The Resting Place by Camilla Sten is a gothic locked-room mystery set in a remote mansion in Sweden. The story is told in dual timelines, in present-day and the 1960s. The present-day is told in Eleanor’s perspective, a woman around 30 whose grandmother was murdered some months earlier. Though she saw the culprit run past her, she could not identify them because she suffers from face-blindness, which added to the ominous, paranoid feeling of the novel. She has inherited the family’s mansion she never knew about, that hasn’t been occupied by the family for decades. The 1960s story is told in the perspective of Anushka, Eleanor's grandmother’s maid and cousin from Poland.

Eleanor's grandmother Vivianne raised her and was very ascerbic and cold as a caregiver. After Vivianne's grisly death, Eleanor learns she has inherited a mysterious, remote property and visits with her boyfriend, estranged aunt, and an estate lawyer in order to itemize everything on the property for potential sale. They visit in winter and strange inexplicable things start occurring and we start to learn about unspoken family secrets. I found the story fascinating and wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I really enjoyed Angela Dawe’s audiobook narration. The voices she used for each character, especially for the cantankerous Vivianne.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio for providing this ebook / audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

THE RESTING PLACE by Camilla Sten

Told in alternating points of view I found myself wanting to live in one world more than the other.

In the present tense, Eleanor suffers from Prosopagnosia. Also known as face blindness. When I read a few quick facts about this disorder I became even more fascinated by what you could do with a character who suffers from this.

Not only do they have trouble recognizing people they know, they also cannot tell between unknown faces and also can mistake faces for objects.

The anxiety this brings is palpable and does not get lost in the translation.

So you take this character who is disabled and use of her extrasensory perceptions to try and figure out how much danger she’s really in. And by the time she realizes the malice she’s already the frog in hot water.

Very good!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Coming March 29, 2022
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio/ St Martins Press for this advanced copy!

4.5 stars

I have quickly become a fan of Camilla Sten’s writing, and The Resting Place is a perfect example of how masterfully she can weave the web of a suspenseful novel.

Eleanor has a unique condition called prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, so she relies on specific markers to be able to identify people in her every day life. When she walks in on the murder scene of her grandmother, Vivianne, she comes face to face with the killer but is unable to recognize them.

It isn’t until Eleanor is notified by a lawyer that Vivianne has left her a house that she learns just how secretive and dark her grandmother’s past was. Eleanor, along with the lawyer, her boyfriend Sebastian, and her aunt Veronika, goes in search of answers at her grandmother’s estate, but as the truth comes to light, they learn that some secrets are meant to remain buried.

This truly was a fantastic psychological suspenseful, and I enjoyed getting the backstory of Vivianne’s family while living on the estate. I never imagined the depths she would go to to keep the truth hidden, but I was quite surprised when the truth was revealed. Highly recommend!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4620525581

After her grandmothers brutal murder, Eleanor inherits a mansion in the Swedish countryside, that she never knew existed. When Eleanor arrives at the house she can’t fight this feeling that someone is watching her. What she doesn’t realize is that the house is about to reveal all her family's dark secrets which have been buried for a long time.

I devoured this book! I loved Camilla Sten’s writing style. Alternating between the past and present, Sten does a great job at transporting you into this cold and creepy mansion! Short chapters filled with murder, secrets and revenge, this is a fast-paced thriller you won’t be able to down.

Loved the audiobook. Angela Dawe did a great job at bringing these characters to life. 

Thank you to @netgalley and @ StMartinsPress for gifting me a copy of this eARC and @MacmillanAudio, for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Minotaur books.
I will start off by saying this wasnt all bad.
I did not love this one but there were some good parts. Once the story picked up it did move at a fast pace and while I did guess some of the Twist the main twist I did not. The reason I did not like it was just because I could not connect to any character. I felt they were all just Blah. No personality for any of them.
Would I recommend this to someone- Probably not but I would say if you planned on reading this do. Make your own judgement.

Eleanor was the one who found her grandmother Vivianne murdered and she's had a tough time since in part because she saw but could not identify the killer due to her face blindness. Now, she's shocked to discover that Vivianne owned an estate, a creepy large estate with a vast wine cellar. Along with her boyfriend Sebastian and her aunt Veronika, she meets up with Rickard, a lawyer to do an inventory. And then the weird stuff starts- all of it compounded by her face blindness. Mixed into the narrative are pieces from Annika/Annuska, a maid at the estate who worked for Ma'am and Sir. Her identity and importance to the story is revealed slowly. This amps up as the snow builds. Who can Eleanor trust? No spoilers but know that this might seem a bit slow in parts but will twist around and around for the answers which are really right there all along. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

The main character of The Resting Place, Eleanor, suffers from a rare condition called prosopagnosia - otherwise known as face blindness. Eleanor can’t recognize people, even her loved ones or herself, and relies on hints such as voice or distinctive marks. One evening Eleanor goes to visit her grandmother, Vivianne, but the door opens someone Eleanor can’t place, who disappears without making a single sound. When Eleanor enters the house, she finds her grandmother lying in a pool of blood - her killer was close enough for Eleanor to touch, but she has no idea who they are. After the funeral, Eleanor finds out that her grandmother left her a mansion in the middle of nowhere. But when she gets there with her boyfriend, aunt, and a lawyer, things quickly spiral and she begins to uncover family secrets that threaten to put her life in jeopardy.

I was fascinated by the premise of this book. Face blindness is such a curious condition and I was excited to read a book that features it. It started out strong and I loved the creepy, strange atmosphere that Sten created, but unfortunately the ending didn’t blow me away. There were many plot twists and red herrings, but despite the fact that I could see some of them from miles away, I enjoyed the book until the last chapters. There things got just way too difficult to believe, plus I wasn’t a big fan of the way Sten writes about mental health issues. I had a similar problem with her other book I read, so it might be a sign that her writing just isn’t for me. I didn’t feel strongly about any of the characters except for Eleanor, who grew the most throughout the book, and who ended up my favorite.

TLDR: The Resting Place is a dark, slow paced thriller set in a remote Swedish estate, great for anyone who loves family drama and murder.

The Resting Place by Camilla Sten
Easily one of the best books I have read in quite a while! I found myself immersed in the story trying to figure out what the heck was going on, absolutely page turning. I will be looking to read everything by this author, she knows how to draw you in and keep you there until the very end. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book and leave my opinion.

A lighting fast horror novel, full of twists, excellent prose, and incredibly complex and likeable characters. This is an incredible follow up to The Lost Village and one that deals with the idea of face blindness so extremely well and frighteningly. I have not felt this connected to a story in a long time. I just devoured this book and would highly recommend.

The Resting Place by Camilla Sten is a psychological suspense with an edge of horror in the mix. The story in The Resting Place is one that is told in different timelines from a present time and one with events in the past from diary entries with a different point of view.

Eleanor suffers from prosopagnosia or face blindness not being able to make out features on others faces. When Eleanor goes to visit her grandmother, Vivianne, she passes someone on their way out only to find her grandmother lying in a pool of blood brutally murdered.

A few months after the death of Vivianne Eleanor gets a call from a lawyer about an estate where her grandfather had died. The lawyer wants Eleanor to come with her aunt to the estate to take inventory of the house where Eleanor ends up finding a diary from the past.

So, The Resting Place by Camilla Sten seems to be another book that I am in the minority on but that’s ok, we can’t love them all. First, I’ve read other books with prosopagnosia and have absolutely loved them but with The Resting Place I would often forget until reminded it was a thing. But the thing that has my rating down to two stars really is that the story was just so slow going in my opinion and that made me just want more and end up losing interest. With other great reviews on this one I’d suggest checking it out for yourself if it sounds interesting to you.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

The Resting Place started off strong – a historical dual-time line with a nice creepy atmosphere and interesting storyline. Unfortunately, the characters just didn’t quite hold up throughout the story. I found all the “V” names very confusing, and the characters’ actions were very inconsistent. Also, while I found the idea of the main character’s face blindness interesting, I honestly don’t think it really contributed much to the story. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Author’s note is one of the best I’ve read. Charming and funny, she offers an entire paragraph for each person who supported her writing. It was brilliant and witty (as is her Author Bio on Goodreads). Sadly, the story itself didn’t work as well for me (clearly, I”m in the minority based on other reviews).

Eleanor witnesses her grandmother’s murder and comes face-to-face with the killer. She has Prosopagnosia (face blindness), so she doesn’t know who did it or why. Months later, she learns her grandmother left her a spooky estate in the middle of nowhere, so she goes there. There are shadows, sneaky bits, and a blizzard. Cell phones are not the only things that die.

The pacing didn’t pull me in, and I cared so little for the characters that I wasn't even worried about their health and safety. Eleanor/Victoria (depending on who refers to her) is inconsistent. She swings from weak and anxious to brave and daring from one scene to the next.

The Resting Place is classified as “Horror,” but I don’t see it. Luckily.

Thanks, NetGalley and Minotaur Books, for a Digital Review Copy in exchange for an honest review. (US Pub Date 29 Mar 2022)

4.5 stars

The Resting Place by Camilla Sten is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher St. Martin’s Press (Minotaur Books) and in particular Danielle Prielipp from the publisher who sent me a widget,  and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Eleanor reluctantly visits her rather cruel grandmother Vivianne every week.  One Sunday, she knocks on the door and comes face to face with a killer, who calmly walks away, blood on her hands.  Inside the apartment, Vivianne lays dying from being viciously stabbed by a pair of scissors.

Unfortunately, Eleanor suffers from prosopagnosia, a rare disease that does not allow her to remember faces.  Although the killer walked right by her, Eleanor has no idea who it was, or if she even knew them.

Months go by, with the police considering it a break and enter, and Eleanor still trying to understand her grandmother's death.  Then, Eleanor hears from a lawyer of Vivianne's estate.  She and her Aunt Veronika need to do an inventory of a mansion that Eleanor had never even heard of.  Apparently her grandmother had kept many secrets.

Almost upon arrival at the large estate, things start going wrong.  Eleanor's boyfriend Sebastian doesn't believe that she saw someone in the woods, but when her aunt is attacked, things start getting serious...all in the middle of a blizzard.


My Opinions:   
This was really good. The premise of the story was good (although the face-blindness angle could have been a little stronger), and the author took the reader on quite a journey.  It felt "tense" from beginning to end.  Nothing is as it seems, and although I had guessed a couple of the twists, I didn't see the last one coming.  It was about a very dysfunctional family, and also touched on mental illness.

The story was told by different perspectives and through a decades old diary, but it was laid out very well.

My only complaint were some of the characters, as they weren't very deep (Sebastian in particular).  Then there were the names....so many started with a V that I started getting a little confused, and a few of the characters were known by two different names, so that didn't help either.

Overall, it's a creepy, atmospheric, and compelling thriller.  I can't wait to see what Sten pulls out of her mind next!

Thank you to Netgalley, Camilla, and Minotaur Books for an advance copy of The Resting Place.

I am officially 2 for 2 on Camilla’s translated US releases. I received an ARC of The Lost Village last year and was impressed. The Resting Place did not disappoint either.

Eleanor has Prosopagnosia (face blindness) and who better to have walk in on a crime than someone who cannot recognize faces? After stumbling upon the murder of her vicious grandmother, Eleanor discovers that an estate she was unaware of has been left to her. Sölhaga is the source of family trauma for years and years for Eleanor’s family, as she soon finds out. In the middle of nowhere with her boyfriend, aunt, and lawyer handling the estate, secrets are uncovered and lives are changed, or lost, forever.

This book was good. Camilla takes things that aren’t quite original ideas but gives them a fresh twist and makes them feel new. A mysterious estate, cruel family members, and buried secrets are definitely nothing we haven’t already seen (at this point, neither is prosopagnosia honestly) but Camilla pushes the limits. We have seen characters in the past with prosopagnosia, but we haven’t seen one actually witness a murder, that I can recall. Camilla also throws in a missing person, a mysterious journal, and family tension. We really get a little bit of everything in this suspenseful book. Speaking of the journal, I was very invested in that and hopping between the entries and present day really kept me interested and reading when I should’ve put my book down to be responsible.

The characters were memorable, but not exactly likable. Vivianne was an incredible character. Each character could’ve had their own full-length novel, that’s how invested in them I was. I like to dislike characters but still be invested in and intrigued by them, which is exactly what Camilla gave me.

The one big criticism that I have is that the names were SO confusing. It wasn’t a translation issue, there were just a lot of names. Multiple names for multiple people made it difficult to keep people straight at times. I completely understand why it was part of the book and it was necessary, but it did get me turned around a time or two.

If you are looking for a chilling gothic-esqe thriller, The Resting Place is for you. Eleanor has face blindness, and when she walks in on Vivianne, her grandmother, being murdered, she cannot remember the murderer's face and has no idea who it could be, possibly even someone she knows. While coping with the trauma, Eleanor discovers that her grandmother has a long held secret - an estate deep in the woods unknown to Eleanor until her passing. Eleanor, her boyfriend, Sebastian, her aunt, Veronika, and a lawyer, Rickard, meet at the estate to settle Vivianne's affairs and soon uncover secrets long buried away much like the property itself.

The story swaps between two perspectives: current day with Eleanor, and late 1960s from the perspective of Anushka, Vivianne's maid.

One of the book's greatest strengths is its strong sense of place at an unsettling estate in Sweden in the middle of winter. The characters get stuck in a blizzard - increasing the anxiety and disorientation of the story. With the combination of the twisting story and the frigid environment, I felt the chill my bones as I read. Each chapter is relatively short, which made me not want to put it down - I had to find out what was next. There were certain aspects I began to guess prior to their reveal, but others came as a shock. Ultimately, the conclusion was unexpected and it wrapped up everything in a way that I felt satisfied.

I much preferred The Resting Place to The Lost Village from last year, I felt like the story wrapped up much better. I enjoy that Camilla Sten brings mental health into her stories and humanizes them. I found this with both of these titles. Additionally, Eleanor having face blindness made me understand the condition a lot more, and has brought me to research it to further my understanding.

In conclusion - if you are looking for a twisting mystery set in a creepy old estate in the dead of winter, definitely pick up this one!

If you’re looking for an atmospheric creepy read, look no further. The Resting Place by Camilla Sten is out on March 29, and is probably going to be one my favorites of the year. Thank you @minotaur_books for the gifted copy!

This book isn’t going to be for everyone, but I loved it. There’s something about the combination of a mystery, cold weather/snow, and the locked room style that just really draws me in. It’s not a super fast plot, and there is a bit of violence, but I read it in two days and didn’t want it to end.

Eleanor has prosopagnosia, which is face blindness. When she walks in on her grandmas murder, and the killer walks right past her, she couldn’t recognize them or give any description of them to the police. Fast forward, and Eleanor, finds out that her grandma left her an estate in the woods that Eleanor didn’t know existed. She travels there along with her boyfriend, aunt, and a lawyer to try to find answers.

Cue snow, power outages, creepy things happening, people disappearing, and I was like YES BRING IT!!! The ending really picked up speed and I zipped through trying to fit the pieces together.

There’s also a second POV, told by Anushka, a maid to Eleanor’s grandparents in the 1960’s. How does she fit into this mess? You’ll find out in bits and pieces, and by the end it’ll all fit together.

If you like atmospheric reads, pick this one up when it comes out next week!

Yes! Yes! Yes! This book had exactly what I was looking for. Dark family drama. Deeply buried secrets, amazing characters, and of course a mansion that is giving off major creepy vibes. This book had me from the first page. Be sure to have some snacks, and that the rest of your family is feed before you begin. You will not want to stop once you start. You will be riveted to your seat, nails chewed down to the quick, chills will rush down your spine with every turn, you know something is off you just do not know who or what it is.

Eleanor suffers from prosopagnosia; she is unable to recognize people's faces no matter how many times she has seen them. She doesn't even recognize herself in the mirror. When she walks in on her grandmother being brutally murdered, she is unable to give a description of the killer. Leaving her guilt ridden and unable to move forward until she knows what happened that terrible night. Since her grandmother's passing Eleanor has discovered an estate that her grandmother has hidden from her. When the lawyer calls to do an inventory, she jumps at the chance to see if there are any clues as to why this place was kept a secret. Eleanor, her boyfriend, the lawyer, and her bitter aunt all meet there in the middle of winter. What could possibly go wrong?

This book is phenomenal! Camilla Sten has set the atmosphere perfectly. Dark, snowy, biting cold, all in the shadow of a mansion with a dark past with hidden nooks and crannies. The story is slowly exposed through a dual timeline, rocking you back and forth between the present and 1965. I devoured this book in one day. Thank you to Camilla Sten, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for letting me read this horrifyingly twisty book.

Given how much I enjoyed Sten's last novel THE LOST VILLAGE I thought that THE RESTING PLACE would be another slam dunk, but I was left a little disappointed. That isn't to say that it was a bad read; there were a lot of things that I liked about it. I really liked the Gothic locale of a Swedish country home in the middle of a snowstorm, I liked the dual storylines of Eleanor, Sebastian, Rickard, and Viktoria trapped in the estate house with a potential killer on the lose and the flashbacks to Vivianne's time there when she was younger seen through the diary of the live in maid Anushka. I also thought that the mystery was pretty well developed and that Sten made realistic impediments, be it the ill timed snowstorm or Eleanor's face blindness. I think that what made THE RESTING PLACE fall short is that I didn't really feel like we were covering any new or unique ground when it came to the solution or the big twists and reveals. I'm not going to spoil it here for obvious reasons, but once we did get to the ending climax I was left feeling like I wanted more.

But the journey was enjoyable nonetheless! THE RESTING PLACE is an entertaining Gothic thriller and may work for others more than it worked for me!

An atmospheric and creepy gothic novel that is beautifully narrated in audio format by Angela Dawe.

This book follows two timelines, one in the Nordic 1800s and one in present day. Eleanor, our present-day heroine, suffers from face blindness, and comes upon some writings implicating her ancestors in some terrible and very gothic crimes and abuses at the same time as she is working to solve a present-day mystery. Take one part Flowers in the Attic, mix with one part Nordic noir and half a cup of historical romance and you will have The Resting Place.

This is a slow burn for sure, but beautifully written, haunting, and full of atmosphere, weird familial relations, forbidden relationships, longed-for children, .identity crises, and abusive and sinister ancient adults. The narrator does a wonderful job of increasing the drama, mood and atmosphere, and I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook and the many characters and their convincing tones and accents.

Camilla Sten remains a unique, lovely and descriptive writer and I look forward to her next book! Her tone and atmosphere are a perfect match for Angela Dawe’s voice acting skills. I hope the author can keep using this narrator for future books.

Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin’s Press for this lovely and creepy listen.

I loved Sten's other book so I was excited to receive an ARC for The Resting Place. This book does not disappoint. I wasn't sure how Sten would handle writing face blindness because it is something that is difficult for me to imagine/picture what it would actually be like. But she does an amazing job. The characters are interesting and the story kept me guessing. I appreciated that while the plot does twist and turn it never takes a turn completely out of character or an impossible twist. It is an incredible book. I can't wait to read more from Camilla Sten.