So obviously there were some plot holes I couldn't quite get over... but putting that aside this was a decent thriller. I didn't guess the ending - which I have a very bad habit of doing. But the ending did seem very rushed and I had to reread many parts to see if I just read that right. But I did enjoy plenty of the other plot twists along the way that kept me wanting to read more. One might question Helen's decision to go along with the move without seeing the house or understanding what challenges awaited her. It seems she sacrificed everything to accommodate George, who can come across as rather foolish. This dynamic adds depth to the story, providing intriguing material for the unfolding events. The strength of their relationship is now at stake as they face the mysteries lurking within the house. This was an awesome book involving murder, poison, and family secrets so how can you not love that? Helen and George have moved to Cornwall and begun renovations on a very old house. But from the moment they begin, there’s trouble. Oh, there are the usual careless builders who break things, show up early without warning, etc. But then they find a doll hidden in the wall, strange jars buried in the yard, and other creepy discoveries about the place. Soon after there’s an accident with one of the workers, and Helen’s about ready to leave. But George has a secret about this house and he can’t leave, yet. He has work to do. This is a book with both characters you will love to hate but also love ! Filled with twists and turns at every corner, the amount of suspense kept me on edge the entire time ! I flippin’ loved this book! For Helen and George, the remote fixer-upper in Cornwall was supposed to be a dream home, and a way to leave behind the problems they’re both running from. But something about the place feels wrong from day one. And why does Helen have a creeping feeling she’s seen this house before?

This was a well written thriller with a little eeriness added to it with the isolated setting, witchcraft, murder and secrets. The husband and wife had their good qualities but something about them made me kind of dislike them too. The best character in this and by far the most likeable was Janna, the convicted killer of three murders decades ago. This keeps you on your feet and we'll invested in the story. I would of liked a little more from the epilogue but otherwise a great read. Four Stars. The Dead Ground is the second installment in the Paula McGuire book series. It begins from where, The Lost, the first installment had left off from. The protagonist, Paula McGuire is still a forensic psychologist who resides in the small town of Ballyterrin, North Ireland. Paula lives with her father, who is a former policeman, while at the same time she is still chasing the ghost of her mother that has constantly been haunting her. With that said, Paula is an exceedingly likable character, who made lots of mistakes, with Aiden O’Hara, the newspaper owner, and DI-Guy, her boss. However, despite the number of mistakes that Paula has done, she still has work to do, considering the fact that a baby has been snatched from the hospital and everyone is racing against time to locate the missing baby. Apart from having the theme of pregnancy, this book also has the theme of missing babies, which proved to be both compelling and disturbing at the same time. Claire McGowan grew up in a small village in Northern Ireland. After a degree in English and French from Oxford University she moved to London and worked in the charity sector. She is currently the Director of the Crime Writers’ Association.

I love creative POVs, and this one is particularly interesting because it provides a perspective that is both impartial and biased, personal and detached. It also starts the story with a heavy dose of foreshadowing that immediately interested me. The story is told by multiple POVs. I enjoyed seeing the story unfold from each characters point of view. I think Janna’s storyline was my favorite; Probably held the meat of the story. With only 5 chapters, the story dragged at times; maybe this will change with the final book. The book description had me intrigued from the start; A house full of secrets, sinister dolls, and a triple murder, sign me up. Did the book fully deliver everything it had promised me? Sadly, no.

My inner devious child peeked out this week and I got a bit jealous ! Whoa! I would love to say that is unlike me but who am I kidding. I can be a jealous brat 🤗 This book took me a hot minute to get through, because I cannot concentrate on reading for the life of me. ANyways, it started off promising in comparison to her last stanker Are You Awake?. Suspicious things were occurring, and I was invested in the lite witchcraft storyline. Don't worry, there's no supernatural stuff involved. I liked this story, don’t get me wrong. It had an interesting premise and creepy vibe. I liked how the narrators fleshed out the story slowly and provided some good twists along the way. I really like character Janna and her sections. The ending was satisfying but the final chapter by Margaret was quite sad and dark.The husband was someone that I would completely despise. But, I also didn't like anyone else, really. Some things I did enjoy: Janna's story was really interesting and I liked the healing/witchcraft bits. The characters were all well written and the house setting was atmospheric (although being from Penzance myself I couldn't quite work out where the fictional village was supposed to be). I was 100% on board. Everything unwinds slowly and carefully. I even stayed up until the early hours of the morning, despite having to get up early for work the next day. Claire McGowan is a well-established author who penned her first book in her native, Rostrevor when she was only nine years old. When penning her first novel, McGowan was still in primary school, and she admits that the novel was not interesting at all. 19 years later, McGowan wrote her first novel, The Fall, which ensured that she made a name for herself in the Northern Ireland’s list of top notch writers. According to McGowan, her first novel, The Fall was completely a surprise to her because when penning it down, she completely had no idea that she was working on a crime fiction novel. This is mainly because Claire McGowan believed that crime novels were mainly whodunits and detective novels. However, later on, Claire McGowan discovered that there were so much involved in the crime fiction genre. What is exhilarating about this novel, is that it takes place during a time when the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are working hand in hand so as to find out what happened to the missing people such as Paula’s mother, who had mysteriously disappeared during the Troubles. Some of the missing people were believed to have been captured by the paramilitaries, while other people believed that the missing people had decided to run away. In this installment, Paula’s family is not the only family that has lost a loved one. Apart from Paula, we are also introduced to other pivotal characters such as Paula’s boyfriend, Aiden who is in charge of the local newspaper. Aiden’s father who was the editor and the owner of the newspaper was murdered because the IRA were not happy with the stories that he wrote.