First published 2021
Marigold moves to Cedarville with her blended family, hoping to escape her troubled past. Her mother takes a job with the Sterling Foundation, which provides them a renovated house on Maple Street. The perfect home sits oddly among rundown properties, watched by suspicious neighbors. Mari must share the space with her ten-year-old stepsister Piper, who immediately becomes a source of tension. Strange events plague the house from the start. Objects disappear without explanation. Doors swing open by themselves. Lights flicker off randomly. Shadows move through empty rooms. Voices echo from inside the walls. A terrible odor drifts through the vents that only Mari can smell. Piper claims she has made a new friend who wants Mari to leave. As these incidents escalate, Mari realizes the house itself may be turning against her. The problems extend beyond their home into Cedarville itself, where hidden truths lurk beneath the surface. Mari must confront both supernatural forces and human conspiracies that threaten her family's safety and her own sanity.
Genres: mystery, horror, supernatural, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: haunted-house, supernatural-mystery
Setting: Cedarville, Maple Street
Period: contemporary
373 pages · Hardcover · Quill Tree Books
Content warnings: anxiety, depression