Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

An unemployed 20-something probes her family’s dark history. After losing her job and exhausting her savings, Julia Barlow decamps from her Manhattan apartment to her grandmother’s northern Massachusetts estate. Barlow family forefather Archibald Eldridge built Pemberton in 1660, and the Woodhaven Museum wants desperately to buy the property and open it to the public. Though Julia’s dad supports this plan, as he suspects Gram belongs in assisted living, Gram’s sister and roommate, Ethel, swears Gram is fine and opposes the deal. Julia promises to assess both Gram’s safety and handsome museum curator Henry Ziegler’s intentions, but she gets distracted from her mission by the vengeful spirit terrorizing Pemberton. According to Ethel, the ghost is that of Archibald’s first wife, Caroline, who was burned in the town square for witchcraft and then replaced as “Goodwife Eldridge” by her own servant, Barlow ancestor Molly. Before she can even contemplate convincing Gram to sell, Julia feels a duty to help Caroline find rest. And to do that, she must uncover the truth surrounding Caroline’s unjust conviction and execution. Julia’s and Caroline’s storylines unfold in tandem via alternating first-person present-tense chapters. Caroline’s tale is riveting thanks to high stakes and gratifying twists, but Julia’s account disappoints, with anemic plotting and insipid characters. While fear and paranoia suffuse Caroline’s narrative, creating tension and drive, McFadden’s modern-day frame offers little more thanScooby-Doo villains, chemistry-free romance, and lukewarm chills. A diverting if largely forgettable trifle. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Prolific McFadden takes a turn to the otherworldly in her second hardcover offering, following The Intruder (2025). After losing her job, Julia Barlow, 27, goes to stay with her grandmother, Letty, and great aunt, Ethel, at the family estate, Pemberton, in rural Massachusetts. Julia is there to help Letty, who has been suffering from memory problems, but she soon becomes convinced that the estate is being haunted by the ghost of Caroline Eldridge, who was married to Julia's ancestor when she was accused of being a witch and burned at the stake in 1692. Strange noises and voices at night, along with Ethel's command for her to lock her bedroom door before going to sleep, lead Julia to seek help from an attractive museum curator who is interested in purchasing Pemberton to preserve it as a historic landmark, and a ghost hunter who claims to be able to record spirit activity. McFadden alternates between Julia's narrative in the present and Caroline's ordeal in the past, offering up several of her trademark twists and building to breathtaking twin climaxes in both time lines. McFadden's growing legion of fans will thoroughly enjoy her foray into the supernatural in this satisfying, suspenseful yarn. HIGH DEMAND