Jane has always been logical and self controlled. Now, with her guardians moving on Jane makes the logical decision to marry. From a list she compiled, Jane has chosen to ask Dr. Augustine Lawrence to enter into what she considers a business arrangement. She will keep his books and reside at his surgery while he resides at Lindridge Hall. Despite their differences, an attraction forms. Dr. Augustine agrees to the match with the caveat Jane must never enter Lindridge. However, on the first night of their marriage, a mistake places the pair at Lindridge and Augustine becomes unhinged as the night progresses. With each night Jane stays at Lindridge she watches Augustine change. Jane also uncovers a bevy of secrets that open doubts in her union and begins to believe in the secrets of Lindridge herself. As Augustine succumbs to the terrors surrounding him, he believes Jane is an apparition and he attempts to kill her. In a desperate attempt for her life, Jane unleashes something she never believed she could do; but the consequences of her actions might be her undoing.

The Death of Jane Lawrence is a highly atmospheric gothic romance. From the beginning, I was transported into the alternate history of Great Beltraine where magic is possible. Jane and Augustine fill the trope of a marriage for convenience. I loved Jane's character with her persistent logic, pursuit of knowledge and willingness to open herself up to emotions and the supernatural. Augustine is a curious character from the beginning. I enjoyed the care he took in his surgery, it was obvious that he truly cared for his patients and was skilled at his job; however, it was also clear that he was hiding something big. Jane and Augustine seem to fit together perfectly, even though they shouldn't. Lindridge Hall is the biggest character, with locked rooms, mysterious shadows and plenty of secrets to uncover, Lindridge is the quintessential gothic setting. With the addition of magic a whole new world of suspense and possibilities opens up to Jane. I was amazed at how well Jane took to magic her mind opened up to it. With more magic, Lindridge opens more doors to Jane. The writing took me on a wild ride and thoroughly explored LIndridge and the effects of magic. With the creation of a truly unique setting and an even more interesting romance, The Death of Jane Lawrence is the perfect mind-bending gothic horror.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers for an advanced copy of The Death of Jane Lawrence in exchange for an honest review. This story follows Jane, a woman that is seeking a platonic marriage of convenience so that she is no longer the responsibility of her foster family. She meets with Augustine Lawrence, a local doctor, who eventually agrees to her proposal. But she’s never allowed to stay overnight at his family home, Lindrige Hall. As things tend to go in stories, the first night they are married, Jane’s carriage is washed off the road on its way to town by a rain storm, so the only alternative is that Jane walks back and stays the night with Augustine at Lindrige Hall. This is when things start to get creepy.
I really liked Jane. I thought her backstory and character development were well done. We didn’t get her life’s story dumped on us, but instead got to know her as the story developed. We learned that she was a level headed, logical woman. But the things happening at Lindrige Hall were anything but logical. It was really interesting to see Jane in a situation where her brain couldn’t use reason and logic to explain what was going on around her. I liked Augustine, too. He had secrets that he never thought he would have to share with Jane. It was a marriage of convenience, after all. But when his secrets start coming out, the reader isn’t left with a clear idea of whether or not Augustine is a good or bad person. He was a complicated man and Jane’s growing romantic feelings for him didn’t make things any easier.
The mystery and weirdness of Lindrige Hall made this story excellently spooky. There are ghosts, we think. But they might not actually be ghosts. There’s magic, but is magic actually real? I guess it’s only real if you believe that it’s real. There was so much that defied the logic that Jane depended upon and this really added some confusion to the story, in a good way.
Overall, The Death of Jane Lawrence is the perfect book for October. It’s creepy and atmospheric. It’s weird and confusing. It leaves the reader wondering ‘what the heck is actually going on?’ But all the things that the reader learns are wrapped up for the most part by the end of the story. I liked the characters, the setting, and the magic. I would definitely recommend this one and I will be seeking out Starling’s backlist very soon.

The Death of Jane Lawrence is a fabulously unsettling read for Halloween, or any time of year. Haunting and labyrinthine, with the chilling logic of a nightmare, Caitlin Starling's Gothic tale introduces a marvelously eerie setting in the maybe-haunted Lindridge Hall, and an intriguingly ruthless, brilliant heroine in Jane. The story feels classic and deliciously reminiscent of some of my favorite older haunted house stories, while being entirely fresh and inventive. I loved every page, from the grotesque to the sublime, and highly recommend to fans of gothic classics like Rebecca and The Turn of the Screw or more modern options such as Mexican Gothic and The Little Stranger.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance review copy!

CWs include: Body horror, medical trauma, pregnancy trauma

“The infinite and zero were one. Except that the infinite was the greatest thing in the world, and zero was nothing at all. They were opposite. They were the same.”

The Gist: A sensible marriage to a seemingly friendly doctor takes a spooky turn when Jane visits his crumbling estate on their wedding night.

My Thoughts: This was marketed as being inspired by Crimson Peak, a movie I absolutely love, along with other classic gothic novels. And while I loved the gothic sensibilities here, including a run-down manor, a husband with secrets, and the possibility of ghosts and magic, it kind of fizzled for me in the end.

I usually like metaphysical, timey-wimey, mindbending stuff, but this didn't quite work for me for some reason. I think it’s that the magic system in this alt-Great Britain was a little too obtuse for me to wrap my mind around. I’ve seen comparisons to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, but that (incredible) novel had a much more logical thread to its magic and consequences.

All that said, I had fun with it. I liked seeing straitlaced Jane turn to madness as she tries to comprehend the horrors around her. Some of the descriptions of the spirits and the hauntings were truly scary. And all the talk of Victorian-era surgical practices? Not for the faint of heart.

The premise of this book – a gothic mix of magic, medicine and possible madness, and set in an alternate version of England – really appealed to me. And it fit very well into my goal of reading as many spooky, atmospheric books as I can manage during Spooky Season (yep, I’m capitalizing it now). Plus – look at that gorgeously creepy cover!

But. I think either I couldn’t quite figure out what was happening in this book, or the book itself never really figured it out. The aforementioned blend of magic, medicine, madness and general spookiness worked really well in some sections of the book – especially as the heroine Jane first comes to understand that something isn’t right at her new husband’s family home, Lindridge Hall. Starling’s description of the crumbling estate just sang to my gothic fiction-loving heart.

I’m afraid the story lost me as it veered heavily into the metaphysical, with pretty heady explorations of magic versus reality. The conclusion of the story also appears to be left up to the reader, to decide what was real and what wasn’t. I’m fine feeling unsettled at the end of a book, but the way this book ended left me feeling unsatisfied.

Readers who love dark explorations of the metaphysical – and don’t mind some gory details – will likely really enjoy this book. I think it was just a bit over my head.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book.

Couldn't put this one down. This book has horror, romance, gore, magic...yet in almost a poetic way. This was equally beautiful and disturbing and will read this one over and over to find all the missing easter eggs I may have missed before.

Ghosts aren't real.

At least that's what Jane keeps telling herself, but her husband's crumbling manor and his strange demands that she stay away aren't helping matters. She's willing to overlook his behavior because it's a marriage born of convenience after all and not love...

This book was everything my dark little gothic heart wanted! There's gore (Jane's husband is a surgeon) a hint of romance and even some magic. ✨

I tore through this story on my cross-country flight yesterday and was happy to be on a plane and not in an old creaky house because some parts were positively spooky!
It gave me Jane Eyre meets Rebecca meets Crimson Peak vibes and I enjoyed it!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 for this perfect for spooky season read!

2.5

The first portion of this book felt like I was reading a Crimson Peak fan fiction (which isn’t a bad thing- I loved the movie). I was happy when the plot took a turn, though, and diverged enough from the movie that it felt like it’s own entity. I was totally engrossed in the atmosphere of the book. The author did a great job conveying the ambience and atmosphere she was going for.

While I enjoyed the plot overall, I felt it dragged a lot at spots and I found myself forcing myself to keep reading just to get through it. The ending had a satisfying conclusion and wrapped up any loose threads, which is always good, especially after slogging through a book.

Overall, this wasn’t terrible, I finished it and didn’t hate it- I jus won’t be raving over it either.

For me a 2.5 rating is given when: I didn’t hate or like it, I finished it. I probably wouldn’t recommend the book unless the person is a voracious reader or this is their preferred type of story.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review

Caitlin Starling has created interesting characters in Jane Shoringfield and Augustine Lawrence. Jane is an independent young woman who thinks she needs to get married. Augustine is on her list of suitable partners. What starts out as a marriage of necessity turned into a gothic thriller full of lies, mystery, and magic.

The first part of the book was a captivating, and frightening, page-turner. By the second half, I was confused. Page after page of magic; I wasn’t sure if any of it was real or hallucinations. At first it was interesting, but it went on to long for my taste.

By the end it got interesting again, but it was a bit of a slog to get there. That said, I did enjoy the author’s writing style. Just 1/3rd of the book was overdone, for my taste. I would give it three starts because I liked it, but didn’t love it.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

An incredibly eerie novel playing with various Gothic and Horror themes. A perfect Fall / Halloween book full of mysterious husbands afraid of who they are after sundown, an old decrepit manor, thunderstorms, and a new wife thrown into a Doctor’s life and the mysterious secrets and social circles that surround him.

This is the story of Jane Shoringfield, who is an accountant who lives in an alternate-universe post-war England. She was orphaned at a young age, and the people who took care of her are moving into the capital city, and so Jane looks into a marriage of convenience in order to stay independent. She proposes to Dr. Augustine Lawrence, who agrees to marry her as long as she never spends the night in Lindridge Hall, his family’s manor. She agrees and they’re married, but a carriage accident on the wedding night leaves her stranded at Lindridge Hall, and that’s when the shenanigans start.

This was an eerie, well written and well paced novel. I found myself staying up late just to get more and more of it in my head, as what was happening was so intriguing. That said, I also spooked myself a couple times by staying up late with it, lol.

Jane was a great character, and I liked the relationship between her and Augustine a lot. Jane thought that this was just going to be a business arrangement but it turns into more than that as the book goes on, and then when what happens at the house starts happening, Jane realizes that that Augustine might not be the innocent guy he seems.

The last third of this book was a rollercoaster. I loved it. I can’t wait to read more of Caitlin Starling’s work because this one was fantastic!

Ghosts, magicians, scientists, and a marriage of convenience turned very messy very quickly.

The story begins fast-paced, speeding up as we’re presented with too much information to process alongside Jane, before it suddenly pauses and develops slowly into it’s climax. We watch Jane go from curious of Dr. Lawrence to seduced by Dr. Lawrence and then suddenly fearing him and the concepts of magic before growing curious and seduced by that too.

With constant twists and new information and rewriting of the story Jane and the reader have come to understand, it all gets difficult to follow at times before starting to clear up again.

This book functions more as a supernatural and magical mystery involving ghosts rather than a horror novel and I, personally, very much enjoyed that.

This is for fans of Crimson Peak, The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor.

What a delightfully macabre, enchanting, yet darkly romantic creation I have just been a witness to! I admit that if I walked by this title in a bookstore, I would buy it based on the cover alone. But, guess what, it wouldn't matter because this story will have you under its spell whether you read the book blurb or not. I had giddy, high hopes for this book and it said, "Hold my weird crochet project happening on the cover. As the cool kids would say, it's about to get lit." Not only in the excellence of this story, but also with gas lighting. Other than candlelight or firelight, that is the main lighting method used in Lindridge Hall, our main setting in the book. And boy, did this tale shine bright. All of my expectations exceeded and the result weaved into some sort of addled admiration for how this author managed to confound all of my feelings about this book.

I won't regurgitate the book blurb that will tell you just enough about this story to make the unraveling of it while reading a wonderful undertaking. Nor will I try to delve into too much plot or character detail, I don't want to spoil it for anyone. I will just say again that Starling has bubbled up a concoction of emotions from me about this book and I love it. The setting: gothic, menacing, intoxicating. The characters: entranced me, scared me, charmed me. The writing: spellbinding, melodious, impeccable. This book doesn't fit into a neat little mold on a bookstore shelf that says "Mystery" or "Horror" or "Romance", etc. That is what's so exciting about it. Much like whatever the hands on the front cover are doing, this book weaves so many things through its web of words that I hesitate to wrap it into a single package.

I give this an enthusiastic and delighted five out of five stars. This book hit the perfect recipe using all of the ingredients. Even one of those situations where you think, "Ehh, I don't know how that's going to taste with that ingredient in there. That's weird." It is weird, my friend. So wonderfully weird and delicious. Awesome book. Will continue to read more of Caitlin Starling.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this title.

Advanced Reader’s Copies (I ended up with an egalley and the audiobook) that were provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The audiobook is from Macmillan Audio and the egalley is from St. Martin's Press.

3.5 stars rounded up. Caitlin Starling gives readers a perfect gothic horror for us to enjoy during the October spooky season.

Set in an alternate post-war England, Jane Shoringfield wants to be independent, skilled in mathematics, she knows that finding the right bachelor to agree to a marriage of convenience is the only way for her to achieve this. So she weighs the pros and cons of the local eligible bachelors and decides that the local doctor, Augustine Lawrence, is her best bet. While Augustine is hesitant at first, he ends up agreeing to Jane's proposition... on one condition. She must never visit his ancestral home, Lindridge Hall.

Of course on the day of their wedding, a miscommunication has the newly weds heading exactly to the one place Jane is never supposed to go. And after a dangerous storm stops her from being able to return to town, Jane spends an uneasy night at Lindridge with her new husband who isn't acting like himself.

Lindridge Hall is the perfect derelict gothic mansion for our Jane to hesitantly explore, Augustine and his doctor friends dabble in the occult, oh and Lindridge may be full of ghosts... including one that will turn Jane's world upside down. Just when you think you know what's going on, Starling throws in a curve ball to change things up. The ending will have you questioning everything that had previously happened.

THE DEATH OF JANE LAWRENCE is a solid addition to the gothic fiction genre.

Mandy Weston puts in a great performance with the audiobook narration.

This is one of those mind blowing good reads! Chilling, realistic at times (even to those who find some unreal), atmospheric, and just beautifully written! Very much well written, with flawless character development, creating a tense, chilling story that had me flipping pages in a hurry to finish! Will definitely cause a hangover, so be prepared! But must highly, highly recommend this utterly captivating read!

Calling all fans of Mexican Gothic....This is not a book for the meek, it's a book for those of us who loved that story and are looking for a more intense, Gothic-a la Victorian version of it with more magic and more medical gore.

Plot: ★★★★
Pacing: ★★
Horror elements: ★★★★★
Engagement: ★★★ 1/2

Jane Shorefield lives her life by the numbers. A rare female accountant in a a world that feels like Victorian England, she's done the math and decided that she needs a husband--and after careful consideration of the bachelors in her small town, she decides on Doctor Augustine Lawrence.

Augustine is single, attractive, and respectable, with well-paying job as the town's only doctor. He's a great match. It is weird that Augustine is still single and seemingly not interested in marriage... but Jane decides to give it a try. She proposes a business transaction: they'll get married to save Jane from spinsterhood and to provide Augustine with a live-in woman to help him with his practice's accounts.

Augustine agrees.

Now Mrs. Jane Lawrence, she discovers several things in quick succession.

First, Augustine's practice is filled with death and the dying--for a woman who only thought about the numbers involved, it's a rough awakening to be thrown into a hectic and gory surgery on her first day in the practice.

Second, her husband refuses to let her spend the night in his family estate outside of town. His vicious vehemence takes her aback. Jane agrees, but like all good stories we know that doesn't last.

Third, there's something Augustine isn't telling her. Jane can't expect anything more, as she knows they did this for convenience and not for love, but there's something under the surface that Jane can feel at the edges of their relationship. What is it?

When a simple miscommunication leads to Jane arriving at the estate, everything begins to change. Jane quickly realizes that her world is not what it seems.... and at the heart of the wrongness is Augustine.

Gross, gory, and enrapturing, The Death of Jane Lawrence was a doozy of a novel.

The sense of menace in the writing was top tier. From the beginning, you can feel the trap closing around Jane despite her point of view trying to make logical sense of her surroundings. I was waiting with baited breath for the shoe(s) to drop. (Boy, do they ever.)

Once Jane gets to the estate and things start to happen, the pacing and plot develops into its final form of intricately paced and plotted horror. I both loved the pacing and absolutely hated it. It was too slow for me, but I couldn't stop? That duality carries throughout the entirety of this novel. You're attracted and yet repelled, boring and yet enraptured, disgusted and yet understanding.

Intense. I liked it a lot for what it was, but count this one in the category of "I can't believe I liked this, it was so dark and twisted" fiction such as Mexican Gothic, Follow Me to Ground, and others.

Spoilers for the graphic elements: (view spoiler)

Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling is a gothic horror novel about a marriage between a logical accountant and a charming young doctor, set in his crumbling and creaky manor with its ghosts in the walls. Jane Shoringfield picked out Dr Augustine Lawrence for a marriage of convenience that was more like a business arrangement that suited the both of them. He agreed on the condition that she would never spend the night at his home, Lindridge Hall. Well, a change in the weather puts an end to that, and it’s not long until Jane starts to wonder what kind of marriage she has gotten herself into.

Starling has said she was inspired by the 2015 film Crimson Peak (directed by Guillermo Del Toro and starring Tom Hiddleston and Mia Wasikowska) and having seen the film, I can definitely appreciate the spooky and creepy gothic goodness of both works. They both feature the tropes of the mysterious husband and the eerie isolation of a decrepit old house. If you liked Crimson Peak, I’d absolutely recommend that you pick up The Death of Jane Lawrence and take a trip to Lindridge Hall.

I don’t usually read too much of the gothic horror genre as in the past I have found it a bit slow, but I enjoyed Starling’s previous book The Luminous Dead so much, and that wasn’t my usual genre either, so I wanted to give this a go. Plus it was just in time for the spooky season.

I think my favourite thing about The Death of Jane Lawrence lay in the writing. I liked the way the house was made to feel like a character and constant presence brought to life throughout the book. The writing takes you there without overloading on the description. It really built up a picture of the house in my mind, I could feel the weather, and hear the bumps and creaks in the night. The gore was also very vivid and there were times when I felt like I was seeing what Jane was seeing.

The pacing was near enough perfect. There were some lulls but I felt this was necessary to allow the reader to catch their breath. The writing was easy to follow even when talking about things such as surgery and medical things that I don’t have any real knowledge of. There were parts of the book where the writing felt hectic and rushed but I felt that may have been because that was because there were times were Jane was rushing and becoming almost delirious. If anything this added to the tension.

Another strength was the characters. Both Jane and Mr Lawrence particularly. Mr Lawrence was always keeping me guessing and I loved Jane, she was no-nonsense and took no shit. I liked her methodical approach to things. Her motivation to get married wasn’t setting out to find a love match, she had criteria she wanted to meet for a partnership and convenience and she went out and got it. She observes, sees more than people think she does and isn’t afraid to ask questions. She isn’t the girl from that time period that faints at the sight of blood. When it got to the part in the story where you are reading about her character having to question things and then seeing her become more frazzled and verging on deranged really had me rooting for her, like come on Jane you can do it!

I also enjoyed many scenes with Jane and Mr Lawrence together and I wish there had been more. I liked how she was falling for him despite herself. I enjoyed the romantic part of the story where you could see them being drawn towards each other despite their initial arrangement.

When it comes to themes, I may be wrong, but I feel like the book was trying to blend the lines behind scientific medicine and ritual. I like magic in books to feel realistic and like it could be possible, and whilst I didn’t quite get that from this book, it did get me thinking a number of times about how different belief systems and rituals have things in common with science in maths, like how it can be so methodical. I felt like Jane was the perfect character for this, as she has to take her logical and practical side and apply it to the fact that things around her are happening that really should be a fantasy.

After finishing the book I felt a bit confused, a bit unsettled. Although I knew I didn’t completely “get” the ending, I still felt satisfyingly spooked. Whilst I didn’t enjoy it as much as The Luminous Dead, I am still a fan of Starling’s writing and ideas and I will definitely continue to read whatever she brings out.

I would recommend this book to fans of the gothic horror genre, but also to readers that like a bit of dark romance, to readers who like their female protagonists tough as nails, and also to anyone that’s just looking for a spooky read.

Well, drat.

This was one of my most anticipated books of 2021 so it saddens me to say that this was a major, major letdown.

I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting from this. Vampires, maybe? Nope. Ghosts? Kind of. But the suggestion that this was inspired by Rebecca and The Haunting of Hill House is truly a head-scratcher, because I didn’t get either of those things from this one.

While I liked the style of it in theory, it’s not especially well constructed Gothic, and the story isn’t really about ghosts or a creepy house as it is purported to be. It’s essentially medical/body horror, which is no favorite of mine under any circumstance.

Furthering the problem is that it just isn’t a very good story. It isn’t scary. It’s mostly just vaguely gross, with a lot of over dramatic hysterics and icky body horror. Drink every time the word bile appears! (Please don’t do this, I’ll worry about you).

The entire premise for why the protagonist needs to marry this suspicious fellow doesn’t really make much sense, and the magic system is both boring and nonsensical. The attempts to connect it to our heroine’s beloved mathematics only make it worse.

I’m bummed because I wanted to love this, but it just isn’t a a very good book and isn’t as advertised. There are loads of good spooky Gothic books out there. Pick a different one.

The end of The Death of Jane Lawrence is up there with that book about sleeping & w/spinning tops, with Leonardio Deception? Yeah. It derailed in Twin Peaks style, really.

I have never read a book that was so enthralling for the first 50% and spectacularly crashed and burned into an ending that must have been written by nostrodamus, and Bob Dylan.

Talk about Strange! I kept wanting to ask why didn’t they just pick up the phone and then had to reminder phones weren’t invented back then.

This story starts out sane enough; a woman on a mission to find a suitable husband - not one to live but one to protect, provide for her, and allow her to continue working or go to university. Mission accomplished and then things get REALLY weird!

I was wholly unprepared for my belief limits to be tested.
I can’t tell you more without spoiling it and that’s just a rude thing to do. So I’m not doing.
I will tell you things are not as they seem - AT ALL!

Great story, just pay attention and keep up.