Publication Date: April 9, 2024
As the walls of the house at Predicament Avenue reveal their hidden truths, two women—generations apart—discover that fear and foreboding are no respecters of time.
In 1910, Effie James is committed to doing anything to save her younger sister, who witnessed a shocking murder, leaving her mute and in danger of the killer’s retribution. Effie must prove what her sister saw, but when a British gentleman arrives, he disrupts Effie’s quest with his attempts to locate his wife, Isabelle Addington, who was last seen at the supposed crime scene in the abandoned house at 322 Predicament Avenue. Just as Effie discovers what she seeks, she finds that the blood staining the walls will forever link her to a scandal she couldn’t imagine, and to a woman whose secrets promise to curse any who would expose them.
A century later, Norah Richman grapples with social anxiety and grief as she runs her late great-aunt’s bed-and-breakfast on Predicament Avenue. But Norah has little affection for the house and is committed only to carrying out her murdered sister’s dreams until crime historian and podcaster Sebastian Blaine arrives to investigate the ghostly legacy of the house’s claim to fame—the murder of Isabelle Addington. When a guest is found dead, the incident is linked to Isabelle’s murder, and Norah and Sebastian must work together to uncover the century-old curse that has wrapped 322 Predicament Avenue in its clutches and threatens far more than death.
Through dual storylines more than a century apart, the secrets of a deserted house unfold.
Author Jaime Jo Wright sets the tale in the small town of Shepherd, Iowa. Night Falls on Predicament Avenue delivers a ghostly tale that ties together two parallel stories.
Shifting from present day to 1901, the focus is on 322 Predicament Avenue. Two sets of characters deliver a rich contrast.
The past features a young woman named Effie, who, along with her sister, Polly, visited the abandoned house as a rite of passage. However, the screams coming from inside the allegedly abandoned house spell trouble. When a man comes to town looking for his missing wife, Effie gets involved. As the threads unravel, danger mounts.
Meanwhile, the present day features the property operating as a bed and breakfast. The owner, Naomi, suffers from anxiety and grief related to the unsolved murder of her sister. When a podcaster comes to town to tell the stories of 322 Predicament Avenue, there’s no running from the past: Ghostly sightings and the sudden appearance of her sister’s personal belongings force Naomi to search for answers.
Night Falls on Predicament Avenue serves up a well-plotted tale tying two time periods together with a ghostly twist.
Jaime Jo Wright is the author of ten novels, including Christy Award and Daphne du Maurier Award-winner The House on Foster Hill and Carol Award winner The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond. She’s also a two-time Christy Award finalist, as well as the ECPA bestselling author of The Vanishing at Castle Moreau and two Publishers Weekly bestselling novellas. Jaime lives in Wisconsin with her family and felines.
