A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

 

What's It About:

A haunting Southern Gothic from an award-winning master of suspense, A House With Good Bones explores the dark, twisted roots lurking just beneath the veneer of a perfect home and family.

"Mom seems off."

Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone. She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out. But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above. To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.

What I Thought: 

For a short book (243 pages) this felt like an effective slow burn. The book starts out so very normal, so very...familiar. A mother and her daughter, reuniting after a while apart. Enjoying their time together and all that...comforting even. So why does the dread creep in the background? Why did I feel unease and unsettled right from the start? 

Oh yeah! Because this book is creepy! I can't place my finger on exactly when the creepy started to leak out between the normal, but it was there. 

I loved the dynamic between Sam and her Mother, Edie. They truly were a mother and daughter duo that loved each other and understood/knew each other so very well. That was refreshing! Kingfisher didn't fall into the "Mommy Dearest" trap (at least not for Edie). 

When the real spooks started to happen, they really happened. It went from "Eh that's weird..." to "Batshitholynutballs insane..." in a blink. I loved it!

The ending was intense and worked!

I think that you can probably guess that I enjoyed this one very much! I really did! I can say that I recommend this one!