A big, crumbling house, family secrets hidden in dark corners, a heroine with a mystery to solve that might just morph into psychological suspense, a hint of romance in the air, twists and turns you don’t see coming … that’s where I live. It’s what I love to write, and what I love to read.
My newest book, Daughters of the Lake, has all of those elements. It’s the story of two women in two different time periods in the same place, reaching out across the ages to each other. One of the women, Addie, washes up dead on the beach in front of the house of the other, Kate. Nobody knows anything about Addie but Kate, who has been dreaming about her for weeks. Kate sets about trying to solve the mystery of who she was and how and why she died, and it leads her into her own past.
All of these books are suspenseful, thrilling reads with characters who will get inside your heart and haunt you, even when you put down the book. Enjoy!
The Weight of Lies, by Emily Carpenter
This atmospheric Southern Gothic is the story of Meg, who is investigating the 40-year-old murder that inspired her mother’s bestselling horror novel. She hasn’t had the easiest or happiest of childhoods (who does in a Gothic?) so she accepts an offer to write a tell-all memoir about her mother and the cult classic that defined her life. She meets the woman rumored to be the inspiration for the story. Secrets, lies and deception lurks around every delicious corner in this page-turner you won’t be able to put down.
The Broken Girls, by Simone St. James
This book has it all, a spooky, ghostly tale, well-crafted characters and a mystery that will keep you turning the pages. At Idlewild Hall, a home for wayward girls in 1950s Vermont, four roommates are becoming good friends, bonding over rumors that the place is haunted, until one of them disappears. In the present day, Idlewild has gone to ruin when reporter Fiona Sheridan arrives to revisit the events surrounding her older sister’s death 20 years ago, when her body was found outside the boarding school. The sister’s boyfriend was tried and convicted for the crime, but something just doesn’t seem right to Fiona. She learns an investor intends to restore Idlewild, and a shocking discovery uncovers secrets that were supposed to stay hidden.
The Witch of Willow Hall, by Hester Fox
Part romance, part historical novel, part gothic suspense… and witches. Delicious! Two centuries after the Salem witch trials, there’s still a witch in town, though she doesn’t know it. The book begins with nine-year-old Lydia doing something she expects to be punished for. Her mother just gives her a warning to keep that part of herself hidden or the family’s world will fall apart. Ten years later it does, but not because of Lydia. Her sister Catherine was involved in a scandal that sent the family to live in a small hamlet, New Oldbury, in an old country home, Willow Hall. What could go wrong in an old house near Salem, after all?
The Uninvited, by Cat Winters
This creeptastic, atmospheric ghost story is set in the Midwest just after World War I, where there’s a flu epidemic and an epidemic of another kind, discrimination against the German immigrants who lived there. I was asked to offer a blurb for this novel and here’s what I said: “It’s compulsively readable, beautifully written and populated with characters that will hover in the air around you, long after you’ve set the book on your nightstand. I finished this story and wished very much I had written it.” It’s the story of Ivy, who discovers her father and brother have murdered a German immigrant to avenge the death of a second brother on the German battlefield. She leaves the house and falls into the arms of the dead man’s brother and together they try to rebuild their lives.
The Death of Mrs. Westaway, by Ruth Ware
This novel isn’t a ghost story but it’s as gothic as it gets, with a big crumbling, English mansion, a menacing housekeeper, a wealthy-but-on-the-decline family at odds with each other after the (by all accounts, terrible) matriarch’s death, family secrets that won’t stay buried. Into this miasma, young Harriet is drawn, who for reasons unknown to anyone, has been named the sole beneficiary in the lady’s will. Full of dark imagery and menace, fans who loved Sarah Waters’ “The Little Stranger” or Du Mauirier’s “Rebecca” will love this, too.
Callie: The Bayou Hauntings, by Bill Thompson
“Deep in the bayous of southern Louisiana, an ancient mansion called Beau Rivage sits empty and abandoned.” He had me at bayou and ancient mansion. This is the story of Callie, a granddaughter who inherited the house when the patriarch died. It’s an old Civil War plantation—what could possibly go wrong there? Strange things start occurring, a child keeps appearing, there’s a family cemetery and secrets won’t stay hidden.
A Head Full of Ghosts, by Paul Tremblay
Stephen King said: “A Head Full of Ghosts scared the hell out of me, and I’m pretty hard to scare.” Need any more than that? Okay here’s a description. This is a terrifying story about what may or may not be the demonic possession of a teenager, mixed with our culture’s obsession with reality TV. The parents of a teen who is behaving in an increasingly bizarre and terrifying way contact a Catholic priest in desperation. He comes, and brings a reality TV crew who documents the entire thing…which is a horror in itself.
Mr. Flood’s Last Resort, by Jess Kidd
I love this book. It is haunting and magical and also, unlike any other book on this list, really very funny. The language the author uses for descriptions of people and things and places… it’s so captivating and hilarious and spot on. It’s like Harry Potter for adults. This is the story of Maud Drennan, who takes a job as a caregiver to a grumpy, elderly hoarder, Cathal Flood. He has driven away several caregivers before her, but somehow, this odd pairing of young woman and cantankerous old man works. She’s his last chance to get his house in order or be sent to a nursing home, and she’s up for this challenge, but slowly she begins to uncover secrets hiding in dark corners. This tale is utterly charming and mysterious and indescribable. Trust me and buy it, and get ready to be completely entertained.
