Scary book - something seems wrong and bizarre throughout but until the twist is revealed at the end, the “off feeling” doesn’t reconcile. Wow on the plot twist and how well it is executed. Tingly horror! Katie Garner has written an amazing thriller in The Night It Ended.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade for the opportunity to read this chilling ARC.

Shadow Hunt Hall is an exclusive boarding school for troubled girls in upstate New York. When one student, Charley Ridley, is found dead at the bottom of a snowy ravine, it is initially ruled an accident. But Charley’s mother believes there is more to the story and hires a PI named Matthew Reyes to investigate the case. Reyes in turn reaches out to Dr. Madeleine Pine, a well known expert in the study of the psychology of women and crime. Having just come off a very troubling case, Dr. Pine hesitates to sign on, but is intrigued and soon finds herself headed to the boarding school to assist in the investigation. On arriving, Reyes and Dr. Pine find the staff and the four remaining students on winter break to be anything but helpful. Lies and secrets surround the case and Madeline is not sure who she can trust, as even her own grip on reality seems to be wavering. This was a fast paced read that kept me guessing and questioning everyone involved. The end is an extremely shocking and completely unforeseen twist! This was such a great novel. I gave it 4 stars.

The setting for this is super creepy. We have murderers and pedophiles and a rundown school full of troubled girls.
It is a nightmare.
I love a good closed door mystery.
There is also a really great twist at the end.

For a debut novel this gave me chills. Much better than most debit novels that I have read.

The backdrop opens with our female main character getting a call about coming to a all girls school to interview students and determine if a recent death was an accident or a murder.

This book has many twists and turns that left me guessing where the author was going. Lots of foreshadowing and little mentions that’s turns out to be so much more.

Definitely an author to watch.

When criminal psychiatrist, Dr. Madeline Pine, receives a call from Private Investigator Matthew Reyes, asking for her help on a case-she isn’t sure if she is in the right “MENTAL SPACE” to be of help, as the “Strum case” from a year ago had nearly destroyed her.

But, he hand selected her because she specializes in women, having written a book called “Dark Side: A Psychological Portrait of the Female Criminal Mind” and because the “Strum Case” also had a victim who was around the same age as the one he is investigating.

There has been a mysterious death at a Shadow Hunt Hall-an exclusive boarding school for troubled girls, and it is being ruled an accident by police. Charlotte “Charley” Ridley was found shoeless and in pajamas at the bottom of an icy ravine, and her mother has her doubts.

Her feet were too clean.

Playing on the Doctor’s sympathy, he asks “If it were your daughter, who died, wouldn’t you want to know why?”
She is unable to say “no”.

She travels to he secluded campus in upstate New York, and finds an ancient school made of stone, with iron gates and turrets, which looks like a fairy tale castle. Given a room, by the skeleton staff, she will be given access to the four students who didn’t go home for Winter break-Kiara, Hannah, Violet and Alice.

She will be tasked with interviewing the girls, hoping to gain their trust-and in turn, the TRUTH.

Intertwined with the narrative is a transcript of an anonymous interview from a year ago, with all names redacted.

I thought I had these conversations, all figured out.

I didn’t.

Early reviews for this book, spoke of disappointment that the death at the boarding school seemed to take a back seat to the TROUBLES of the good Doctor, but I had a different experience-preferring HER story to THEIRS.

The school, its headmistress, the staff and the students just didn’t seem authentic to me. All a bit too weird-they seemed like “characters” in a book rather than people I might meet. I was glad when that part of the story wrapped up.

And, at 400 pages, I wish it had done so a bit quicker.

Coming to the end of the interview in the transcript and learning the surprising TRUTH there-was actually more interesting to me-

Expected Publication Date: June 27, 2023

Thank You to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Mira for the gifted copy provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

This was a great thriller! I was unable to tear myself away from it. I was creeped out, paranoid and felt so in the story. Thats exactly how I want a thriller to make me feel. I was shocked by the ending and can't wait to see what else this author will come out with!

Unfortunately, this didn't really work for me as much as I'd hoped. To start, the mystery that's ostensibly the catalyst for this story seems almost ignored. Most of the book, in fact, is about Dr. Pine and the hazy crisis in which she finds herself. And on that note, that's the biggest thing that didn't work for me. We spend all our time with her and she's just so annoying. At no point does she seems like a functional grown-up, nevermind a mental health professional. There is, of course, a late reveal that explains some of that, but it doesn't make the journey getting there more pleasant.

This book was a decent read, it had the usual, it had light suspense, intrigue, action, murder, mystery,and a good who done it! The storyline was interesting and flowed nicely. It wasn't one of my top favorites but still worth reading! I would recommend it! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel.

A most enjoyable mystery, I think one of the things that I enjoyed most was that figuring out the complex crimes (and related crimes, including fraud, murder, and kidnapping) took numerous talented souls including an Ace reporter, an Irish detective, and a junior PI (she was my favorite character.

Happy to find a new writer, and to read this clever and fresh mystery.

Until next time, keep an eye on writer Katie Garner's career and this as well as her upcoming novels. She is "one to watch".

Thank you NetGalley, Katie Garner, and Mira publishing for providing me an ARC of this book. While the book had a slow start, I am glad that I stuck around and continued reading. The story picks up and becomes a page turner. My only real complaint is that I found some things very unrealistic that Dr. Madeline Pine does, but the ending really surprised me!

"The Night It Ended" is a twisted, atmospheric mystery set at an exclusive all girls school for troubled teens. Fast-paced and full of menace, it's the perfect late night read. I thought I knew where it was headed several times, but a series of surprises toward the end blew my mind. Highly recommend for mystery/suspense lovers. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. #TheNightItEnded #NetGalley

WoW WoW WoW!!

A school for "troubled"girls on a mountain surrounded by 300 acres of woods with a massive nor'easter coming, what could possibly go wrong?!?! Well, not what you'd think. The Night it Ended is an amazing story of secrets and lies with an ending that is by far the biggest secret and lie EVER!!

5 star read!! A must read for mystery/thriller readers. I wish I could read for the first time again! Katie Garner, I can't wait to read more of your books. You have a new fan.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade for the ARC to read for my honest review.

EXCELLENT debut!! If you are looking for a light, happy book, this is not for you. As for the rest of us, this should check all the boxes. A dark, disturbing story set in a creepy, isolated boarding school. VERY atmospheric. We have one dead student, an approaching snowstorm and unwelcoming staff and students all in a locked-room type setting. Something is not quite right with Dr. Pine. We figure this out early on. Whether it is a good not-right or bad not-right remains to be seen. She is called to the school by the Private Investigator hired to look into the on-campus death. He thinks she can get more out of the students than he is. This was not your traditional boarding school drama that I was used to and veered off in a completely different way, but I really enjoyed it. Most of the action takes place near the last quarter but the rest is a nice set up for what is to come. I never saw any of it coming. Definitely looking forward to more from this author!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Katie Garner and Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I can’t, I just can’t… This book started out slowly, and I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. There was this niggling thought in my head that something was off and I couldn’t put my finger on it. However, I soon realized that I couldn’t put the book down and couldn’t stop thinking, wondering, about what was going on when I had to get back to real life. It was so worth it in the end, and there’s not really much more I can say than that! Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced read copy, I will look forward to reading more books by this author.

I was really excited to read this one. A suspicious death of a student, Charley, at a boarding school for troubled girls. In comes criminal psychiatrist, Dr. Madeline Pine to help solve the mystery and provide closure for her mother, however, the initial mystery was quickly overshadowed by what was going on with the doctor. She seemed more troubled than any of the girls, and her behavior was very unprofessional. I found myself rolling my eyes at some of her tactics because of how unrealistic it was.

I will say, the ending was quite a surprise that I definitely didn’t see coming. I enjoyed the author’s writing style, but parts of the story line just didn’t sit right with me. I felt that it was more a story about Dr. Pine and less of a mystery surrounding the death of a boarding school student.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the ending, which I was not expecting at all. I did not really love the transcript portions of the story though. They really took me out of the zone, and were kind of clunky.

A thrilling book that keeps you turning the pages until the shocking ending. Full of twists and turns and shocks. Brilliant!’ I rate this book four out of five stars.

This book was a disappointment. I was really drawn to the plot (I love dark academia) but it didn’t go in the direction I thought it would and found the ending tone anti-climactic.

I had such high hopes for this one...dark academia, one of my favorite tropes; a mysterious boarding school, and a dead student. However, the mystery of the dead student came secondary to the mystery of psychiatrist Dr. Madeline Pine. Dr. Pine has been through difficult cases before, so she hesitates when she's asked to help investigate. But when she sees the photos of Charley Ridley, barefoot and in pajamas at the bottom of a ravine in freezing temperatures, she decides she must go.

It soon becomes clear that something is very wrong with Dr. Pine. There were numerous descriptions of her medication bottles and frequent references to sticking to a schedule. We gets bits and pieces of her past through frenetic flashbacks that usually involve her husband and daughter. I found myself rolling my eyes frequently at the doctor's behavior, which was not at all professional, but when strange things started happening in the room where she was staying, it wasn't hard to figure out what that meant. The ending of her storyline, however, was quite unexpected and shocking.

I was hoping for a twisty mystery focusing on Charley, but she remained on the fringe of the book's focus, and the mystery behind her death was wholly unsatisfying and anti-climactic. I liked the book well enough to keep reading, and while I did enjoy the writing style, I just felt misled by the blurb.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mira Publishing for the advance copy. THE NIGHT IT ENDED will publish June 27, 2023.

Placeholder. Will update when the Harper Collins union new contract is finalized. Thank you again to the publisher for the copy.