Incredible book! I really enjoyed the thriller. I found a plot to be incredibly interesting and was excited to see the ending.

It’s I was blown away by all the secrets and twists that kept coming… The ending completely blew me away. I raced through the pages as fast as I could a dark and tense read, of which the author had no problem pulling me into the story and keeping me there.

This one was a bit predictable and a lot of the story was convenient. Much telling the reader what was going on vs showing. The author tried to make the atmosphere creepy but it fell short. A lot of the plot lines kind of just went nowhere or fizzled out or were just pointless and used for shock value.

With that being said, the writing was easy to follow. If I didn’t find the story a bit boring, it would have been a quick read.

A very quick and easy read. No major twists or shocks and quite predictable.
A very steady plot but felt a bit flat as hoping more would happen, but others will enjoy this uncomplicated story. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the review copy.

I found The Secrets of Mill House to be a quick read. Although I knew how the plot was going to go, I still found it to be an intriguing read that did hold my attention. I would rate this book 3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author for the chance to review.

A highly enjoyable and moving gothic thriller, a real page turner and whilst you soon work out what's happening the plot unfolds beautifully. The characters are well-drawn and complex and the author creates a very creepy, uneasy atmosphere very well. The author handles some very sensitive themes deftly, without ever sensationalising them. All in all a great read. It would make a very creepy TV series!

Just finished The Secrets of Mill House. When a baby is kidnapped in broad daylight with no witnesses, an otherwise sleepy suburb is rocked by scandal, and ten-year-old Flora Lanyon is terrified.

Decades later, Flora takes a job as a live-in carer for elderly couple Agnes and Abraham, moving into the decrepit watermill where they live.

As strange and unexplainable occurrences start to happen, Flora grows increasingly suspicious. Dark secrets hide in the house.

This book had me hooked as soon as I'd read the prologue. It's twisty, creepy, and will keep you guessing until the very end. I felt sad for Flora, who seems to struggle through life but has a clear purpose; to find her best friend. The story goes between different time periods, back to Flora's childhood, her teens to adulthood. Throughout the story, you're constantly trying to piece together the connection between the kidnapped baby and Flora's arrival at Mill House.
Mill House lands in September and should be on your reading list (dont you just love the eerie cover)
♥️ thank you @avonbooksuk, @eaclarkauthor
& @netgalley for sending me the book ahead of publication to read & review 🙌

"The Secrets of Mill House" by Anne Wyn Clark is a slow-burn thriller with some very dark undertones (and triggers). It is more a family drama than a thriller, but it does have a mystery in its heart.

The book follows the life of Flora as a child and as an adult. When she was ten years old, a baby was kidnapped from her neighborhood. Flora was an only child and lonely at that. She didn't have an easy life and her only friend was Iola, a girl who had a drunken woman as a mother. Decades later, Flora takes a job as a live-in carer in a creepy watermill place. Her only companion is her cat, Rufus. She takes care of an old lady, Agnes, and tries to stay away from her husband Abraham, and their son, Hector, who is not all there. Pretty soon, Flora realizes something odd is going on. However, Flora has her own agenda, and the more she digs, the more she gets in over her head.

Overall, I liked the book. It had an interesting locale, a chilling atmosphere, and interesting themes such as loss, bereavement, and physical and verbal abuse. The book moves between dual timelines, past and present, until the two connect.

The book brought all the characters to vivid life. The author did a good job capturing the personalities of the all characters, even the minor ones. Hector with his weird hobby gave me the chills, as well as his father's odd conduct.

Flora was a likable heroine. I felt so much emotion from her that I felt as if I knew her. She has some deep emotional baggage right from the beginning of the novel, and I felt invested in her. She deserved better.

While I liked the gothic atmosphere and the premise, the book was very slow-paced and wandering at times, and it took me longer than usual to finish it. I loved the beginning, thought the middle dragged a bit, and was absorbed in the last third of the book. Some developments caught me by surprise, while others I guessed. The ending is bittersweet and wasn't to my liking. The author did tie up all the loose ends.

I think that a tighter plot would have improved the book, but I still found it a worthwhile read and recommend it. I rate the book 3.5 out of 5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

* Thank you NetGalley and (publisher) for the opportunity to read this arc. All opinions are my own.

This was a predictable thriller. The writing was good, but I knew where the story was going. With that being said, I did enjoy the book.

This is the third book I’ve read by this author and I enjoyed it immensely. I started reading it last night and finished it this afternoon. This is primarily a dual timeline mystery with some very dark but sensitively handled themes throughout. I don’t want to spoil the plot but the main story is about a baby that goes missing and then fast forward twenty years and our main character is trying to find out exactly what happened. Flora takes a job looking after an elderly lady in an old mill house and slowly we find out what happened. The book is full of twists and turns and I loved every minute of it, and was sorry when it was finished. I adored the main character Flora and thoroughly enjoyed reading about her childhood friendship with Iola. I absolutely loved the descriptions of the old mill house and surrounding areas and could feel myself transported there. I would definitely recommend this book, and the authors previous two books too!

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for and advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this just didn't work - it's very slow for no reason (no fantastic buildup that culminates in something worth waiting for), and then frantic and rushed at the end. The writing is weak, the dialogue poor, the overall construction of the plot and character development lacking.