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This is the fourth gothic suspense/ghost novel that I have read by Wendy Webb after THE TALE OF HALCYON CRANE, THE VANISHING and THE END OF TEMPERANCE DARE. For the most part, I have enjoyed all of these novels and The Fate of Mercy Alban was another good novel in the same vein as her other works.

In this one, Grace Alban, returns to her home on the shores of Lake Superior after her mother's death. The home is a stately mansion called Alban House and it was built by Grace's great-grandfather by bringing its materials from Ireland including what may have been a tree containing the spirit of a witch. Grace arrives there with her teen-age daughter, Amity, and right away she plunges into a decades-old mystery involving her mother's first love who supposedly committed suicide during a summer solstice party back in 1956. But did he commit suicide or was he murdered? At the same time, Grace's Aunt Fate disappeared and was never heard from again. Grace finds a packet of old love letters which leads her to other secrets. And then a mysterious woman shows up at her mother's funeral. Could she be the long lost Aunt Fate?

This was really a fun and entertaining novel that included secret passages, ghostly sitings, witches curses, and a mystery that was not as it seemed. The story had some unexpected twists and chills and was a definite page-turner. I have a couple more novels by Webb on my TBR shelves that I will look forward to reading.