Thia, a woman in her late twenties, has aspirations of one day running a boutique hotel. With an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for hospitality, it’s no surprise that as soon as she wins the lottery she starts pursuing her dream right away. Blairmont Manor seems like the perfect location for her business, but shortly after she moves in, strange events lead her to believe the historic mansion may not actually be empty. Intriguing, eerie, and suspenseful, The Bell Lady of Blairmont Manor is a fast-paced paranormal thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Jean briskly builds up the spooks, squeaks, and stomps, and before long Thia starts to wonder what presence in the house is opening drawers and rattling doorknobs. At a town hall meeting, Thia learns that Carol sells the house every couple of years, and the commission goes to the town to maintain the estate, leading her to suspect that someone is trying to scare her off the property so the town can sell it again. As Thia digs into the history behind the mansion, the truth of a past murder in the house seeps out, launching her into a methodical journey through logic, suspicion, and downright fear.
Eventually, Thia decides her business hinges on puzzling out the sinister machinations infesting the house, and she goes to great lengths to do so. Readers will be swept into Thia’s hunt for the truth, and Jean skillfully juxtaposes Thia’s exuberant ambitions with the house’s determination to stay exactly as it is, exclusive of Thia’s meddling plans. The writing is richly detailed and sufficiently creepy, and readers will cheer on the level-headed Thia right up until the shocking conclusion.
Takeaway: A chilling battle between an ambitious woman and a ghost for ownership of a gothic mansion.
Great for fans of: Jaime Jo Wright’s The House on Foster Hill; Darcy Coates’s Craven Manor.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: NA
Editing: A+
Marketing copy: A
