The Suicide House
A Gripping and Brilliant Novel of Suspense
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- £8.99
Publisher Description
An Apple Books Best of the Month Selection
A Publishers Weekly Summer Reads 2020 Editors’ Pick
A Library Journal “12 Novels Featuring Protagonists on the Autism Spectrum” Selection
A chilling murder in a prestigious prep school is at the heart of this riveting novel from acclaimed author Charlie Donlea, featuring forensic reconstructionist Rory Moore and her psychologist partner, Lane Phillips.
Inside the walls of Indiana’s elite Westmont Preparatory High School, expectations run high and rules are strictly enforced. But in the woods beyond the manicured campus sits an abandoned boarding house, infamous among Westmont’s students as a late-night hangout. Here, only one rule applies: don’t let your candle go out—unless you want the Man in the Mirror to find you . . .
One year ago, two students were killed there in a grisly slaughter. The case has become the focus of a hit podcast, The Suicide House. Though a teacher was convicted of the murders, questions remain. The most urgent: why so many students who survived that horrific night have returned to the boarding house—to kill themselves. Rory is working on the podcast with Lane, recreating the night of the killings in order to find the elusive answers. But the more they learn, the more convinced they are that the sinister game inside Westmont Prep hasn’t ended. It thrives on secrecy and silence. And for its players, there may be no way to win—or to survive . . .
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Who knew prep school—and podcasting—could be fatal? An abandoned house at the outskirts of a posh Indiana prep-school campus has become the site of several eerie student deaths. After a true-crime podcaster discovers some horrifying secrets involving a secret society and a shadowy figure known as the Man in the Mirror, he winds up dead, leaving forensic detective Rory Moore and criminal psychologist Lane Phillips to piece this disturbing story together. Author Charlie Donlea’s compelling crime fighters are fascinating and endearing characters we loved spending time with. As the mystery deepens, things get grisly, but the repartee between Rory and Lane made us chuckle even when we were chilled to the bone.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Donlea's gripping sequel to 2019's Some Choose Darkness finds Chicago forensic reconstructionist Rory Moore, who specializes in cold case homicides, investigating a string of bizarre deaths at a prestigious Indiana prep school. A year after two students are murdered in an abandoned boarding house near Westmont Preparatory High School and an implicated teacher commits suicide, those who witnessed the brutal aftermath of the carnage begin taking their own lives. A popular true crime podcast focusing on the unexplained deaths shines a new light on the school, and Rory becomes obsessed with solving the mystery. With her love interest, former FBI criminal profiler Lane Phillips, sidelined after being injured in a blast that killed the podcast's host, Rory is largely on her own. Multiple intertwining story lines keep the pacing brisk and the tension high throughout. But the book's real strength is the idiosyncratic Rory, who suffers from OCD and is on the autism spectrum, a deeply developed character readers can't help rooting for. Hopefully, she'll be back soon.
