Long before I began writing suspense novels of my own, I loved stories filled with shadowy houses, buried family secrets, and heroines who could never be certain whom or what to trust.
Authors such as Phyllis A. Whitney, Victoria Holt, and Mary Stewart were
masters at creating that atmosphere. Their books drew readers into unfamiliar
places where danger seemed to hide behind every locked door. The setting became
almost as important as the characters, and the past was never truly finished
with the present.
Those novels taught me that suspense doesn’t always arrive with an
explosion or a gunshot. Sometimes it begins with a sound in an empty room. A
door that should be locked but isn’t. A photograph that raises more questions
than it answers. Or a memory that returns in fragments—and may not mean what
you think it does.
I’ve always wanted to write one of those stories and so when I began
writing The Memory House, I had the opportunity to step beyond the kind
of romantic suspense I usually write and explore something different: a
psychological thriller with gothic undertones.
It was both exciting and a little intimidating.
Coldwater Hollow is a crumbling Victorian estate in rural Oregon filled
with locked rooms, hidden passages, old journals, and disturbing recordings.
But the true darkness in the story doesn’t come from anything supernatural. It
comes from the secrets people keep, the damage families inflict in the name of
protection, and the frightening realization that our own memories may not
always be trustworthy.
At the center of the story is Elise Warren, a grief counselor who has
spent her life helping others confront painful losses while avoiding the
unanswered questions from her own childhood. Returning to Coldwater Hollow
forces her to face those questions—and to uncover the truth about a mysterious
little girl named Ivy.
Writing Elise’s story allowed me to explore memory, identity, trauma, and
the ways our minds sometimes protect us from truths we aren’t ready to face. It
also let me return to the kind of atmospheric suspense I loved as a reader,
while giving it my own contemporary psychological twist.
Here’s more about The Memory House:
Some truths aren’t buried.
They’re hidden inside us.
When grief counselor Elise Warren inherits Coldwater Hollow, the
crumbling Victorian estate of her estranged father, she expects to settle his
affairs and finally leave the past behind.
Instead, she finds hidden journals, secret recordings, and evidence that
her father’s controversial psychological treatments may have harmed more than
they healed.
As Elise digs deeper, fragments of her childhood begin surfacing—memories
of a frightened girl named Ivy, whispered warnings from her long-missing
mother, and a darkness lurking beneath the house itself.
But the more Elise uncovers, the less she trusts her own mind.
Someone has been inside Coldwater Hollow.
Someone is watching her search for answers.
And someone desperately wants one missing piece of evidence to stay
buried.
Because if Elise remembers what really happened twenty years ago, she may
discover that the greatest mystery was never what happened to Ivy.
It’s who Ivy was.
And the truth could destroy everything she believes about herself.
I’m giving away an eBook copy of The Memory House to one reader!
To enter, leave a comment answering this question:
Do you enjoy suspense novels featuring old houses and long-buried family
secrets? If so, who is your favorite book in this genre that has stayed with
you?
Be sure to include your email when you respond. I can’t wait to hear your
answers, and perhaps discover a few new books to add to my own reading list.
Mary
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