Publication Date: July 7, 2026
From a hit true crime podcaster turned novelist, a woman’s unsettling past creeps back into her consciousness as she returns to her hometown and begins to suspect the locals are hiding a terrible secret swirling around her mother’s recent death.
When Imogen Bly’s mother suddenly passes away, she leaves her Seattle apartment and returns to Lake Blair—the picturesque Washington town where she grew up. After Imogen and her twin sister Amelia arrive, ready to pack up their mother’s home, strange things begin to happen, reminding Imogen of her long held feelings of dread surrounding her hometown.
Imogen enlists the help of her first crush, next-door neighbor Rory, to uncover the truth about her mother’s death and the traumatic event she experienced as a child. But is the boy who got away really the man with something to hide? Or is the suspicious neighbor in the house across the lake behind it all?
When Imogen’s own family’s tragedies lead her to question the disappearance of a local young woman the previous year, her persistent unease becomes terrifyingly real and suddenly nowhere feels safe …
Grief turns to fear, and you never know who is waiting around the corner in The Season of Sinking by Daphne Woolsoncroft.
Imogen and her twin sister Amelia are reeling from the loss of their mother. Knowing their childhood home needs to be cleared, they join forces to pack everything up and start fresh. But things do not go smoothly. Things are being moved, people are seen out of the corner of their eye, and strange noises are often heard. And on top of that, Amelia is keeping a secret, one that directly affects Imogen. While dealing with their grief, someone is watching from the shadows, and death is right around the corner.
I really enjoyed this thriller from Woolsoncroft. It was gripping, but the mystery and twists made sense and didn’t feel like too much of a jump. The characters were likable, and the writing flowed perfectly. I liked that the twists and connections made felt realistic and understandable. It was the perfect Mystery/Thriller to binge on the weekend!
The Season of Sinking is a heart-stopping thriller that will leave you guessing every step of the way.
Daphne Woolsoncroft is a thriller author and podcaster drawn to the shadowy corners of human nature. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she found her creative pulse deepened by the mist-laced forests and rain-slicked streets of Oregon, where she lived for several years. Her debut thriller, Night Watcher—set in gloomy Portland—was published by Hachette Books in July 2025.
Daphne is also the co-host of the acclaimed true crime podcast Going West, which she created with her husband, Heath Merryman, in 2019. In January 2025, they were acquired by the Unwell Network.
When she’s not chasing down stories of the strange and sinister, Daphne can be found sinking into films at the cinema or curled up on the couch of her Los Angeles home with a good book -preferably a literary classic or terrifying modern horror- alongside her loyal English bulldog, Dewey.
