Kim Taylor Blakemore's new novel, The Companion, is her adult debut in historical mystery.At CrimeReads she tagged seven books that represent the transformation of the Gothic heroine from victim to strong and dangerous, including:
The Weight of Lies, by Emily CarpenterThe Weight of Lies is among Wendy Webb's eight best modern gothic mysteries.
In Emily Carpenter’s modern-day gothic, a mother, Frances Ashley, writes a horror novel that becomes a bestseller – and may or may not be true. Her daughter Meg lives in the shadow of her mother’s fame, not able to find her own way. Meg is offered a contract to write a tell-allbook about her mother and the book, Kitten. Meg sees this as a way to break off completely with her mother, and jets off to Bonny Island, a long, low, isolated island of the southern eastern seaboard with one run-down hotel, a band of wild horses, and the real-life woman Frances Ashley accused of murder in her novel. Doro Kitchens—the Kitten to the cultish readers of the book—might or might not have murdered another girl when she was young. Meg is soon entangled in the secrets and stories of the island, in the said and unsaid, in the lies and delusions of Doro Kitchens. The twists come fast and furious, and the overarching dread is as thick as the humid air.
Read about the other entries on the list.
--Marshal Zeringue
Posts
