Image of cover from GoodReads
!WARNING: There are major spoilers!
Trigger warnings for the book: murder, death of a minor, grief, death of a parent, mentions of a suicide
I read this book in October, 2025 while on a Riley Sager kick (he is still one of my favorite authors). It was the first I had read by him and at first, I was not particularly into it. But the more that I read, it ended up becoming one of my favorites.
The book starts out with Maggie returning to a home she briefly lived in over 25 years ago after her father’s death. Weird, seemingly paranormal things begin to happen. But her plan is simple: restore the book and sell it ASAP.
The house has a reputation and will be hard to sell though. Her father, Ewan, wrote a book about the three weeks that they lived at the house, called Baneberry Hall. He described horrifying paranormal experiences that was mostly experienced by Maggie. However, she doesn’t remember any of this as she was only 5 at the time. She barely even remembers her time at the house and certainly doesn’t believe in ghosts.
Throughout the book, she meets many people who she recognizes from her father’s book House of Horrors. She begins trying to put together the pieces after a girl named Petra Ditmer, who went missing the fateful night that they fled the house, is found murdered. Did her father do this? If not him, who did? And why? She was a 16 year old who babysat Maggie. Is her death the real reason they fled the house so suddenly that night?
What I love with this book is that, in classic Riley Sager fashion, there are many twists and turns. A huge twist at the end is that the paranormal events all have a very real explanation.
I recommend this book if you like murder mysteries with paranormal elements and plot twists! It is very fast past and a quick read.
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