Publication Date: January 28, 2025
It takes a special family to turn a home into a nightmare.
Since her husband’s unsolved murder three years ago, Iris Blodgett’s life has unraveled. Awash in grief and buried in debt, she can’t pay her mortgage—and now that she’s lost her job, she has no idea how she’ll provide for her unruly teenage daughter, Ellory.
Facing eviction, Iris turns to her new beau, prominent architect Hugh Smoll, for a shoulder to cry on. But the seemingly perfect Hugh offers her something more: an invitation to move in to his mother’s centuries-old mansion while he renovates the property.
It seems like the perfect solution, but when Iris and Ellory arrive at Ravencliff, the family inside isn’t quite what they expected. Iris didn’t even know Hugh had siblings, much less that they’d all be living together.
With repairs underway, the house gives up its dark secrets one by one. Before long, Iris unearths a chilling family history—and the terrifying reason she and Ellory were invited in the first place…
Starting over is precisely what Iris Blodgett needs. With no job and way too much debt, her boyfriend’s offer of a place to stay sounds perfect.
Little does she realize what she and her teen daughter are agreeing to. Author Katie Garner delivers a tightly woven historical thriller centering around a centuries-old mansion undergoing renovation.
Readers will find a news report within the first few pages of The Family Inside detailing a horrific discovery. However, the author then goes back eight days to fill in the backstory. Iris and Emory find a house full of secret rooms, along with the boyfriend’s unexpected family members.
The author delivers twists and turns to keep readers guessing as we move to the present day (and 29 days after). The time shifts are handled smoothly, with secrets unraveling as the days go by.
The Family Inside will hook you with the Gothic-like atmosphere, but it will keep you turning pages with all of the suspenseful twists.
Katie Garner was born in New York and grew up in New Jersey. She has a degree in Art History from Ramapo College and is certified to teach high school Art. She hoards paperbacks, coffee mugs, and dog toys and can be seen holding at least one of those things most of the time. Katie lives in a New Jersey river town with her husband, little boy, and shih-poo where she writes books about women and their dark, secret selves. The Night It Ended is her debut novel.
