The House On Foster Hill By Jaime Jo Wright Book Review by Miranda Fraser (Moses) ISBN: 978-0-7642-3028-8 My fellow spooky lovers, let us continue our Halloween Book Review Series of 2022 with another mystery novel. This one is unique because it has dual mysteries. Jaime Jo Wright did an excellent job with these. And I want to give a little author shoutout because this is her first novel and we love that! She has written novellas before and you can find many of those listed on Goodreads.
Now, before we get into the novel, I just want to address the negative reviews I've seen about this story. Ninety percent of the negative reviews were people complaining about the dual storyline situation. That's something that is not everyone's cup of tea. I will say that I felt Wright did a great job making sure it was clear what was happening and when. The other ten percent of negative reviews didn't like that the characters were religious. I didn't personally feel like the author was trying to shove God down the readers' throats. Moreover that this is a SMALL town, with one of the storylines taking place in the 1900s and it was fitting for the timeframe and the character's struggles. However, if you don't like books with religious context then this may not be the story for you. Both the women in these mysteries are religious, both suffering traumas that have strained their relationship with their faith. So it is something they do discuss throughout their dialog. With that being said, the novel takes place in one town but in two different timelines. One mystery happened in the 1900s and one in the modern day. In the modern day, we have Kaine Prescott, a woman who had devoted her life to saving women from dangerous relationships. Two years prior to this story, her husband died in a tragic car accident. Though Kaine never believed it was an accident... After the police ignored her and refused to dig deeper, Kaine left San Diego for a small town in Wisconsin. Her grandfather and his family hailed from there so it felt like fate when she was able to purchase an old house, sight unseen, and start anew. The abandoned house on Foster Hill was going to take a lot of work to fix up. But Kaine's trouble can't be as simple as home repair. Upon purchasing the property, malicious and threatening occurrences keep her from peace. Did someone follow her from San Diego? And why does it feel like someone wants to keep her from this house? In the 1900s we have Ivy Thorpe, a spinster, and daughter of the town doctor. When a young woman is murdered and found on the property of the abandoned house on Foster Hill Ivy becomes obsessed with discovering who killed her. But Ivy's search puts her directly in the line of danger as she teeters on discovering a secret bigger than anyone imagined. I'm sure it comes as no surprise that the two storylines do intertwine. Mysteries from the past have a way of lingering into modern day. Especially in a small town, with family roots that run deep. I'm hesitant to give to much information away because the way the story plays out is so interesting that I feel like you need to go into it blind to appreciate all the twists and turns. What I can say in the books honor is that with every turning page, I found myself trying desperately to put the pieces together. I guessed some elements of the mystery, but overall I was pleasantly surprised by the ending. And for people who hate gloomy stories, this one did have a hope-filled ending. Not exactly Halloween worthy BUT I do love a good mystery with the right amount of suspense. Read on my fellow book worms. May we one day have Belle's library! And as always links to the author's pages can be found down below.
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A Flicker In The Dark Written by Stacy Willingham Book Review by Miranda Moses (Fraser) ISBN: 978-1-250-80382-5 My Ghouls and Ghosties, it is the best time of year. Halloween Book Review time that is! A Flicker in The Dark is Stacy Willingham's first novel, so I want to give her a round of applause! We love supporting new authors around here. Her first novel is a page-turning mystery involving a serial killer and a potential copycat killer 20 years later! I want to start off by stating that I LOVE a murder mystery. But also, with that in mind... I grew up on: "Murder She Wrote", "Diagnosis Murder", "Matlock", "Law and Order" and "CSI". So, when it comes to murder mysteries, I feel like my brain is just trained to look for certain plot twist possibilities. I actually predicted the ending early on. And while I didn't have all the details right, I wasn't completely shocked by who had done it. But I still had three potential endings I was going back and forth between the whole time. I was still thinking about the book even when I had to put it down. I still found myself turning the pages eagerly awaiting the ending. So, what exactly am I getting at here? Despite my guess and the feeling of predictability I had while reading it, I still loved reading it. I was still excited by it, still neeeeded to know how it ended, and most importantly, was still happy I bought this novel. For someone else, the ending may completely blindside them, and don't we love it when that happens? And that is why I do recommend this story to anyone else who is into mysteries. (Especially if you're looking for a simple mystery that isn't overly complicated.) The main character in this novel is Chloe Davis. When she was 12 years old a string of girls went missing from her tiny hometown. Their killer turned out to be her father and this sent Chloe's entire life into a tailspin. 20 years later she owns her own practice as a therapist, is getting married, and feels like her life might finally be on track. Until more teenage girls start turning up dead... each one having some connection to Chloe. With her father behind bars, it is clear a copycat killer has entered the scene. But who? And what is their purpose? In typical mystery cliche, Chloe interjects herself into the investigation trying to figure out who is killing these girls and how she can prove it without a shadow of a doubt. Now, I truly do hope mystery lovers everywhere will take the time to check out this book. Despite everything, I did enjoy the story. And I happily recounted it to my husband when he gave me the chance to spill all the details. It is also a story I am not likely to forget. I'd also like to state that Willingham has another novel coming out in January of next year, but I may put that off for a while. It is about a baby going missing from his crib... and truly my mom-heart cannot stand that right now. Read on my fellow bookworms! May we one day have Belle's library. And as always, links to the author's pages can be found down below. |
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