Help me congratulate Jaime on her new release! Here's the blurb:
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.
MY REVIEW:
I
received a gifted copy.
Things
happen at 322 Predicament Avenue. Things that make you wonder if something
really does go bump in the night.
Norah
found herself inheriting 322 Predicament Avenue when her Aunt Eleanor passed
on. It was never Norah’s goal in life to be a bed-and-breakfast owner, it was
her sister Naomi’s dream. Naomi, sadly, wasn’t around to make that goal happen.
Jump
back to 1910 when the residents of 322 Predicament Avenue were members of the
James family, specifically Effie (Euphemia) and her sister Polly, two sisters
who got up to all kinds of mischief at Polly’s insistence, much to the dismay
of their parents and inappropriately so for the time period.
Back
to present day, when we meet Sebastian who is a podcaster staying at 322
Predicament Avenue to uncover what happened to Isabelle Addington back in 1910.
Back
to 1910 when Isabelle found herself in Shepherd, Iowa, where this story takes
place, and the mystery surrounding her disappearance. Also, back in 1910, the
ousted family of Shepherd, Iowa, the Oppermans. They’re the family that the
town avoided. Mabel Opperman held onto 322 Predicament Avenue because she
couldn’t stand the thought of someone else in the town owning the property, so
it became a shelter to passersby, transients, random strangers, and the like.
Staying
true to her style, this author writes in a dual timeline, that being 1910 and
present day, and has a building involved, that being 322 Predicament Avenue.
What I enjoy the most is the overlapping of characters and their different yet
similar personalities. In this tale, we have Norah and Naomi, sisters, and back
in 1910 another set of sisters, Effie and Polly. Each sister pairing suffers a
tragedy. We also have Sebastian, the podcaster of today, and Mr. Anderson of 1910,
both seeking answers as to what happened to Isabelle Addington. Between these
four characters, we also have a hint of love interests, which is also an
entertaining offshoot to this tale.
There
are a whole host of other characters that make up this tale of Shepherd, Iowa.
We have Otto and Ralph, a pair of brothers who Norah grew up around, who her
Aunt Eleanor cared about, but there is a deeper story to these two brothers.
Their counterpart back in 1910 would be Mabel Opperman and her son Floyd, and
the cloud of suspicion surrounding the Oppermans.
There
is a lot going on in this tale of 322 Predicament Avenue. I was especially
intrigued by the ‘ghostiness’ of this story. You could liken the house at 322
Predicament Avenue to a modern-day haunted house that you might traverse
through, or maybe even an old, abandoned house in a town that refuses to tear
it down so there it stands in all its ominousness just waiting for folks to
pass through. With a graveyard out back for good measure. There are a couple of
twists to this haunting tale that I sure wasn’t expecting and came out of the
blue, but I think that was the intent.
If you like a good, haunted house/ghost story tying the past to the present with characters that can be quite colorful, with a few twists thrown in, don’t miss this one. I think you’ll enjoy it.
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