THE RESTING PLACE by Camilla Sten is the perfect spooky read for the autumn season! As I read this in audiobook format, I also have to say that the narrator was so well chosen -- great for setting that atmospheric mood.

After her grandmother's death, Eleanor has inherited her estate and is shocked to find that it included an estate in the country. Vivianne the grandmother had raised Eleanor when her parents were killed in a car crash and she never mentioned the estate nor had they ever gone there. Eleanor is fighting off anxiety as she walked in on Vivianne's murder and found the body. Now she, her fiance Sebastian, her aunt and a lawyer are headed to the estate to make an inventory.

The estate is grand and has been kept as if the inhabitants had just left yesterday rather than years ago. There is a caretaker but they can't find him. Soon after they arrive a blizzard occurs, trapping them in the house. Then the strange things start happening. Eleanor is trapped in a dumbwaiter. There seems to be someone outside that only Eleanor has seen. The aunt insists that she had letters from her father that the lawyer must have stolen or someone has. What is going on? Before the group leaves, the dark family secrets will be revealed and Eleanor will find that she has been living in a bubble of carefully created lies.

Camilla Sten is a Swedish author best known for her mystery novels. Her debut novel, The Missing Village, was a major hit and this one was released the next year. She has a great ability to portray families with secrets and the psychological damage they do. This novel was told in alternating views of the group now trapped at the estate and those who lived there thirty years before. I listened to this novel and the narrator was able to portray Eleanor's anxiety and determination to find out what was happening. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

I LOVED this book! Thank you to @netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the chance to review The Resting Place by Camilla Sten. Gothic and creepy, this book drew me in and did not let me go! Eleanor found her grandmother's murdered body, and practically bumped into the murderer. She had a medical term called prosopagnosia, or face blindness. She was left a huge estate in the Swedish woods. She and her boyfriend, Sebastian, her aunt, and her lawyer all went to the house to find out the secrets that lie within.

The writing was great, and I loved that there were diary entries that the reader was privy to. Angela Dawe, as per usual, did a stellar job with narration.

While there were aspects of that story I enjoyed, overall, I would say I had been hoping for a lot more. I'm happy to report, The Resting Place gave me more. I did enjoy the narrator, so it made getting through it a little bit easier.

I just love Camilla Sten. She knows how to set a creepy atmosphere. This one had a bit more spooky vibes to it but it was so good. It was a great fast paced story that I had a hard time putting it down because I became mesmerized by this story. If you’re looking for a good spooky or gothic story this is the one for you.

First let me start by saying I read this quite a while ago and forgot to post a review. This review is based on what I remember of the book. Though I did star rate it at the time of finishing.

A twisty, claustrophobic thriller.

I've become such a fan of Sten's since reading her last book, The Lost Village. So I knew I had to read this one. While I didn't love it quite as much as her last book, it was still very good.

A creepy old house, a journal full of past secrets, face blindness, murder, missing people, being snowed in with no way to Contact anyone for help.... all things you can expect from this one.

It was an interesting read, especially with the prosopagnosia (face blindness) involved. Having the MC have such a unique characteristic added so much to the story. Her grandmother was murdered, she saw the murderer, but couldn't see their face 😱 that in itself is scary enough

But also the atmousphere played such a huge role in the storytelling. I loved the snowy, claustrophobic feel of this one. Especially when you add in all of the above.

I always love a story that has some history to it. In this one you get it through diary entries which help lay out the story and help you understand how things have played out.

I will definitely be reading anything this author some out with.

* Thanks to netgalley and publisher for a gifted copy

THE RESTING PLACE is another winner from Sten. It is dark and twisty with all chills I wanted from a book like this. The tension and overall suspense level were so high that it makes the reader compulsively keep reading. Or maybe just me? Anyway...this novel completely brought me down the rabbit hole as it quite frankly scared me a little too.

I was tense in the best way the whole time I was listening to The Resting Place. Prosopagnosia is an utterly terrifying condition, and is the perfect plot element in a murder mystery. I was right there with Eleanor as she suspected and feared pretty much everyone around her, wondering if the killer knows she couldn't read their face, or if she would be next.

Loved the heavy atmosphere of Solhöga (and the callback to The Haunting of Hill House in Eleanor's name). There were times when I wanted the story to move a little faster, but the flashback chapters were obviously critical to the story. Still, it's a solid gothic. The narrator was excellent. Now I must go back and read Sten's The Lost Village.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There were some good twists in this and it was sufficiently creepy, but most of the time I found things a little hard to follow. I’m not sure if something was lost in the translation, I missed a detail along the way, or it was just the writing style. I really enjoyed her last book and didn’t find it hard to follow at all, so I’m not sure. The characters were pretty well developed and easy to follow. It was an interesting read.


The narrator did a nice job of emoting and having distinctive voices for each character.

The Resting Place
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Audiobook
Date Published: 3/29/22
Author: Camilla Sten
Narrator: Angela Dawe
Publisher: Audible Audio / Minotaur Books
Goodreads Rating: 3.65

Thank you to NetGalley and Audible Audio / Minotaur Books for providing a digital advanced readers copy of the book for me to read for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: prosopagnosia is what the average person calls it face blindness—the inability to recognize a familiar person’s face, even the faces of those closest to you. When Eleanor walked in on the scene of her capriciously cruel grandmother, Vivianne’s, murder, she came face to face with the killer, but could not recognize them. Then a lawyer calls. Vivianne has left her a house—a looming estate tucked away in the Swedish woods. Eleanor. Her steadfast boyfriend, Sebastian. Her reckless aunt, Veronika. The lawyer. All will go to this house of secrets, looking for answers. But as they get closer to bringing the truth to light, they’ll wish they had never come to disturb what rests there.

My Thoughts: This was one of my first audiobooks, I have just recently started to listen to them. The story is narrated by Eleanor primarily, through her perspective, with some Annaka’s story from the late 1960’s sprinkled in. The characters are well developed, carry depth, mystery, and just fit the story perfectly. The author’s writing style is complex, creative, mysterious, twisty at that right moments, and just amazing, while keeping me engaged from the first word to the last word. I adored this audiobook and would recommend to anyone who likes a good mystery/thriller.

Camilla Sten followed up the fantastically creepy Lost Village with The Resting Place, an equally spooky and fast-paced read. I will recommend this to anyone looking for a satisfying, gothic thriller.

Camilla Sten does it again!! Knocked it right out the park with The Resting Place. A claustrophobic thriller theme book that had me fully mesmerized!! Dual time lines, dysfunctional family, lots of twist making it it the perfect late night read to keep you fully creeped out and wanting to sleep with the lights on.

A huge thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-arc, a physical copy and an ALC. And yes, I utilized and enjoyed all three!! The narration while reading along with the physical book is always my favorite way to read and to devour these type of thrilling books. Then reading late into the night on my kindle kept me extra on edge & terrified! These opinions are my own. I HIGHLY recommend this one!! Go in blind and enjoy the ride!!

Eleanor lives with prosopagnosia, a disease in which the person afflicted cannot remember people's faces. When Eleanor becomes the only witness to her grandmother's murder, her inability to be able to describe the killer is definitely an issue. Because the killer saw her, is Eleanor the next target?

When her grandmother's lawyer calls with the bequeathment of an estate in the Swedish woods, will a trip down memory lane put Eleanor, her boyfriend Sebastian, and her Aunt Veronika in danger?

I liked the concept of this book more than the actual novel itself. I have read other books about people with prosopagnosia, though this was the first one in the mystery thriller genre. The author, unfortunately, made it too easy to figure out the killer. The back and forth between past and present storylines affected the flow of the story, which was unfortunate. The biggest issue was that none of the characters were all that likable, not even Eleanor. Without a connection to the characters and with a sluggish plot due to time shifts, The Resting Place was just an average read.

The narrator, Angela Dawe, did a good job of bringing the characters to life. She had good tone to her voice and was able to express feelings through the audio.

Disclaimer: I was given an Audio Copy of The Resting Place by NetGalley and the publisher. I was under no obligation to review this book.

This one had a highly powerful atmosphere in my opinion! So icy and unsettling... I'd classify this as a psychological thriller bordering on horror, and while I'm not quite convinced by the resolution's approach, I'm usually a sucker for an isolated cliche, and this is delivered on that front. This author's work has definitely hit with me the best of the Nordic crime writers I've read so far, therefore I'll be looking for more from them in the future.

I loved The Lost Village and was SOOO excited to receive The Resting Place!

Having just read about prosopagnosia in Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney, I was surprised that this was the premise of Sten's new book as well. It's not my favorite Thriller sub-genre, but it is certainly an interesting concept.

I love the creepiness throughout the story. That was probably my favorite part. I was less than thrilled with the actual characters - they were annoying to me. And the ending (no spoilers) I just didn't like, at all. It felt very weak.

The narration was great! I really enjoyed the clarity of speech, the pacing and pitch. I felt like the narration lifted the story up a bit and made me enjoy it more than just reading the book alone.

Overall, it was an ok read and I think for most Thriller readers this will probably average out to a 4 out of 5 stars. My personal favorite is still The Lost Village but I will definitely be looking forward to Sten's next book!

This was my first Camilla Sten novel and I really really enjoyed it!! Listening to it on audiobook was such a great experience!! This book had dual timelines from different characters and I loved getting to see the story from all different POV's. The location was CREEPY and the characters held my attention, but I wish there was more twists in the twists and turns!! If you love books about family secrets, and an insane cast of characters than this is the book for you!

Definitely want to give a trigger warning if you are sensitive to extreme violence, pregnancy loss, and suicidal thoughts and ideation.

OVerall, I want to give a huge shout out to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC of The Resting Place by Camilla Sten on audio!

I am giving the book 2 stars for the creepiness factor. The author did a good job with the setting of the old house, it felt very creepy and realistic. However, the story moved very slowly and at times the names were so similar that I had to go back and make sure who was talking.

Nordic Noir meets Locked-Door mystery in this dark, claustrophobic, read. I’ve not read much Nordic Noir but this met my expectations with atmospheric writing and a bit of gore. Though the pacing was a little slow in the beginning, I was so intrigued by trying to figure out how the past story line connected with the present, that I pushed through rather quickly. The ending was a surprise and I definitely didn’t guess it. However, overall the story fell a bit flat as I felt no connection with the characters, especially Eleanor, and it lacked the tension necessary to really keep me on the edge of my seat.

This book just didn't do it for me. It started out exciting and compelling, but things just didn't make sense as it went on. I found this book incredibly confusing. The twists didn't really make sense or seem fitting to the characters. I wanted more to happen and more twists than the ones provided. Honestly, when the killer was revealed I didn't even know who it was, I had completely forgotten about the character. The intrigue fell off quickly and I had no interest in continuing but it was short and I kept going thinking the payout would be worth it. BUT no, I didn't really enjoy this story at all.

Camilla Sten has definitely found her voice with this novel, as I would definitely be able to tell that this is the same author who wrote The Lost Village. Love the atmosphere as always, abandoned houses in the middle of winter storms are 100% my thing. I teeter between three and four stars in this novel, as I wasn't sure if I was getting a lot of substance other than the creepy setting. And PLEASE I beg authors to stop using these dual timelines when they only end up slowing the pace. There could be a little more here, but I think the combination of the setting and tense audio kept me going.