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by Kristen Loesch
Hong Kong, 1953: In a remote mansion, witnesses insist a massacre took place. The police see nothing but pristine rooms and declare it a collective hallucination. Until decades later, when one witness returns…from the Edgar®-nominated author of The Last Russian Doll.
In 1950s Hong Kong, Mei is a young refugee of the Chinese Communist revolution struggling to put her past in Shanghai behind her. When she receives a shocking invitation—to take part in a competition in one of the city's most notorious haunted houses, pitting six spirit mediums against one another in a series of six séances over six nights, until a single winner emerges—she has every reason to refuse.
Except that the hostess, a former Shanghainese silent film star, is none other than the wife of the man who once destroyed Mei's entire life.
It is promised the winner will receive a fortune, but there is only one prize Mei wants: revenge.
Decades later, the final night of that competition has become an infamous urban legend: The police were called to the scene of a brutal massacre but found no evidence, dismissing it as a collective hallucination. Mei knows what she saw, but now someone else is convinced they know what she did. She must uncover the truth about the last night she ever spent in that house—even if the ghosts of her past are waiting for her there... .
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (10/16/2025)
I finished The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue on my Kindle and The Hong Kong Widow by Kristen Loesch, which was my commuting audiobook. I really enjoyed both of these. This weekend I flew through Gone Before Goodbye by Harlen Coben and Reese Withersp...
-Cheri_Mcelroy
"Impeccably researched, beautifully written, and completely terrifying, this book will appeal to readers of Tananarive Due and Silvia Moreno-Garcia." —Booklist (starred review)
"The Hong Kong Widow is a tour de force: tense, emotional, poetic, and utterly unputdownable…. Kristen Loesch is a major talent, and I can't wait to see what she does next!" —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network
"This book had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish! The Hong Kong Widow is gripping, suspenseful, terrifying, filled with shocking twists and turns. But it's also exquisitely written and heartbreaking—a masterful, immersive work about mothers and daughters, trauma and healing, longing and vengeance. Unforgettable." —Amy Chua, New York Times bestselling author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
This information about The Hong Kong Widow 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.
Kristen Loesch grew up in San Francisco. She holds a BA in history as well as a master's degree in Slavonic studies from the University of Cambridge. Her first novel, The Last Russian Doll, was a finalist for the Edgar® Award and has been published in twelve territories. She lives with her family in Switzerland.

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