Specters in the Glass House by Jaime Jo Wright (AustenProse PR Book Tour)

 

Do you believe in ghosts?  I just went on a haunted trolly tour of Door County with one of my book clubs and it was a lot of fun.  I always enjoy a good ghost story.

Marian Anderson has lost her parents and her home in Milwaukee in 1921 after prohibition has caused the shut down of her family brewery.  She retains her family’s country estate, Mullerian, in rural Wisconsin near Milwaukee.  As she settles in, death seems to surround the estate and Marian has limited time to discover who the killer is before her own time is up.  In present day, Remy has moved to Mullerian Manor to help an author write a book about Marian Anderson and the Butterfly Butcher serial killer.  Will Remy be able to solve the mystery of both Marian and her own past?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       The gothic atmosphere of this novel made this a perfect read for October.  I loved the ghosts and haunted house aspects.  I especially love a house with passages that lead to no where and secret entrances and exits.

·       The cover of this novel is beautiful, and I love how it features the glass butterfly house which is an important part of the story in both timelines.

·       As a resident of Wisconsin, I really loved the Wisconsin setting.  I also enjoyed the historical aspect as I always wonder how different breweries made it through prohibition and all the bars.  I know the major breweries started producing soda pop, but not everyone made the switch.

·       There were side characters in each timeline that were interesting.  I particularly enjoyed Marian’s childhood friend Felix, a WWI veteran who has returned with demons of his own.

·       I thought it was very interesting that the book looked into mental health in a sensitive and thoughtful way.

·       The storyline was intriguing, and it kept me engaged throughout.  Especially towards the end I could not put this book down.  I did not guess the ending to the mysteries.

·       Both storylines were equally engaging.  Sometimes I like on storyline in a dual storyline book more than the other.  It was not the case in this novel!

·       There are great discussion questions for a book club at the end and a sneak peek into Jaime Jo Wright’s next book which is set in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  I can’t wait to read it when it comes out next spring.

Favorite Quotes:

“Death had always been fashionable.  Women celebrated it by donning black silks and feathers and shawls and lace.  Men acknowledged it with a band on their hat or a mourning ring on their finger.  Of course, that was more to announce their eligibility than anything else.  For what man could continue to flourish in life without a wife to manage his household and rear his children?”  Great 1^st paragraph of the novel!

“There were no bodies.  Nothing but broken wings and the memory of someone who smiled when death came to call.”

“People have this measuring stick they use and hold one another up to.  If you’re running a tad short, then something’s wrong with you.”

Overall, Specters in the Glass House by Jaime Jo Wright was an engaging Gothic historical mystery romance set in Wisconsin that was perfect for the spooky season.

Book Source:  Review copy from Bethany House as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

An ominous butterfly house. A sinister legacy. An untraceable killer.

In 1921, Marian Arnold, the heiress to a brewing baron's empire, seeks solace in the glass butterfly house on her family's Wisconsin estate as Prohibition and the deaths of her parents cast a long shadow over her shrinking world. When Marian's sanctuary is invaded by nightmarish visions, she grapples with the line between hallucinations of things to come and malevolent forces at play in the present. With dead butterflies as the killer's ominous signature, murders unfold at a steady pace. Marian, fearful she might be next, enlists the help of her childhood friend Felix, a war veteran with his own haunted past.

In the present day, researcher Remy Shaw becomes entangled in an elderly biographer's quest to uncover the truth behind Marian Arnold's mysterious life and the unsolved murders linked to an infamous serial killer. Joined by Marian's great-great-grandson, can Remy expose the evil that lurks beneath broken wings? Or will the dark legacy surrounding the manor and its glass house destroy yet another generation?

ADVANCE PRAISE

"Readers will be eager to take this twisty, suspense-filled ride."— Publishers Weekly

AUTHOR BIO

Jaime Jo Wright is the author of twelve novels, including Christy Award and Daphne du Maurier Award winner The House on Foster Hill and Carol Award winner The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond. She's also a four-time Christy Award finalist, as well as the ECPA bestselling author of The Vanishing at Castle Moreau, The Lost Boys of Barlowe Theater, and two Publishers Weekly bestselling novellas. Jaime lives in Wisconsin with her family and fabulous felines. Learn more at JaimeWrightBooks.com.

Night Falls on Predicament Avenue by Jaime Jo Wright (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

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?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       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.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

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

Jaime Jo Wright (JaimeWrightBooks.com) is the author of ten novels, including Christy Award and Daphne du Maurier Award-winner The House on Foster Hill and Carol Award winner The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond. She's also a two-time Christy Award finalist, as well as the ECPA bestselling author of The Vanishing at Castle Moreau and two Publishers Weekly bestselling novellas. Jaime lives in Wisconsin with her family and felines.

The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

Have you ever visited a castle?  Do you have any historic homes or buildings near you with haunted legends?

I have sadly never visited a castle yet.  I live in a historic home, which luckily does not have any stories of being haunted.  In Kewaunee, we do have a haunted hotel and a haunted jailhouse museum.  I have not seen the ghosts myself, but the curious visit to find the ghosts and they have been featured in books and TV.

Castle Moreau is the story of a haunted castle in Wisconsin.  Built around 1800 on the Mississippi River, a legend has grown up around it that women disappear in the castle never to be seen again.  In 1870, an orphan girl named Daisy takes up a position at the castle.  She is not sure of her role, but finds the castle mostly abandoned.  Madame Ora Moreau is a famous Gothic authoress who lives in the castle.  Her Grandson Lincoln believes that Daisy should be there to look after her and do some light cleaning.  As Daisy settles in, she starts to notice many mysterious happenings at the castle.  As she starts to investigate, will she be able to discover the secrets the castle holds?

The other timeline is present day.  Cleo has been hired by the mysterious rich son, of a famous American family, Deacon, to help his Grandmother, Virgie, sort through her hoarded junk that has filled up the Castle Moreau.  When she arrives, Cleo quickly gets wrapped up in the mystery of the castle as the townspeople fill her in on the disappearances that have happened over the centuries.  Will Cleo finally be able to solve the mystery of the disappearances?

I really loved the dual timelines in this novel.  I thought the two stories really parallel and also built on each other.  I also really liked the light romance in both stories.  In the modern story, Deacon is a reformed rake who has turned his life around.  I enjoyed the characters and learning more about them.  I loved how the stories were very Gothic and mysterious.  Wright really built a creepy atmosphere that pulled me into the book. I really wanted to know how it ended!  I did really enjoy the ending.  I did not guess it at all and it was a very satisfying ending.

I also loved that it was a castle in Wisconsin.  It made me wish it were real and I could visit it!  I loved the suspense of this story and think it would be a great book to read for Halloween.

The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright as a riveting Christian Gothic romance novel and I highly recommend it!

Review Copy from author Bethany House Publishing.   Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

QUICK FACTS

·       Title: The Vanishing at Castle Moreau

·       Author: Jaime Jo Wright

·       Genre: Historical Suspense, Historical Romance, Inspirational Fiction

·       Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (April 4, 2023)

·       Length: (384) pages

·       Format: Hardcover, trade paperback, eBook, & audiobook 

·       ISBN: 978-0764238345

·       Tour Dates: March 27 – April 10, 2023

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION

A haunting legend. An ominous curse. A search for a secret buried deep within the castle walls.

In 1870, orphaned Daisy François takes a position as housemaid at a Wisconsin castle to escape the horrors of her past life. There she finds a reclusive and eccentric Gothic authoress who hides tales more harrowing than the ones in her novels. As women disappear from the area and the eerie circumstances seem to parallel a local legend, Daisy is thrust into a web that could ultimately steal her sanity, if not her life.

In the present day, Cleo Clemmons is hired by the grandson of an American aristocratic family to help his grandmother face her hoarding in the dilapidated Castle Moreau. But when Cleo uncovers more than just the woman's stash of collectibles, a century-old mystery and the dust of the old castle's curse threaten to rise again . . . this time to leave no one alive to tell the sordid tale.

Award-winning author Jaime Jo Wright seamlessly weaves a dual-time tale of two women who must do all they can to seek the light amid the darkness shrouding Castle Moreau.

PRAISE FOR THE VANISHING AT CASTLE MOREAU

·       “Wright (The Souls of Lost Lake) captivates with a thrilling tale of two women who get caught up in the secrets of a Wisconsin castle…The twisting, fast-moving plot is loaded with secrets, and the characters remain morally ambiguous until the end. Readers won’t want to put this down.”— Publisher’s Weekly

·       "Wright (The Premonition at Withers Farm) pens another delightfully creepy tale where nothing is quite as it seems and characters seek freedom from nightmares both real and imagined.”— Library Journal

·       "Jaime Jo Wright never disappoints, and The Vanishing at Castle Moreau is no exception. With real, flawed characters who grapple with real-life struggles, this gripping suspense novel will draw readers in from the very first page. Good luck putting it down. I couldn't."— Lynette Eason, bestselling author of the Extreme Measures series

 

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY | BOOKSHOP | GOODREADS

 

AUTHOR BIO

Jaime Jo Wright is the author of eight novels, including Christy Award and Daphne du Maurier Award-winner The House on Foster Hill and Carol Award winner The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond. She's also the Publishers Weekly and ECPA bestselling author of two novellas. Jaime lives in Wisconsin with her cat named Foo; her husband, Cap'n Hook; and their two mini-adults, Peter Pan and CoCo.

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | BOOKBUB | GOODREADS