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A Novel
by Julie Doar
A layered exploration of family secrets, sibling misconceptions, and an unsolved murder in this chilling debut set in New York's Dutchess County.
When Marlowe Fisher, an illustrator living in New York City, returns to her family's bewitching Hudson Valley home for the holidays, she discovers a body in the woods―a murder that draws her back into the haunting case of her teenage best friend's disappearance two decades earlier. What happened to Nora?
As police descend on the sprawling Fisher property, Marlowe is pulled into an investigation that threatens to unravel the town's fragile loyalties and expose the shadowed legacy of a weekend home steeped in secrets. Marlowe must confront the fallibility of her own memory and the feeling that everyone―including her brothers―is hiding something if she's to uncover the shocking truth about her lost friend. In this gripping debut, Julie Doar delivers a chilling mystery that explores the corrosive power of silence and the tension of family secrets.
"The narrative culminates in a heartbreaking finale that will haunt readers long after the final page is turned. Doar nails it on her first time out." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"This slow-build suspense novel is a strong debut; gothic elements abound, as the land around Gray House is almost its own character and the story moves between the past and present. The Gallagher Place is an unsettling page-turner, perfect for fans of Jennifer McMahon and Sarah Strohmeyer." ―Booklist
"A strong sense of place is central to this chilling novel about old secrets and what one might choose to uncover or keep hidden. The Gallagher Place is dramatically atmospheric, expertly paced, and haunting." ―Shelf Awareness
"A spellbinding mystery of buried secrets and family ties, set in Rip Van Winkle's Hudson River Valley. In page after chilling page, the haunting revelations pile up in this shocking debut that resonates with the emotional weight of loss―and the even darker truths that can lie beneath it. Julie Doar is a promising new voice in suspense fiction." ―Lloyd Devereux Richards, author of Stone Maidens
"Haunting and atmospheric, The Gallagher Place is a pulse-quickening ride through a beautiful but threatening landscape that will keep you turning pages late into the night. I loved it!" ―Katie Sise, author of The Vacation Rental
This information about The Gallagher Place was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Julie Doar grew up in the Hudson Valley with her family, where she enjoyed exploring the rolling countryside. After graduating from Rice University, she worked as a Starbucks barista by day and a ghostwriter by night. She currently teaches middle-school English at a charter school in Brooklyn. The Gallagher Place is her first novel.
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