by Carol Goodman

When I read in the description of this book that it will appeal to people who loved The Thirteenth Tale, I had to read it. The Thirteenth Tale is one of my all time favorites and Return to Wyldcliffe Heights didn’t disappoint.

Agnes Corey has turned her life around after a troubled childhood. She has a new job working as a junior editor at a small publishing company. The publishing company’s best selling book was The Secret of Wyldcliffe Heights by Veronica St. Clair but the company is struggling financially and will have to close if things don’t get better. For years everyone has been asking for a sequel to this book but the author has become reclusive in her crumbling mansion after a devastating fire that left her blind. Agnes and her mother loved The Secret of Wyldecliffe Heights and on a whim she writes to Veronica St. Clair asking her to please write a sequel. If the publishing company can get the sequel, they won’t have to close the business. When Agnes unexpectantly gets a response that Veronica St. Clair will dictate the sequel to Agnes if she comes to her mansion in the Hudson Valley to live there while she takes down the story.

Agnes arrives at Wyldcliffe but soon realizes that things are not as they seem. The creepy caregiver isn’t happy that she is there and Agnes begins to have strange dreams as reality begins to blur. As Veronica dictates the twisted story, Agnes begins to see parallels with her own life and what really happened thirty years before at Wyldcliffe Heights.

Return to Wyldcliffe Heights has everything that a mystery with gothic elements should have: a creepy, crumbling mansion that was once a psychiatric home for young women, a sinister housekeeper, twists and turns, a reclusive writer, a burned out tower and fog. Lots of fog! Fans of Jane Eyre, The Thirteenth Tale and Rebecca will love Return to Wyldcliffe Heights.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the advanced reading copy.