Review: Secrets of Hallstead House

Secrets of Hallstead House by Amy M. Reade

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Macy Stoddard had hoped to ease the grief of losing her parents in a fiery car crash by accepting a job as a private nurse to the wealthy and widowed Alexandria Hallstead. But her first sight of Summerplace is of a dark and forbidding home. She quickly finds its winding halls and shadowy rooms filled with secrets and suspicions. Alex seems happy to have Macy’s help, but others on the island, including Alex’s sinister servants and hostile relatives, are far less welcoming. Watching eyes, veiled threats…slowly, surely, the menacing spirit of Hallstead Island closes in around Macy. And she can only wonder if her story will become just one of the many secrets of Hallstead House…


REVIEW:

The Secrets of Hallstead House was definitely full of secrets, even secrets about Macy (the new nurse) that she did not even know herself. This wonderfully suspicious story was full of beautiful descriptions of the setting. The house is among many islands that have only one home on them and the main travel is done via boat to town or to visit others. This was fascinating to me since I live nowhere near that type if situation.

Alex and Macy get along great from the beginning when Macy arrives to be Alex's nurse, doing exercises to assist Alex's recovery from a broken hip. Alex is apparently one of the only people who want Macy on the island though.

Action and suspense picks up quickly as Macy goes from having a rock thrown through her bedroom door, her album taken, getting locked & blocked into rooms, to finally much worse.

The book seemed to take on an old type mystery where there are a few suspects and they try different methods to "smoke" them out. The culprit is thought to have murdered Alex's daughter and husband already, at different times that were then thought accidents. OH, I'm afraid not. As more is uncovered the situation becomes more deadly.

* I hate spoilers, but Macy finds that she is personally invested in seeing the murderer caught, not just as a duty to a patient, but for a much more important reason as well. I won't tell! You have to read it.

I loved this advanced reader's copy I received for an honest review. The characters were mysterious enough to keep me guessing and I loved that the story did actually have an ending rather than go on & on.



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