Publication Date: October 7, 2025
Hong Kong, 1953: In a remote mansion, witnesses insist a massacre took place. The police see nothing but pristine rooms and declare it a collective hallucination. Until decades later, when one witness returns…from the Edgar®-nominated author of The Last Russian Doll.
In 1950s Hong Kong, Mei is a young refugee of the Chinese Communist revolution struggling to put her past in Shanghai behind her. When she receives a shocking invitation—to take part in a competition in one of the city’s most notorious haunted houses, pitting six spirit mediums against one another in a series of six séances over six nights, until a single winner emerges—she has every reason to refuse.
Except that the hostess, a former Shanghainese silent film star, is none other than the wife of the man who once destroyed Mei’s entire life.
It is promised the winner will receive a fortune, but there is only one prize Mei wants: revenge.
Decades later, the final night of that competition has become an infamous urban legend: The police were called to the scene of a brutal massacre but found no evidence, dismissing it as a collective hallucination. Mei knows what she saw, but now someone else is convinced they know what she did. She must uncover the truth about the last night she ever spent in that house—even if the ghosts of her past are waiting for her there. . . .
At 85, Mei returns to Hong Kong to discover the truth about a fateful night that spawned an urban legend.
Author Kristen Loesch crafts a Gothic-type tale that unfolds throughout three periods of time, all of which combine into an unforgettable story. The Hong Kong Widow certainly includes an element of horror mixed with historical Chinese fiction.
Opening in 2015, Mei pitches the promise of the real story about Maidenhair House to her author daughter as a way to distract Susanna, who has been caught up in grief.
Background from Mei’s childhood as a young girl in 1937 adds context for her eventual flight to Hong Kong as a refugee and the invitation in 1953 to compete against five other spirit mediums.
What ensues is an intricate tale representing Hong Kong’s rich tradition of ghostly tales. While the ghosts are more the internal kind than the “jump out and scare you type,” the author blends in historical aspects to set the tone.
The Hong Kong Widow delivers a thought-provoking story connecting past and present.
Kristen Loesch grew up in San Francisco. She holds a BA in history as well as a master’s degree in Slavonic studies from the University of Cambridge. Her first novel, The Last Russian Doll, was a finalist for the Edgar® Award and has been published in twelve territories. She lives with her family in Switzerland.
