I don't usually read 'creepy' books but always make an exception for novels by Jaime Jo Wright.
For centuries, Castle Moreau has been draped in mystery and suspicions. Why was a Gothic castle built in rural Michigan? What occurs within its walls? What role does it play in the disappearances of several young women?
While The Vanishing at Castle Moreau is told in three timelines, the stories in 1870 and present are predominant. Each include a mysterious grandmother, her handsome grandson, and a young woman seeking a new life while hiding her own secrets. The interplay between the plots is deftly written and kept me guessing until the final pages.
I was so eager to read this, but sometimes reluctant to pick it up because I often read before bed and wasn't sure the timing would be smart. In fact, one night I woke up due to an unexpected thunderstorm and immediately thought the sound was furniture mysteriously moving within Castle Moreau!
In addition to being skilled at infusing her plots with a growing sense of dread, Ms. Wright also includes societal issues. In this novel, one character has hoarding behavior and the plot hints at alcoholism and physical abuse. It also includes the famous person and ordinary person 'trope' that I've read in several novels.
I had one unanswered question at the end of this book, but all others were explained by the novel's conclusion. The author compares her plots to Scooby Doo stories where all of the mysterious activity is explained at the story's end.
Thank you to Bethany House Publishers and NetGalley for the review copy of this novel. Now I'm very excited for Ms. Wright's next book, The Lost Boys of Barlowe Theater, that releases in October, the perfect season for her atmospheric plots.
For centuries, Castle Moreau has been draped in mystery and suspicions. Why was a Gothic castle built in rural Michigan? What occurs within its walls? What role does it play in the disappearances of several young women?
While The Vanishing at Castle Moreau is told in three timelines, the stories in 1870 and present are predominant. Each include a mysterious grandmother, her handsome grandson, and a young woman seeking a new life while hiding her own secrets. The interplay between the plots is deftly written and kept me guessing until the final pages.
I was so eager to read this, but sometimes reluctant to pick it up because I often read before bed and wasn't sure the timing would be smart. In fact, one night I woke up due to an unexpected thunderstorm and immediately thought the sound was furniture mysteriously moving within Castle Moreau!
In addition to being skilled at infusing her plots with a growing sense of dread, Ms. Wright also includes societal issues. In this novel, one character has hoarding behavior and the plot hints at alcoholism and physical abuse. It also includes the famous person and ordinary person 'trope' that I've read in several novels.
I had one unanswered question at the end of this book, but all others were explained by the novel's conclusion. The author compares her plots to Scooby Doo stories where all of the mysterious activity is explained at the story's end.
Thank you to Bethany House Publishers and NetGalley for the review copy of this novel. Now I'm very excited for Ms. Wright's next book, The Lost Boys of Barlowe Theater, that releases in October, the perfect season for her atmospheric plots.
This is a haunted house story that takes us back to 1865 with Daisy and Lincoln and in the present with Cleo and Deacon. The book switches back and forth with a creepy and chilling Gothic atmosphere. Women are disappearing from the area and a legend that seems to parallel these eerie circumstances. In the present day, Cleo Clemmons is hired by the grandson of American aristocratic family the Tremblays to help his matriarchal grandmother face her hoarding in the dilapidated Castle Moreau. But when Cleo uncovers more than just the woman's stashes of collectibles, a century-old mystery of disappearance, insanity, and the dust of the old castle's curse threatens to rise again, and this time, leave no one alive to tell its sordid tale. This book had just the right amount of spookiness and the characters were mysterious enough to send chills down your spine. I enjoyed this read of a house that would not release the women who were disappearing. In the end we learned about all the secrets that Castle Moreau had and I look forward to reading another book by Jamie Jo Wright. If you like books about spooky mansions then you will love this book. Thanks to Bethany House Publishers and NetGalley for a copy for an honest review.
