ARC Review | The Widow of Pale Harbor

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Widow of Pale Harbor

Author: Hester Fox

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 384

Categories: Murder Mystery, Historical Fiction, Adult, Gothic, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

A town gripped by fear. A woman accused of witchcraft. Who can save Pale Harbor from itself?

Maine, 1846. Gabriel Stone is desperate to escape the ghosts that haunt him in Massachusetts after his wife’s death, so he moves to Maine, taking a position as a minister in the remote village of Pale Harbor.

But not all is as it seems in the sleepy town. Strange, unsettling things have been happening, and the townspeople claim that only one person can be responsible: Sophronia Carver, a reclusive widow who lives with a spinster maid in the eerie Castle Carver. Sophronia must be a witch, and she almost certainly killed her husband.

As the incidents escalate, one thing becomes clear: they are the work of a twisted person inspired by the wildly popular stories of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. And Gabriel must find answers, or Pale Harbor will suffer a fate worthy of Poe’s darkest tales. 

Thank you to Graydon House and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

I just got approved to read this book though it’s been out for a month now. This is a wonderful autumn read because it has a gothic vibe to it. Mrs. Sophronia Carver is a widow and lives in a house called Castle Carver. Everyone in Pale Harbor thinks she killed her husband so she never leaves her house. Then Gabriel Stone comes to town as the new minister but he’s as mysterious as they come. There are strange things happening in Pale Harbor and Gabriel and Mrs. Carver need to find out who is behind them before people get hurt.

• The gothic atmosphere in this story is fantastic. It definitely gave me a spooky vibe with Castle Carver up on a hill, and Sophronia, the widow who barely leaves her house. Pale Harbor is the perfect place for things to go bump in the night.
• The murder mystery kept me guessing and I LOVE all the references to Edgar Allan Poe because I love Poe! The twist in the end wan’t something I expected so it definitely kept me on my toes.
• I did enjoy the romance building between Gabriel Stone and Sophronia Carver because it made her come out of her shell. Before Gabriel appears, Sophronia is shown as a very fearful person. No one in town really knew her except for the people that worked for her, which was very few. Gabriel made her feel brave.
• Helen, Sophronia’s housekeeper is more than what she seems and she came off suspicious from the start! Her relationship with Sophronia was a bit much, to the point of obsession, you can see why she was my #1 suspect!

• I wish we got to learn a more about Gabriel Stone – why am I still suspicious of him? LOL I think I wanted him to have a shadier past than he did. 😂 This book made me second guess everyone! 👀🤔

This is definitely a perfect Fall release and October mood read! It has Edgar Allah Poe references (which I adore), a mysterious widow and a minister, nefarious deeds, a little witchcraft and a lot of suspects. If you are into a gothic romantic murder mystery, this will hit the spot.