House of Ashes by Loretta Marion | Review

House of Ashes | Loretta Marion | Crooked Lane Books | Pub: November 13, 2018 | Pages: 336

I’m soo glad I picked this up! I was procrastinating for a year before reading it, and I was pleasantly surprised. Yet again!

I thought this was going to be an eerie story about ghosts, but it was more than that! It was a mystery, mixed with ghosts’ stories, and cryptic messages set in Cape Cod, in an old house by the sea!

In addition to the fabulous setting, Loretta’s writing is excellent! This book was extremely well written. I really like the characters and their dynamic. I’m invested in Cassandra’s story now and I want to know more about her sister’s past. Why won’t she come back home?!

The ending was so good! Nothing ended up as I was expecting it, but it was just a perfect ending. There are still some unanswered questions, but that most likely will be for Book #2, which I’m looking very forward to reading!

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books for providing me with a physical ARC of this book. As usual, my reviews are my honest and unbiased opinions.

Synopsis

A family patriarch’s dying proclamation, an enigmatic disappearance, and a century-old curse converge in the shadows of a majestic home on Cape Cod’s craggy coast.

Thirty-seven-year-old painter Cassandra Mitchell is fourth-generation to live in the majestic Battersea Bluffs, a brooding Queen Anne home originally built by her great-grandparents, Percy and Celeste Mitchell, and still standing despite tragedies that have swept the generations. Local lore has it that there was a curse placed on the family and the house is haunted, though opinions are divided on whether it's by malicious or benevolent spirits. Cassie believes the latter―but now she stands to lose her beloved home to mounting debt and the machinations of her dream-weaving ex-husband.

Salvation seems to arrive when a nomadic young couple wanders onto the property with the promise of companionship and much-needed help―until they vanish without a trace, leaving behind no clue to their identities. Cassie is devastated, but determined to discover what's happened to the young couple...even as digging into their disappearance starts to uncover family secrets of her own. Despite warnings from her childhood friend, now the local Chief of Police―as well as an FBI agent who pushes the boundaries of professionalism―Cassie can't help following the trail of clues (and eerie signals from the old house itself) to unravel the mystery. But can she do so before her family's dark curse destroys everything in its path

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