Tag: mystery

Review: A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

March 29, 2023March 24, 2025 Robin2 Comments

Sam Montgomery pulls into her mother’s North Carolina Suburb with the knowledge that something is wrong, her brother’s forewarning that “mom seems off” lingering in her mind. When she enters the house her greatest fears are realized. The walls have been repainted, her mother’s signature flair abandoned, and deep in the recesses of the backyard buried in the dirt is a jar full of teeth. Worse, vultures fly overhead circling the property in ever-growing numbers. Her mother is fidgety, worried about something that couldn’t possibly be there, so Sam takes the couch in between her murder mystery binges and cataloging of various insects for her job. But something is entering the house in the night and whispering in Sam’s ear, shattering glasses and pulling down artwork during the daytime. The more strange occurrences she can’t explain, the more frightened her mom gets, until Sam is willing to believe the impossible and dig where she shouldn’t to set things right.

I’ve come to expect the weirdly bizarre and extraordinarily creepy from T. Kingfisher since diving deep into her backlist this previous fall. I read Nettle & Bone, The Hollow Places, and What Moves the Dead all in the span of a week and was left craving more weird stories. With that in mind, A House with Good Bones is the pinnacle of all the bizarre writing T. Kingfisher has achieved so far in her writing career. A chaotic combination of vultures, entomology, enchanted gardens, and one family’s hidden legacy with magic. Through the perspective of Sam Montgomery, an entomologist on leave, Kingfisher entangles the reader in a sinister struggle between the hidden powers below, and an unlikely pairing of people determined to stand their ground. Kingfisher establishes the plot superbly, with a sinister aura that becomes more fully grounded as we learn more about what’s going on in the house and its roots in the family history. It feels very similar to The Hollow Places, with a disquiet shrouded over the minds of all the characters each with their own fragmented understanding of the playing field, none of whom realize what’s truly at stake. Kingfisher does an excellent job untangling her strange web and placing readers directly in the path of her peculiar reality – pulling forth this world that lies above with what has been lying in wait below. It’s oddly fitting that this bizarre underbelly is uncovered by Sam, a scientist with a rational approach to every aspect of her life. Her first thought isn’t that ghosts or magic are responsible for the strange stuff occurring, but that there’s a logical explanation. Sam’s own transformation is surreal in its own way and adds so much to the developing storyline. Honestly, there’s not a thing I didn’t love about this one. T. Kingfisher crafts a suspenseful Southern Gothic horror novel draped in dread, with an underbelly that pricks sharper than any thorn. Whenever I’m yearning for the strange and otherworldly, there’s no doubt that Kingfisher will continue to deliver.

Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review

Trigger warning: blood, fatphobia, racism, child abuse

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Review: Where Echoes Die by Courtney Gould

January 21, 2023March 24, 2025 Robin1 Comment

Ever since the death of her mother, Beck Birsching has struggled to stay on course. Ellery Birsching was an investigative reporter who spent years digging into a strange town in Arizona and never found the answers she craved. When a strange note arrives from her mother with the instructions to ‘Come find me,’ leading to the very town she investigated for so long, Beck travels south with her sister to Backravel, Arizona, where the past is more present than ever and the presence of their mother refuses to dissipate. Yet something strange is happening in Backravel. There are hardly any people present, no graveyards, and a strange center at the top of the hill offers treatment for any ailment. Everyone seems to be in a haze, and as Beck investigates the truth behind the town, its connection to her mother threatens to drag her under for good.

Courtney Gould has written another sapphic masterpiece, about strange towns, sisterhood, and the relentless hold of grief. Wandering the backroads south to Arizona, Gould draws us into the mind of Beck Birsching, a grieving young girl trying to piece together the legacy of her deceased mother while struggling to keep herself together. The latest of Gould’s wonderfully weird locals is a seemingly innocent town that has ensnared many victims, drawing them into its thrall and feeding off of their desperation. Backravel Arizona becomes the site of emotional toil, eerily mirroring the mental state of our heroine and taking on a role that is truly terrifying the deeper Beck digs into her mother’s past. While many novels have endeavored to construct a web of claustrophobia within the narrative, none have managed it quite like this one. Right from the start there is a stark feeling of wrongness, that slowly closes in on the reader until they too are trapped in Backravel with Beck and the townspeople. Gould’s sophomore adds a moving investigation into sisterhood and motherhood. Two sisters that are divided not only in the way that they grieve, but in the way they viewed the profession of their late mother and how to navigate a future without her. I love a journey narrative, specifically ones that blend physical displacement with mental transformation. Where Echoes Die gives us exactly that, a trip between two sisters not ready to leave the past behind and who have yet to navigate a way out of their grief. Less at the forefront, but still poignant is the open discussion of queerness, seen through Beck’s coming out to her mother and other characters like Avery that were never given their time. Courtney Gould has gone two for two with books that have made me cry and I think this might be my favorite from her. Where Echoes Die breaches the past to prove the longevity of grief upon generations, and the universal struggle of the human experience. I’ll be keeping a weather eye out for more weird towns and badass Lesbians from Courtney Gould and basically anything she does next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warnings: death of a loved one, terminal illness, violence

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Review: Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen

September 15, 2022March 25, 2025 RobinLeave a comment

The year is 1952, and Irene Lamontaine, head of the illustrious Lamontaine soap empire has died, leaving behind a substantial family seat vacant. Irene spearheaded the family’s soap empire to its current position with her signature and everchanging scents, held secret behind the gates of the family estate Lavender House. On the estate, the inhabitants have secrets of their own, secrets that require keeping outsiders at bay, and an understanding staff. When Evander Mills, a recently fired cop of the San Fransisco police department is contacted by a mysterious widow to investigate the circumstances surrounding her wife’s death, he finds himself behind its illusive walls for the first time. Reaching deeper into the family’s past, Andy soon finds himself beset by petty squabbles and family jealousy, but Irene’s death wasn’t an accident, and even between a family united by secrets, there are some worth killing for.

Lavender House has been aptly described as a 1950’s Knives Out mystery, surrounding a queer family, their confined existence, and the deadly secrets they keep hidden. Perfectly situated in its place in time, Rosen assembles a cloying ambiance for this novel, with an overpowering scent of deception that permeates the stuffy halls of Lavender House and unto the very page. Passing through the gates of the house aside the narrator Evander Mills, the real mystery begins once inside, as the motivations and history of each of the characters are exhumed. It was at this point of the story, that I was officially hooked. So much of what I love about the family mystery narrative is the entangled motivations and complicated relationships that are played out from start to finish. Lavender House has the added layer of the Lamontaine family being comprised entirely of queer people that have found solace, and ultimately family, with one another. For that reason, this novel is very much a stark examination of queer lives during the 1950s as it is a murder mystery. These two topics intersect as Andy investigates deeper into the family history and the establishment of their legendary soap empire. Each of the family and staff all have their own struggles with identity, which Rosen does a great job exploring in tandem with existing as queer in this time and the difficult choices necessary to exist and have any kind of security. This is a historical novel that does depict some of the violence inflicted upon the LGBTQ+ community during the time period by individuals and law enforcement, so I strongly advise checking out the content warnings before reading. I ended up having to take several breaks during certain sections of this. The existence of Lavender House in and of itself is escapist for the time period it is situated in, yet it provides an altogether intimate and refreshing inquiry into queer existence served against a stellar mystery. With its not so neatly wrapped up ending, I am hopeful that this is not the last we will be hearing from these characters going forward.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc to review.

Trigger warnings: violence, grief, homophobic slurs, homophobic violence, police brutality, animal death

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Review: The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling

November 5, 2021March 24, 2025 Robin2 Comments

The crumbling manor at Lindridge Hall hides a deadly secret, one that will be unearthed when its new mistress steps over the threshold. Jane Shoringfield is nothing short of practical, and having reached the end of her living period with her guardians, decides that the most logical way forward will be to secure herself a husband. The chosen candidate for this transaction is the reclusive, yet handsome, doctor Augustine, whose profession may provide her with the very independence that she requires. Augustine agrees to this marriage of convenience, on the agreement that Jane never set foot in Lindridge Hall, his family estate just outside of town. Nonetheless, on the night of their wedding, a chance storm leaves her stranded and Jane is forced to return to the manor. When she arrives, she finds the demeanor of her husband gone, and in its place a frightened and paranoid man unable to discern reality from fiction. Morning comes, and Augustine is himself again, but Jane knows deep within her bones that something is horribly wrong with her husband and the house she now occupies. A profound fear only magnified by her continued stay within the manor’s walls.

Placed within the realm of Crimson Peak, Rebecca, and Shirley Jackson, The Death of Jane Lawrence is an impressive gothic horror novel that fucked with my mind in the best way possible. Set in a dark version of Post-War England, packed full of supernatural and spooky vibes, this is one of the most brilliant and unnerving books that I have read all year. Part of the journey with this novel is in just how much it upends what is understood at any given moment. I started this off scared of the Crimson Peak comparison, and that feeling really never went away because of how often the book turned all of my expectations on their head. The first section is ominous, hung over with impending dread that is drawn out like poison from a wound upon the first occurrence with Jane and Augustine at the manor. This was reminiscent of so many Gothic novels of the past, that sudden shift in tone from an incident, that traverses through to the end of the narrative. There was an unsteady ground between Jane and Augustine present in the first half, as both characters were hiding secrets from the other. Altogether, I loved not really knowing who to put trust in, as I fell into the book’s rhythm to be entirely unpredictable. Past the first half of the novel is where the atmosphere twists into something slightly enigmatic. This is where I puzzled with the text a bit more and was left completely shattered by the end results. A tangled web that I endeavored to take apart in order to make sense of it all. While I will say this section could have been pared down, at that point, it was like the top of a rollercoaster and I was just along for the rest of the ride. In every respect, Caitlin Starling has created a haunting tale, charged with callbacks to iconic gothic fiction of days past. The Death of Jane Lawrence is an eerily brilliant novel that bends reality and twists the mind towards its breaking point.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger Warnings: blood, gore, violence, death, animal death, medical procedures

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Review: Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente

October 26, 2021March 25, 2025 RobinLeave a comment

The gated community of Arcadia Gardens may seem perfect, but within the confines of the neighborhood, a poisonous truth begins to fester, threatening the very serenity promised to its inhabitants. At surface level, adoring housewife Sophia couldn’t ask for a more perfect circumstance. Her life in Arcadia Gardens, her house, and her increasingly absent husband provide her with everything she could possibly imagine. Still, there are things that beg to be questioned, like the strange lock of hair decidedly not hers, or the sliver of bone expertly placed in her knife block. It seems that things might not be as splendid as they seem, and when Sophia goes digging she unearths something that could destroy her seemingly perfect life in seconds.

Comfort Me With Apples is a fantastically dark thriller that delighted and surprised me in unexpected ways. With a bit of The Yellow Wallpaper vibe interspersed throughout this strange mystery, Valente crafts a story made to be questioned at its core. A slowly decaying fruit of a novel that becomes harder and harder to ignore. While not everyone will love the twist of the knife designed, nor the lack of an accurate Gone Girl comparison, those that enjoy being unsettled will love where this novel takes them. Catherynne Valente has always excelled in her prose and Comfort Me With Apples demonstrates that clearly, with gloriously strange, and utterly imaginative language. The rules of the gated community, partnered against the actual storyline cultivates a sense of unease that preys upon the mind until right up at the end. An atmosphere that becomes increasingly more and more ominous. Where the story takes an unanticipated turn, is in the biblical elements included. These surprised me more than I thought they would, but thought they ultimately flushed out the commentary and made the reveal at the end all the more horrific. It really makes me want to go back and read the story all over again to see where the paving was laid. A lot of people have already commented on the incorrect marketing surrounding this book, and while I don’t think this was anything like Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver, or Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, the domestic thriller and fantasy vibe is definitely present here. The only thing that really irked me with Comfort Me With Apples was the length. There was a lot of build-up in the first two-thirds of the novel, and then the confrontation at the end left me with so many questions that could have been avoided had time been taken to draw out the reveal. Key opinion with this one: I just wanted more. Catherynne Valente certainly knows how to write an idyllic story with otherwise sinister undertones, however, something that will be perfect for the upcoming Halloween season.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc to review.

Trigger Warnings: death, murder, gaslighting

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Review: Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

June 27, 2021March 24, 2025 Robin2 Comments

It’s 1971, and in Mexico City, a quiet secretary becomes embroiled in a complicated plot linked to the political unrest currently transforming the town. All Maite wants is to escape into the latest issue of Secret Romance; with every passing page, she can feel the world’s problems fade away as she is swept up in tales of passion and danger. When her beautiful next-door neighbor asks her for a favor, and then mysteriously disappears, Maite attempts to put together the pieces and finds herself drawn deeper into Leonora’s secret life and something far more insidious. Across town, someone else is tasked with tracking down Leonora, a commander of a squad created to quell political activists. Elvis wants nothing more than to leave his life behind; he cares little for the violence that comes with the job, but when he encounters Maite on his search for Leonora, he begins to envision just what that life could be. As tensions escalate on both sides, two individuals united by loneliness will have to fight with everything they have, for the chance at a future they’ve been waiting for.

Velvet Was the Night is a riveting historical crime noir that swept me up in its lush descriptions and complex characters consistent with everything else its author has written thus far. While this book is much different than Moreno-Garcia’s previous six novels, it stays true to much of what made her other works so impressionable: profound characters and her general talent for storytelling. This is a novel that draws upon the intrigue to an almost impossible point, fraying the minute hold I had on everything that was happening, and leaving me unaware of what to expect next. Among the complicated alliances and brimming hostility, Moreno-Garcia captures a profound loneliness in each of her characters, a loneliness that propels them forward even when facing dangerous circumstances. Elvis and Maite specifically, have an underlying bond that is only strengthened by the things they are experiencing. Something that added a much-needed lightheartedness to an already intense story. Utilizing dual perspectives creates a kind of split viewpoint in the novel, juxtaposed against the exterior of the Dirty War only beginning to escalate in the small period of time in which this takes place. I’m not sure what this would have looked like if it only centered around one character’s perspective, the outsider or the inside man. Both are necessary to craft the picture that Moreno-Garcia so brilliantly captures in the story. Even the connection between the two main characters is only strengthened by the existence of an alternating point of view, aiding in their respective development from start to finish. Having never read noir before, I can safely say I am planning on continuing given how much I enjoyed this. Silvia Moreno-Garcia has once again demonstrated her ability to write incredible stories in almost any genre, and I have no doubt her next project is going to be just as remarkable. Her seventh novel gives a glimpse into two lonely people living vastly different lives, and the potential they have to become something more together.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review

Trigger warnings: guns, violence, blood, death, murder

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