This gothic thriller is a good one for those of us who like to 'join in' and solve the mystery.

I was hooked and had great fun trying to follow the clues and help Charlie and Simm.

I enjoyed the setting and the story unfolded beautifully. There is a mansion filled with secrets, a mystery of double dealing and loads of drama.

Cahrlie and Simm are fabulous characters and they are on the case of a missing family fortune. There are lots of additonal characters that keep the mystery alive and I think this is a very good read.

I wasn’t sure how I felt coming into this book as I at first wasn’t particularly in the mood for a gothic thriller but with its publication date coming this week on July 3rd, I wanted to make sure to get it done.

Thankfully my mood changed very quickly as I got entrenched into the world that AJ McCarthy created. The book was definitely engaging and filled with twists and turns, some predictable and some not. It was a very well written book which definitely put the reader into the creepy run down mansion of a setting.

On a side note if there was a real life setting such as this, which I’m sure there is somewhere, it would have been a perfect marketing opportunity to do a “giveaway” of an k weight experience in said place like what Simon and Schuster did with A J Barkers newest release. But I digress…

If you’re looking for a thriller that will keep you on your toes and draw you into the prose, this is a perfect read for you!
It comes out July 3, 2025 .

I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary eARC from Black Rose Writing through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again