I received a complimentary ARC copy of After Alice Fell, A Novel by Kim Taylor Blakemore from NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing in order to read and give an honest review. 

"...exquisitely written, atmospheric and rife with edge of your seat suspense that kept me captivated... " 

Author, Kim Taylor Blakemore gives us a beautifully written, suspenseful, American gothic tale brimming with family drama, secrets and lies. Set in 1865, Post Civil War New Hampshire, former army nurse and newly widowed Marion Abbott is forced to move in with her newly remarried brother, Lionel and his second wife, Cathy into their old family home filled with memories. Cathy who was best friends with Lionel's first wife Lydia is trying to establish herself as matriarch of her new family and tries hard to create a home for Marion. 

While Marion was working during the war Lionel in her absence was forced to put their mute and disturbed sister Alice in the Brawders House Asylum after he catches Alice hanging his son out of the top floor window by his ankles. When Lionel and Marion are summoned to the Asylum on scorching summer day, they learn that a despondent Alice has jumped to her death from the roof.  

Upon preparing for Alice's funeral Marion cannot bear the condition her sister's body is in; bruises and evidence of restraints do not sit right with Marion. Reeling from guilt and haunted by memories, Marion struggles to believe that her sister committed suicide. Marion's thoughts are justified when she is contacted by a witness to the incident who paints a vastly different picture that the one her family had been given. 

Marion is convinced more than ever that Alice's death was not of her own doing. Driven by sisterly love and overwhelming regret Marion is determined to get to the bottom of what happened even if it puts her in danger of a similar fate.  

I have been a fan of Kim Taylor Blakemore since I read and reviewed her novel the "The Companion" and true to form she has not disappointed with "After Alice Fell".  Both books have been exquisitely written, atmospheric and rife with edge of your seat suspense that kept me captivated to the very last page.