1934137073 Kate 0 to-read 3.64 2008 The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic
author: Darby Penney
name: Kate
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[New England Myths and Legends: The True Stories behind History's Mysteries (Myths and Mysteries Series)]]> 43984689 217 Diana Ross McCain 1493039814 Kate 2 3.50 New England Myths and Legends: The True Stories behind History's Mysteries (Myths and Mysteries Series)
author: Diana Ross McCain
name: Kate
average rating: 3.50
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2020/06/22
date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> <![CDATA[The Agatha Christie Book Club (Agatha Christie Book Club #1)]]> 15777469
Bored with her old book club, Alicia Finlay decides to start a new one—dedicated to her favorite crime writer Agatha Christie. As she gathers seven quirky members together, little does Alicia know they’re about to stumble upon a real-life mystery of their own. When one member suddenly vanishes and her husband shows up murdered soon after, the club decide to do as the meddling Miss Marple would do, and investigate.

So begins the first exciting installment of the Agatha Christie Book Club (ACBC), a motley collection of amateur sleuths who use Christie as their guide to help solve a range of mysteries that fall into their lap. Following in the footsteps of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, the group must sort the clues from the red herrings to solve the murder of Arthur Parlour and determine what happened to his mysterious missing wife.]]> 382 C.A. Larmer 0987187252 Kate 0 to-read 3.68 The Agatha Christie Book Club (Agatha Christie Book Club #1)
author: C.A. Larmer
name: Kate
average rating: 3.68
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Buried in a Bog (County Cork Mystery, #1)]]> 15742846 National bestselling and Agatha Award-nominated author Sheila Connolly introduces a brand-new series set in a small village in County Cork, Ireland, where buried secrets are about to rise to the surface...

Honoring the wish of her late grandmother, Maura Donovan visits the small Irish village where her Gran was born—though she never expected to get bogged down in a murder mystery. Nor had she planned to take a job in one of the local pubs, but she finds herself excited to get to know the people who knew her Gran.

In the pub, she’s swamped with drink orders as everyone in town gathers to talk about the recent discovery of a nearly one-hundred-year-old body in a nearby bog. When Maura realizes she may know something about the dead man—and that the body’s connected to another, more recent, death—she fears she’s about to become mired in a homicide investigation. After she discovers the death is connected to another from almost a century earlier, Maura has a sinking feeling she may really be getting in over her head...

A New York Times bestseller!]]> 293 Sheila Connolly 0425251896 Kate 0 to-read 3.62 2013 Buried in a Bog (County Cork Mystery, #1)
author: Sheila Connolly
name: Kate
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/03
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]]> The September House 212721659 A woman is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes a haunted nightmare in this compulsively readable, twisty, and layered debut novel.

When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee.

Margaret is not most people.

Margaret is staying. It’s her house. But after four years Hal can’t take it anymore, and he leaves abruptly. Now, he’s not returning calls, and their daughter Katherine—who knows nothing about the hauntings—arrives, intent on looking for her missing father. To make things worse, September has just begun, and with every attempt Margaret and Katherine make at finding Hal, the hauntings grow more harrowing, because there are some secrets the house needs to keep.]]> 356 Carissa Orlando 0593548620 Kate 0 to-read 3.85 2023 The September House
author: Carissa Orlando
name: Kate
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/03
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]]> Don't Let Her Stay 80830635
Joanne knows how lucky she is. Richard is a wonderful husband, Evie is the most gorgeous baby girl, they live in a beautiful house� Life couldn’t be better.

Until Richard’s twenty-year-old daughter Chloe turns up. Chloe hasn’t spoken to her father since the day he married Joanne two years ago. But Chloe wants to make peace. She’ll even move in for a few weeks to help Joanne with the new baby.

It sounds perfect, but when things happen that make Joanne feel like she’s losing her mind, she begins to wonder: Is Chloe really here to help? Or has Joanne made a terrible mistake by letting her move in?

And is it too late to ask her to leave?

Perfect for fans of Frieda McFadden, Sue Watson and Shalini Boland, Don’t Let Her Stay is a totally addictive psychological thriller with a twist that will shock you!]]> 288 Nicola Sanders Kate 0 to-read 3.95 2023 Don't Let Her Stay
author: Nicola Sanders
name: Kate
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/03
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]]> Home Is Where the Bodies Are 194020321
After their mother passes, three estranged siblings reunite to sort out her estate. Beth, the oldest, never left home. She stayed with her mom, caring for her until the very end. Nicole, the middle child, has been kept at arm’s length due to her ongoing battle with a serious drug addiction. Michael, the youngest, lives out of state and hasn’t been back to their small Wisconsin town since their father ran out on them seven years before.

While going through their parent’s belongings, the siblings stumble upon a collection of home videos and decide to revisit those happier memories. However, the nostalgia is cut short when one of the VHS tapes reveals a night back in 1999 that none of them have any recollection of. On screen, their father appears covered in blood. What follows is a dead body and a pact between their parents to get rid of it, before the video abruptly ends.

Beth, Nicole, and Michael must now decide whether to leave the past in the past or uncover the dark secret their mother took to her grave.]]> 256 Jeneva Rose Kate 0 to-read 3.77 2024 Home Is Where the Bodies Are
author: Jeneva Rose
name: Kate
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/03
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]]> Weyward 127280850
2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.

1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.

1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family's grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.

Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.]]> 392 Emilia Hart 1250842727 Kate 0 to-read 4.02 2023 Weyward
author: Emilia Hart
name: Kate
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/14
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]]> The Forgotten Girls 35005051 321 Sara Blaedel Kate 5 3.76 2011 The Forgotten Girls
author: Sara Blaedel
name: Kate
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/14
date added: 2024/07/14
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Murder in an Irish Village (An Irish Village Mystery, #1)]]> 28953387 369 Carlene O'Connor Kate 3 3.88 2016 Murder in an Irish Village (An Irish Village Mystery, #1)
author: Carlene O'Connor
name: Kate
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/28
date added: 2024/06/28
shelves:
review:

]]> The Curse of Penryth Hall 61159707 An atmospheric gothic mystery that beautifully brings the ancient Cornish countryside to life, Armstrong introduces heroine Ruby Vaughn in her Minotaur Books & Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award-winning debut, The Curse of Penryth Hall.

After the Great War, American heiress Ruby Vaughn made a life for herself running a rare bookstore alongside her octogenarian employer and house mate in Exeter. She’s always avoided dwelling on the past, even before the war, but it always has a way of finding her. When Ruby is forced to deliver a box of books to a folk healer living deep in the Cornish countryside, she is brought back to the one place she swore she’d never return. A more sensible soul would have delivered the package and left without rehashing old wounds. But no one has ever accused Ruby of being sensible. Thus begins her visit to Penryth Hall.

A foreboding fortress, Penryth Hall is home to Ruby’s once dearest friend, Tamsyn, and her husband, Sir Edward Chenowyth. It’s an unsettling place, and after a more unsettling evening, Ruby is eager to depart. But her plans change when Penryth’s bells ring for the first time in thirty years. Edward is dead; he met a gruesome end in the orchard, and with his death brings whispers of a returned curse. It also brings Ruan Kivell, the person whose books brought her to Cornwall, the one the locals call a Pellar, the man they believe can break the curse. Ruby doesn’t believe in curses—or Pellars—but this is Cornwall and to these villagers the curse is anything but lore, and they believe it will soon claim its next victim: Tamsyn.

To protect her friend, Ruby must work alongside the Pellar to find out what really happened in the orchard that night.]]> 329 Jess Armstrong 1250886023 Kate 0 to-read 3.90 2023 The Curse of Penryth Hall
author: Jess Armstrong
name: Kate
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> A Good House for Children 62925087
But as the family settles into the mansion—Nick absent all week, commuting to the city for work—Orla finds herself unsettled. She hears voices when no one is around; doors open and close on their own; and her son Sam, who has not spoken in six months, seems to have made an imaginary friend whose motives Orla does not trust.

Four decades earlier, Lydia moves into the same house as a live-in nanny to a grieving family. Lydia, too, becomes aware of intangible presences in the large house, and she, like Orla four decades later, becomes increasingly fearful for the safety of the children in her care. But no one in either woman’s life believes the stories that seem fanciful, the stuff of magic and mayhem, sprung from the imaginations of hysterical women who spend too much time in the company of children.

Are both families careening towards tragedy? Are Orla and Lydia seeing things that aren’t there? What secrets is the house hiding?

A feminist gothic tale perfectly suited for the current moment, A Good House for Children combines an atmospheric mystery with resonant themes of motherhood, madness, and the value of a woman’s work.]]> 336 Kate Collins 0063291029 Kate 0 to-read 3.56 2023 A Good House for Children
author: Kate Collins
name: Kate
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Haunting of Mackenzie Blake (A Riveting Haunted House Mystery, #41)]]> 60636445 A riveting new haunted house mystery that will keep you guessing until the end!

In a small town outside of New Orleans, rests a hallowed estate shrouded in secrecy� Mystery and horror surround a long-abandoned Victorian House, seemingly forgotten by the town. What was thought to be a new beginning for Mackenzie Blake's problems soon devolves into an endless nightmare of hidden secrets and a troubled past best left unturned.]]> 305 Hazel Holmes Kate 4 4.10 The Haunting of Mackenzie Blake (A Riveting Haunted House Mystery, #41)
author: Hazel Holmes
name: Kate
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/22
date added: 2024/06/22
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]]> The Wedding People 198902277 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250899576.

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 384 Alison Espach Kate 0 to-read 4.11 2024 The Wedding People
author: Alison Espach
name: Kate
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Cliffs 200634908 A novel of family, secrets, ghosts, and homecoming set on the seaside cliffs of Maine, by the New York Times best-selling author of Friends and Strangers.

On a secluded bluff overlooking the ocean sits a Victorian house, lavender with gingerbread trim, a home that contains a century’s worth of secrets. By the time Jane Flanagan discovers the house as a teenager, it has long been abandoned. The place is an irresistible mystery to Jane. There are still clothes in the closets, marbles rolling across the floors, and dishes in the cupboards, even though no one has set foot there in decades. The house becomes a hideaway for Jane, a place to escape her volatile mother.

Twenty years later, now a Harvard archivist, she returns home to Maine following a terrible mistake that threatens both her career and her marriage. Jane is horrified to find the Victorian is now barely recognizable. The new owner, Genevieve, a summer person from Beacon Hill, has gutted it, transforming the house into a glossy white monstrosity straight out of a shelter magazine. Strangely, Genevieve is convinced that the house is haunted—perhaps the product of something troubling Genevieve herself has done. She hires Jane to research the history of the place and the women who lived there. The story Jane uncovers—of lovers lost at sea, romantic longing, shattering loss, artistic awakening, historical artifacts stolen and sold, and the long shadow of colonialism—is even older than Maine itself.

Enthralling, richly imagined, filled with psychic mediums and charlatans, spirits and past lives, mothers, marriage, and the legacy of alcoholism, this is a deeply moving novel about the land we inhabit, the women who came before us, and the ways in which none of us will ever truly leave this earth.]]> 384 J. Courtney Sullivan 059331915X Kate 0 to-read 3.51 2024 The Cliffs
author: J. Courtney Sullivan
name: Kate
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Coffin Path 36414051 Maybe you've heard tales about Scarcross Hall, the house on the old coffin path that winds from village to moor top. They say there's something up here, something evil.

Mercy Booth isn't afraid. The moors and Scarcross are her home and lifeblood. But, beneath her certainty, small things are beginning to trouble her. Three ancient coins missing from her father's study, the shadowy figure out by the gatepost, an unshakeable sense that someone is watching.

When a stranger appears seeking work, Mercy reluctantly takes him in. As their stories entwine, this man will change everything. She just can't see it yet.

]]> 395 Katherine Clements 1472204298 Kate 3 3.82 2018 The Coffin Path
author: Katherine Clements
name: Kate
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/28
date added: 2024/05/28
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]]> <![CDATA[The Haunting of Mockingbird Inn (A Riveting Haunted House Mystery, #47)]]> 61170000 381 Vincent Valentean Kate 5 4.28 The Haunting of Mockingbird Inn (A Riveting Haunted House Mystery, #47)
author: Vincent Valentean
name: Kate
average rating: 4.28
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/09
date added: 2024/05/09
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[You Will Never Be Found (High Coast, #2)]]> 60825487 Detective Eira Sjodin, introduced in the electrifying Swedish crime thriller We Know You Remember, races to solve a disappearance that hits chillingly close to home in the second book in the High Coast series, hailed by People as "Nordic noir at its best."

In the small mining town of Malmberget, north of the Arctic Circle, residents and their houses are being relocated. As the mine that built the town slowly swallows it street by street, building by building, the memories of the community have collapsed into the huge pit they call "the hole." Only a few stubborn souls cling to their homes, refusing to leave. When two workers making their final preparations hear a sound coming from a basement, they break a cellar window and find a terrified man curled up in a corner.

In �dalen, 700 kilometers away, police officer Eira Sj�din is investigating the disappearance of a man reported missing by his ex-wife. Eira and her colleagues search his apartment, contact his friends and relatives, and query local hospitals, but the man has vanished without a trace.

Eira knows the pain of loss--she mourns for her mother, whose mind has been stolen by dementia. To escape her loneliness and her memories, Eira loses herself in a casual affair. But she's wholly unprepared when her feelings deepen for GG, who is twenty years her senior-and her boss.

When the diligent GG doesn't show up for work two days in a row, Eira and her colleagues quickly realize that something is wrong--their boss has gone missing. In the dramatic second installment of the High Coast Series, Eira Sj�din finds herself at the mercy of an elusive perpetrator--and of a love she can no longer deny.]]> 448 Tove Alsterdal 0063115131 Kate 3 4.10 2021 You Will Never Be Found (High Coast, #2)
author: Tove Alsterdal
name: Kate
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/18
date added: 2024/03/18
shelves:
review:

]]> The Library of Lost and Found 39873227
All of that changes when a book of fairy tales arrives on her doorstep. Inside, Martha finds a dedication written to her by her best friend - her grandmother Zelda - who died under mysterious circumstances years earlier. When Martha discovers a clue within the book that her grandmother may still be alive, she becomes determined to discover the truth. As she delves deeper into Zelda's past, she unwittingly reveals a family secret that will change her life forever.

Filled with Phaedra Patrick's signature charm and vivid characters, The Library of Lost and Found is a heartwarming and poignant tale of how one woman must take control of her destiny to write her own happy ending.]]> 352 Phaedra Patrick 0778369358 Kate 0 to-read 3.66 2019 The Library of Lost and Found
author: Phaedra Patrick
name: Kate
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The House at Riverton 1278752 The House at Riverton is a gorgeous debut novel set in England between the wars. Perfect for fans of "Downton Abbey," it's the story of an aristocratic family, a house, a mysterious death, and a way of life that vanished forever, told in flashback by a woman who witnessed it all.

The novel is full of secrets - some revealed, others hidden forever, reminiscent of the romantic suspense of Daphne du Maurier. It's also a meditation on memory and the devastation of war and a beautifully rendered window into a fascinating time in history.]]> 599 Kate Morton 0330448447 Kate 0 to-read 3.95 2006 The House at Riverton
author: Kate Morton
name: Kate
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Heiress 126919284
But to everyone’s surprise, Cam wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.

Ten years later, Camden is a McTavish in name only, but a summons in the wake of his uncle’s death brings him and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but coming home reminds Cam why he was so quick to leave in the first place.

Jules, however, has other ideas, and the more she learns about Cam’s estranged family—and the twisted secrets they keep—the more determined she is for her husband to claim everything Ruby once intended for him to have.

But Ruby’s plans were always more complicated than they appeared. As Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what’s written in a will—and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.]]> 294 Rachel Hawkins 1250280036 Kate 0 to-read 3.80 2024 The Heiress
author: Rachel Hawkins
name: Kate
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Voices in the Snow (Black Winter, #1)]]> 49426070
When she wakes, aching and afraid in a stranger’s gothic home, he tells her she was in an accident. He claims he saved her. Clare wants to leave, but a vicious snowstorm has blanketed the world in white, trapping them together, and there’s nothing she can do but wait.

At least the stranger seems kind…but Clare doesn’t know if she can trust him. He promised they were alone here, but she sees and hears things that convince her something else is creeping about the surrounding woods, watching. Waiting. Between the claustrophobic storm and the inescapable sense of being hunted, Clare is on edge…and increasingly certain of one thing:

Her car crash wasn't an accident. Something is waiting for her to step outside the fragile safety of the house... something monstrous, something unfeeling.

Something desperately hungry.]]> 352 Darcy Coates Kate 4 4.07 2019 Voices in the Snow (Black Winter, #1)
author: Darcy Coates
name: Kate
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/03
date added: 2024/03/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[House of Shadows (House of Shadows, #1)]]> 27203141
Marrying Mr Argenton will restore her family’s fortunes and save them from scandal, but condemns Sophie to a life in Northwood, a vast and unnaturally dark mansion situated hours from civilisation.

Sophie struggles to adjust to her new position as mistress over the desolate house. Mr Argenton’s relatives are cold, and Mr Argenton himself is keeping secrets. Even worse, the house is more than it seems.

Mr Argenton’s young cousin, Elise, draws terrifying images. Doors slam. Inhuman figures slink through the forest surrounding the house. A piano plays in the middle of the night. Blood drips from the ceilings.

Sophie is inevitably pulled towards the terrifying truth: Northwood’s ancient halls are haunted by the family’s long-dead ancestors. The malevolent spirits—produced by grisly deaths—resent her intrusion into their home.

Trapped in Northwood and desperate for an escape, Sophie’s fate is further complicated as she finds herself irrevocably drawn to the tall, dark-eyed man she married. She suspects her feelings are returned, but Mr Argenton is hiding the truth about the house—and his secrets are so dangerous that they might just be unforgivable.]]> 193 Darcy Coates Kate 4 4.18 2015 House of Shadows (House of Shadows, #1)
author: Darcy Coates
name: Kate
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/10
date added: 2024/01/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Secret of The Old Clock (Nancy Drew Mystery, #1)]]> 25993112 192 Carolyn Keene Kate 5 4.11 1930 The Secret of The Old Clock (Nancy Drew Mystery, #1)
author: Carolyn Keene
name: Kate
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1930
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/01/01
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Front Page Fatality (Nichelle Clarke Crime Thriller, #1)]]> 42443467
She's wrong.

This was no ordinary accident.

And as Nichelle digs deeper into the case, people and evidence begin to disappear. Someone is one step ahead of her, desperate to cover their tracks. A master criminal with a deadly secret, who will stop at nothing to keep the truth hidden...

But as she draws closer to unraveling the mystery of two dead cops, Nichelle realizes she's become the next target. Can she survive this murderous game of cat and mouse long enough to solve the mystery? Or will Nichelle fall prey to a killer?]]> 254 LynDee Walker Kate 0 to-read 4.11 2013 Front Page Fatality (Nichelle Clarke Crime Thriller, #1)
author: LynDee Walker
name: Kate
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Collective 55100588 The USA Today bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author of Never Look Back and If I Die Tonight plumbs the dark side of justice and the depths of diabolical revenge in this propulsive novel of psychological suspense that melds the driving narrative of Then She Was Gone with the breathtaking twists of The Chain and the violent fury of Kill Bill.

Just how far will a grieving mother go to right a tragic wrong?

Camille Gardner is a grieving—and angry—mother who, five years after her daughter’s death, is still obsessed with the privileged young man she believes to be responsible.

When her rash actions attract the attention of a secret group of women—the collective—Camille is drawn into a dark web where these mothers share their wildly different stories of loss as well as their desire for justice in a world where privilege denies accountability and perpetrators emerge unscathed. Fueled by mutual rage, these women orchestrate their own brand of justice through precise, anonymous, complexly plotted and perfectly executed revenge killings, with individual members completing a specific and integral task in each plan.

As Camille struggles to comprehend whether this is a role-playing exercise or terrifying reality, she must decide if these women are truly avenging angels or monsters. Becoming more deeply enmeshed in the group, Camille learns truths about the collective—and about herself—that she may not be able to survive.
]]> 338 Alison Gaylin 0063083159 Kate 0 to-read 3.89 2021 The Collective
author: Alison Gaylin
name: Kate
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Nurse 137220711 298 Valerie Keogh 1804154857 Kate 0 to-read 3.85 2023 The Nurse
author: Valerie Keogh
name: Kate
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/12/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Killer's Girl (Detective Morgan Brookes, #2)]]> 55175187 ‘Mama, wake up.�

The little girl reached for her mother’s face with one pudgy hand. But the eyes stayed closed, and the blood continued to trickle across the floor.

When the body of a young woman is found, tied to her bed and the victim of a brutal attack in her own home, Detective Morgan Brookes is sickened by what she finds as she searches the house. And unprepared for the nightmares it inspires about her childhood.

When the DNA collected gives a positive ID, Morgan can’t wait to put the attacker behind bars. But the person it matches to is already in prison. How could the DNA of someone who has been locked up for over twenty years have shown up in Morgan’s crime scene? And then they make another close match. To Morgan herself.

Faced with the impossible proof that she is somehow connected to this case, Morgan delves deep into the crimes of a killer who stalked the Lake District two decades ago. But distracted by the old case, she misses the signs that he has found a new victim. And when he strikes close to home, Morgan finally realises that she has been living on borrowed time. To find this killer, it’s clear she must confront the nightmares in her past�

]]> 274 Helen Phifer Kate 0 to-read 4.39 2020 The Killer's Girl (Detective Morgan Brookes, #2)
author: Helen Phifer
name: Kate
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/12/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The House in the Cerulean Sea (Cerulean Chronicles, #1)]]> 45047384
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.]]> 394 T.J. Klune Kate 0 read-next 4.37 2020 The House in the Cerulean Sea (Cerulean Chronicles, #1)
author: T.J. Klune
name: Kate
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/19
shelves: read-next
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ruth Galloway and the Ghost of Max Mephisto (Ruth Galloway, #15.5)]]> 163714700
For a long time I’ve wondered what would happen if Harbinder met Nelson. Would they get on or would Nelson resent this new, young DI? What would Harbinder say in answer to ‘Jesus wept�? I had an idea for a short story where Ruth and Nelson, in London with Kate, had a chance encounter with Harbinder and Kim. But how could I also include Max Mephisto, given that he would be 113 in 2023? The resulting short story is called ‘Ruth Galloway and the Ghost of Max Mephisto�.]]> 10 Elly Griffiths Kate 0 to-read 3.73 Ruth Galloway and the Ghost of Max Mephisto (Ruth Galloway, #15.5)
author: Elly Griffiths
name: Kate
average rating: 3.73
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/11
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Locked Room (Ruth Galloway #14)]]> 58402783 Pandemic lockdowns have Ruth Galloway feeling isolated from everyone but a new neighbor--until Nelson comes calling, investigating a decades-long string of murder-suicides that's looming ever closer. Three years after her late mother's death, Ruth is finally sorting through her things when she finds a curious relic: a decades-old photograph of Jean's Norfolk cottage with a peculiar inscription. Ruth returns to the cottage to uncover its meaning as Norfolk's first cases of COVID-19 make headlines, leaving her and Kate to shelter in place there. They struggle to stave off isolation by clapping for frontline workers each evening and befriending a kind neighbor, Zoe, from a distance. But when Nelson breaks quarantine to rush to Ruth's cottage and enlist her help in investigating a series of murder-suicides he has connected to an archeological discovery, he finds Zoe is hardly who she says she is. The further Nelson investigates these deaths, the closer they lead him to Ruth's friendly neighbor--until Ruth, Zoe, and Kate all go missing, and Nelson is left scrambling to find them before it's too late.]]> 374 Elly Griffiths Kate 5 4.46 2022 The Locked Room (Ruth Galloway #14)
author: Elly Griffiths
name: Kate
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/10
date added: 2023/11/10
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]]> <![CDATA[The Life We Bury (Joe Talbert, #1; Detective Max Rupert, #1)]]> 20758175
As Joe writes about Carl's life, especially Carl's valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Joe, along with his skeptical female neighbor, throws himself into uncovering the truth, but he is hamstrung in his efforts by having to deal with his dangerously dysfunctional mother, the guilt of leaving his autistic brother vulnerable, and a haunting childhood memory. Thread by thread, Joe unravels the tapestry of Carl’s conviction. But as he and Lila dig deeper into the circumstances of the crime, the stakes grow higher. Will Joe discover the truth before it’s too late to escape the fallout?]]> 304 Allen Eskens 1616149981 Kate 0 to-read 4.06 2014 The Life We Bury (Joe Talbert, #1; Detective Max Rupert, #1)
author: Allen Eskens
name: Kate
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Night Hawks (Ruth Galloway, #13)]]> 53997118 There’s nothing Ruth Galloway hates more than amateur archaeologists, but when a group of them stumble upon Bronze Age artifacts alongside a dead body, she finds herself thrust into their midst—and into the crosshairs of a string of murders circling ever closer.

Ruth is back as head of archaeology at the University of North Norfolk when a group of local metal detectorists—the so-called Night Hawks—uncovers Bronze Age artifacts on the beach, alongside a recently deceased body, just washed ashore. Not long after, the same detectorists uncover a murder-suicide—a scientist and his wife found at their farmhouse, long thought to be haunted by the Black Shuck, a humongous black dog, a harbinger of death. The further DCI Nelson probes into both cases, the more intertwined they become, and the closer they circle to David Brown, the new lecturer Ruth has recently hired, who seems always to turn up wherever Ruth goes.]]> 352 Elly Griffiths 0358237017 Kate 5 4.47 2021 The Night Hawks (Ruth Galloway, #13)
author: Elly Griffiths
name: Kate
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/17
date added: 2023/10/17
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]]> The Mitford Affair 60604163 From New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict—she'll have to choose: her country or her sisters?

Between the World Wars, the six Mitford sisters dominate the English political, literary, and social scenes. Though they've weathered scandals before, the family falls into disarray when Diana divorces her husband to marry a fascist leader and Unity follows her sister's lead, inciting rumors that she's become Hitler's own mistress.

Novelist Nancy Mitford is the only member of her family to keep in touch with Diana and Unity after their desertion, so it falls to her to act when her sisters become spies for the Nazi party.

Probing the torrid political climate of World War II and the ways that sensible people can be sucked into radical action, The Mitford Affair follows Nancy's valiant efforts to end the war and the cost of placing loyalty to her country above loyalty to her family.]]> 352 Marie Benedict 1728229367 Kate 0 to-read 3.60 2023 The Mitford Affair
author: Marie Benedict
name: Kate
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/15
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]]> A Curve in the Road 38503833 USA Today bestselling author Julianne MacLean comes a suspenseful, emotionally charged novel that explores the secrets and hidden truths within a seemingly perfect marriage.

Abbie MacIntyre is living the dream in the picturesque Nova Scotia town she calls home. She is a successful surgeon, is married to a handsome cardiologist, and has a model teenage son who is only months away from going off to college.

But then one fateful night, everything changes. When a drunk driver hits her car, Abbie is rushed to the hospital. She survives, but the accident forces unimaginable secrets out into the open and plagues Abbie with nightmares so vivid that she starts to question her grip on reality. Her perfect life begins to crack, and those cracks threaten to shatter her world completely.

The search for answers will test her strength in every way—as a wife, a career woman, and a mother—but it may also open the door for Abbie to move forward, beyond anger and heartbreak, to find out what she is truly made of. In learning to heal and trust again, she may just find new hope in the spaces left behind.]]> 271 Julianne MacLean 1503959457 Kate 0 to-read 3.94 2018 A Curve in the Road
author: Julianne MacLean
name: Kate
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/09/26
shelves: to-read
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]]> Marple: Twelve New Mysteries 58935130
This collection of a dozen original short stories, all featuring Jane Marple, will introduce the character to a whole new generation. Each author reimagines Agatha Christie’s Marple through their own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery.

Naomi Alderman
Leigh Bardugo
Alyssa Cole
Lucy Foley
Elly Griffiths
Natalie Haynes
Jean Kwok
Val McDermid
Karen M. McManus
Dreda Say Mitchell
Kate Mosse
Ruth Ware

Miss Marple was first introduced to readers in a story Agatha Christie wrote for The Royal Magazine in 1927 and made her first appearance in a full-length novel in 1930’s The Murder at the Vicarage. It has been 45 years since Agatha Christie’s last Marple novel, Sleeping Murder, was published posthumously in 1976, and this collection of ingenious new stories by twelve Christie devotees will be a timely reminder why Jane Marple remains the most famous fictional female detective of all time.]]> 384 Agatha Christie 0063136058 Kate 0 to-read 3.79 2022 Marple: Twelve New Mysteries
author: Agatha Christie
name: Kate
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/09/26
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]]> The Personal Librarian 55333938 This is a previously-published edition of ISBN 9780593101537.

The remarkable, little-known story of Belle da Costa Greene, J. P. Morgan's personal librarian—who became one of the most powerful women in New York despite the dangerous secret she kept in order to make her dreams come true, from New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict and acclaimed author Victoria Christopher Murray.

In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection.

But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle's complexion isn't dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white—her complexion is dark because she is African American.

The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths to which she must go—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.]]> 341 Marie Benedict Kate 0 to-read 3.98 2021 The Personal Librarian
author: Marie Benedict
name: Kate
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/09/26
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]]> The House at Phantom Park 59582255 Disturbing. Original. Terrifying. The 'master of horror' is back with the chilling tale of what lurks in the walls of an abandoned hospital. The perfect Halloween read.

In this abandoned hospital, pain lives on... and it wants revenge.

St Philomena's military hospital has been abandoned for over three years. Now Lilian Chesterfield, who works for one of the most successful building companies in England, is in charge of developing it into a luxury housing complex.

But as soon as she and her colleagues start work in the Jacobean-style mansion, their dream turns into a nightmare. They hear screaming from wards full of empty beds. They hear doors slamming and find cutlery scattered over the kitchen floor. Then they see faces peering at them from the mullioned windows.

Lilian is pragmatic � she doesn't believe in the supernatural. But just when she's put her mind at rest by scouring the mansion from top to bottom and finding nothing, a former patient of St Philomena's arrives with a warning. The hospital is haunted. And it is haunted by something a thousand times more terrifying than ghosts...

Perfect to read at Halloween and for fans of The Haunting of Hill House, The Shining and The Woman in Black.]]> 326 Graham Masterton 1801104018 Kate 4 3.39 2022 The House at Phantom Park
author: Graham Masterton
name: Kate
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/12
date added: 2023/09/12
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]]> Perron Manor (Haunted, #1) 55446843 Perron Manor—a place evil calls home

Sisters Sarah and Chloe inherit a house they could never have previously dreamed of owning. It seems too good to be true.

Shortly after they move in, however, the siblings start to notice strange things: horrible smells, sudden drops in temperature, as well as unexplainable sounds and feelings of being watched.

All of that is compounded when they find a study upstairs, filled with occult items and a strange book written in Latin.

Their experiences grow more frequent and more terrifying, building towards a heart-stopping climax where the sisters come face to face with the evil behind Perron Manor. Will they survive and save their very souls?

Haunted: Perron Manor is Book 1 in the Haunted series, which continues with Haunted: Devil's Door]]> 320 Lee Mountford Kate 0 to-read 4.11 2020 Perron Manor (Haunted, #1)
author: Lee Mountford
name: Kate
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/27
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Sanatorium (Detective Elin Warner, #1)]]> 56935099 You won't want to leave...until you can't.

Half hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. Long plagued by troubling rumors, the former abandoned sanatorium has since been renovated into a five-star minimalist hotel.

An imposing, isolated getaway spot high up in the Swiss Alps is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But Elin's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin really has no reason not to accept.

Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge--there's something about the hotel that makes her nervous. And when they wake the following morning to discover Laure is missing, Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her. With the storm closing off all access to the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.

Elin is under pressure to find Laure, but no one has realized yet that another woman has gone missing. And she's the only one who could have warned them just how much danger they are all in...]]> 390 Sarah Pearse 0593296672 Kate 0 to-read 3.33 2020 The Sanatorium (Detective Elin Warner, #1)
author: Sarah Pearse
name: Kate
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/27
shelves: to-read
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]]> Down in the Hollow 88359476 351 Timothy Hobbs Kate 0 to-read 3.93 Down in the Hollow
author: Timothy Hobbs
name: Kate
average rating: 3.93
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/08/27
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review:

]]> When the Night Bells Ring 60172285
In a future ravaged by fire and drought, two climate refugees ride their motorcycles across the wasteland of the western US, and stumble upon an old silver mine. Descending into the cool darkness of the caved-in tunnels in desperate search of water, the two women find Lavinia Cain’s diary, a settler in search of prosperity who brought her family to Nevada in the late 1860s.

But Lavinia and the settlers of the Western town discovered something monstrous that dwells in the depths of the mine, something that does not want greedy prospectors disturbing the earth. Whispers of curses and phantom figures haunt the diary, and now, over 150 years later, trapped and injured in the abandoned mine, the women discover they’re not alone . . . with no easy way out.

The monsters are still here—and they’re thirsty.]]> 352 Jo Kaplan Kate 0 to-read 3.64 2022 When the Night Bells Ring
author: Jo Kaplan
name: Kate
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/24
shelves: to-read
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]]> It Will Just Be Us 55016025 A terrifying new gothic horror novel about two sisters and a haunted house that never sleeps, perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

They say there's a door in Wakefield that never opens...

Sam Wakefield's ancestral home, a decaying mansion built on the edge of a swamp, isn't a place for children. Its labyrinthine halls, built by her mad ancestors, are filled with echoes of the past: ghosts and memories knotted together as one. In the presence of phantoms, it's all Sam can do to disentangle past from present in her daily life.

But when her pregnant sister Elizabeth moves in after a fight with her husband, something in the house shifts. Already navigating her tumultuous relationship with Elizabeth, Sam is even more unsettled by the appearance of a new ghost: a faceless boy who commits disturbing acts--threatening animals, terrorizing other children, and following Sam into the depths of the house wielding a knife. When it becomes clear the boy is connected to a locked, forgotten room, one which is never entered, Sam realizes this ghost is not like the others. This boy brings doom...

As Elizabeth's due date approaches, Sam must unravel the mysteries of Wakefield before her sister brings new life into a house marked by death. But as the faceless boy grows stronger, Sam will learn that some doors should stay closed--and some secrets are safer locked away forever.]]> 256 Jo Kaplan 164385450X Kate 5 3.89 2020 It Will Just Be Us
author: Jo Kaplan
name: Kate
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/24
date added: 2023/08/24
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]]> Murder After Christmas 60545424 338 Rupert Latimer 1728261236 Kate 3 3.60 1944 Murder After Christmas
author: Rupert Latimer
name: Kate
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1944
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/16
date added: 2023/08/16
shelves:
review:

]]>