4 and 1 / 2 stars

This book is a mystery with supernatural overtones. It is a very good read.

Anni Halla’s grandmother dies unexpectedly and Anni returns home to Metsan Valo from Paris where she has lived for the past ten years. Her twin brother meets her there. They have a very close relationship and share (almost) everything with one another. Also present are a collection of somewhat odd characters/relatives including the twins' mother and her sister.

The live-in caretakers are happy to see everyone. They have been there for ages; since before the twins can recall. Almost immediately, strange things begin to happen.

Her grandma called them vaki. They are the spirits of the forest, water and sky. They are often helpful, but can be found misleading people at times – just out of orneriness. .

Anni feels they are trying to tell her something. Who is at the bottom of the break-ins? What is going on? The police and the twins are stymied. Then tragedy strikes.

This book is beautifully written and well plotted. The transitions are smooth. Ms. Webb uses tension very subtly and well. Almost before the reader notices, they are immersed in the story and the tension increases. I will surely read more of Ms. Webb's novels.

I want to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for forwarding this most wonderful book to me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Metsan Valo is the name of Anni Halla’s grandmother’s home on Lake Superior. Now that her grandmother has passed, the entire family gathers at the family home for the reading of her will. And while the family has some rather odd members, the woodlands surrounding the old house also seem to be bewitched in some way. Anni cannot help but remember the Norse stories her grandmother used to tell her about the Old Country, about spirits and fairies that lived in the trees and rocks . Spirits that could be gentle and kind…or mischievous and cruel. Webb has proven herself to be a master of telling the modern Gothic