My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

Rachel, my torment. Philip Ashley lives in a Cornish manor with his Uncle Ambrose who essentially raised him. Both men are contented bachelors until a woman named Rachel lures Ambrose into a sudden marriage that ends tragically. When Rachel returns from Italy alone, Philip is determined to be quickly rid of the witch and her…

The Child by Fiona Barton

Emma is an at-home book editor, riddled with anxiety, cowed by her domineering mother, Jude and her unusual upbringing. She wishes she knew who her father was, and struggles to forgive her mother for kicking her out of the house as a young teenager. Jude never got over the subsequent loss of her charismatic boyfriend,…

The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley

A very astute Catholic boy loves to play soldiers and other adventure games with his mute brother Hanny. But the young boys’ wanderings along dangerous coastal tides and discovery of a rifle will lead to such monstrosities (especially in the surrounding woods one night), that Hanny will suppress the memories as an adult, leaving only…

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

In a Dark, Dark Wood is a large house with glass walls, host to a “hen party” weekend that ends with Leonora Shaw in a hospital room. Narrated from her hospital room, Nora tries to piece together her memories and heal from the injuries of the last violent night in the isolated cabin. Nora hadn’t…

River Road by Carol Goodman

Nan Lewis is a creative writing professor at Acheron College in upstate New York. Tormented by the tragic death of their young daughter on the dangerous bend of River Road, her husband Evan left Nan to crawl inside a bottle every night. In the evenings after teaching, Nan still hides there from her writing, which…

The Lake House by Kate Morton

Buried deep in the woods in Cornwall, England, is a home that hasn’t been inhabited in 40 years. The house by the lake, Loeanneth, is stumbled upon by a young detective named Sadie. She is on a forced holiday from work for becoming obsessed with a case of an abandoned toddler, which holds more of…