Review: Night Falls on Predicament Avenue
Today, I’m sharing a book review of Night Falls on Predicament Avenue, a mystery/suspense novel by Jaime Jo Wright.
Disclosure: I voluntarily received a complimentary copy from the author as part of Austenprose PR publicity tours. All views expressed are my own. This post includes Amazon affiliate links.
My Review
Night Falls on Predicament Avenue is the story of a haunted house. Sort of. It’s not haunted in what we think of as the supernatural way, but with a couple of murders (or unexplained deaths) within its walls, stories do get around.
The novel follows a dual timeline with the old house: one story takes place in 1910 involving two sisters, one of whom witnessed “something” in the house–and the other is set in the present, focusing on the current owner who has turned the house into a bed and breakfast.
There are definitely spooky moments. This is not a cozy mystery. It’s more of what I think of as a gothic novel. However, it includes an element of Christian faith which is what redeems it and makes it worth reading.
From the Publisher
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.
About the Author
Jaime Jo Wright (JaimeWrightBooks.com) is the author of ten novels, including Christy Award and Daphne du Maurier Award-winner The House on Foster Hill and Carol Award winner The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond. She’s also a two-time Christy Award finalist, as well as the ECPA bestselling author of The Vanishing at Castle Moreau and two Publishers Weekly bestselling novellas. Jaime lives in Wisconsin with her family and felines.
