Month: October 2023

It’s a chilly October evening in Black Harbor, Wisconsin and the long-awaited school play featuring Rowan & Axel Winthorp’s daughter, Chloe, is starting. Chloe was so excited to receive the lead in the Beetlejuice production, even going so far as to adopt a gothic persona, brooding, wearing dark clothes, using black hair dye, and even wearing safety pins as earrings. Rowan misses her sunny, pleasant child, but Chloe assures her she is just method acting to prepare for her performance. 

Midway through the production, Rowan, the local Medical Examiner & Axel, a Detective on the local police force, are called to a murder scene. They say their goodbyes to their weepy daughter, who is understandably upset and says so, and head to the scene, where they find the body of Madison Caldwell – a close friend of Chloe’s – by the river’s edge, the obvious victim of a homicide.  

When the death assessment is complete, Rowen heads home and quickly realizes that Chloe is not there. Other than her bedroom window being left open, there’s no sign of her daughter anywhere – and Rowan fears a similar fate may have befallen Chloe. Initial searches turn up nothing, but as they dig deeper into Madison’s background, they learn that the girls have had a bit of a falling out. Rumors abound about Chloe having a relationship with her drama teacher, and Madison had been taunting her, out of jealousy for Chloe’s being given the pay lead. 

When a second teen turns up dead, also accused of targeting Chloe, the investigation begins to take a hard look at Chloe as a potential suspect, while Rowan, convinced that karma has come to collect for a past misdeed, is afraid Chloe is also a victim. As the couple struggles with this divergent thinking and misunderstanding, they drift apart, only united in their desire to find their daughter. 

For the reader, everyone seems suspect as the storyline unfolds, as told from the perspectives of Rowen, Axel & teenaged neighbor, Libby. Slowly, through each point of view, the reader gleans insight into each character, as pieces of their personalities & past experiences are slowly revealed. I found the novel to be more than a bit dark – and sad – with as much an exploration into the human psyche as a police procedural – but a good, solid story and a somewhat satisfying ending, despite the gloom and doom of Black Harbor. 

This was my first Black Harbor novel, and from what I understand, the third in a series. I am most definitely intrigued, and will back read the first two novels to get a better sense of Rowan and her family, but I found this good as a standalone as well. 

Available October 31st, from your favorite bookseller! 

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an objective review. Do you love to read?? Visit netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!

Mercy Carr and her canine companion Elvis return for another unforgettable adventure!  

It’s late fall in Vermont, and newly married Mercy & Troy are busily looking for a larger home to house their growing family, when Mercy learns that Grackle Tree Farm is going on the market. Once the home of a poet Euphenia Whitney-Jones, young Mercy and her then teen-aged friends were obsessed with the property and the potential “Ghost Witch of Grackle Tree’, an entity featured in the works of the poet.  Despite long lived rumors of the house being haunted, Mercy is ecstatic at the thought of making the estate her home. 

Mercy and Elvis head over to look at the home and run into Adah & Levi Beecher, long term caretakers of the old property.  Mercy is certain they haven’t met, but Levi remembers her from a past encounter – and the duo assure her that this will be the perfect home for them.   When Troy, Susie Bear and the realtor arrive, they go to tour the house – where Elvis and Susie Bear promptly alert to a body upstairs in the library of the old home, sprawled out on the floor; the only untoward sign being a dark fluid staining his teeth and face. Was this a suicide – or murder?  

As they await the arrival of authorities, Mercy does her own sleuthing, finding her first clue that something is amiss at the old homestead. As she and Troy dig into the sad past of the long-deceased poet, they learn of a lifelong rift between Euphenia and her sister Maude over a man.  An impromptu visit from her great uncle reveals more elements of the story – and the potential for there to be untold literary treasures perhaps secreted somewhere at the old estate…. But while Mercy searches for answers, others will do anything to keep them quiet… 

This was another great installment into an already fabulous series and a perfect read for the upcoming Halloween series!!  Love, LOVE Mercy & Elvis!!  Do yourself a favor and give this series a try!! 

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an objective review. Do you love to read?? Visit netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!