Do you have any “haunted” houses near where you
live? In Kewaunee where I live, we have
a haunted hotel and jail. I’ve picked up
a haunted houses of Wisconsin book and found them in there and they’ve also
been featured on TV.
In 1910, Effie James and her sister, Polly, stumble across
a murder at 323 Predicament Avenue.
Polly stays silent on what she saw, and Effie must piece it together
from what she heard. When a mysterious
British gentleman comes to town claiming the victim was his wife, will they
together be able to discover the murderer?
In the present day, Norah runs 323 Predicament Avenue
as a B&B. Sebastion is a guest and a
true crime cold case podcaster. When
another guest dies of a heart attack after seeing a ghost, Norah must face her
demons and investigate not only the mystery from a century ago, but the murder
of her beloved sister. Will Norah be
able to face her anxiety and solve her sister’s cold case?
· This novel was very atmospheric and Gothic. I loved how it started with a bang. It would make an excellent Halloween read.
· This is a dual timeline novel. The link is that the only two people that have been murdered in Shephard, Iowa, were both connected to the home at 322 Predicament Avenue.
· I had a hard time putting this book down as I got towards the end. It was a great suspense novel. I did not guess the ending in either timeline.
· I liked the look into anxiety with Norah trying to deal with her anxiety throughout the novel.
· The novel also looked at fear and working through it through faith.
· This book was a clean read.
· I enjoyed the teaser at the end for her fall 2024 novel, Specters in the Glass House which will be set near Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Favorite Quotes:
“Death had been a guest here at Predicament Avenue for
decades, and it was clear that Death wasn’t ready to check out yet.”
“Yet that was what fear was after all. When a person lived afraid of death, when
they could feel death’s cold breath on their neck every moment of the day,
there was no courage left to be had. No
anticipation. No hope. Only the force of one’s own will to try to
outrun the fear before they were eaten alive by it. Before their greatest fear became their
greatest reality.”
Overall, Night Falls on Predicament Avenue by Jaime Jo
Wright is a delightfully Gothic historical mystery that will have you guessing
right up until the end.
As the walls of the house at Predicament Avenue reveal their hidden truths, two women--generations apart--discover that fear and foreboding are no respecters of time.
In 1910, Effie James is committed to doing anything to save her younger sister, who witnessed a shocking murder, leaving her mute and in danger of the killer's retribution. Effie must prove what her sister saw, but when a British gentleman arrives, he disrupts Effie's quest with his attempts to locate his wife, Isabelle Addington, who was last seen at the supposed crime scene in the abandoned house at 322 Predicament Avenue. Just as Effie discovers what she seeks, she finds that the blood staining the walls will forever link her to a scandal she couldn't imagine, and to a woman whose secrets promise to curse any who would expose them.
A century later, Norah Richman grapples with social anxiety and grief as she runs her late great-aunt's bed-and-breakfast on Predicament Avenue. But Norah has little affection for the house and is committed only to carrying out her murdered sister's dreams until crime historian and podcaster Sebastian Blaine arrives to investigate the ghostly legacy of the house's claim to fame--the murder of Isabelle Addington. When a guest is found dead, the incident is linked to Isabelle's murder, and Norah and Sebastian must work together to uncover the century-old curse that has wrapped 322 Predicament Avenue in its clutches and threatens far more than death.
AUTHOR BIO
.jpg)
Thanks for sharing this review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.
ReplyDelete