Coram House was a great read. The cover certainly drew me in!

The main character is a writer who is contracted to ghost write a book about an orphanage with a sordid past. There are rumors of a young boy who went missing in the lake and alleged abuse of the children at the hands of the nuns who raised them. During the writer's investigation, several bodies appear - potential murders? Possibly related to Coram House and its' past? I don't want to give away any endings, so I'll leave it at that.

There is plenty of mystery and intrigue to capture the reader's attention until the very last page.

Thank you to NetGallery and the publisher for an ARC.

I really enjoyed this book and its nod to the true story of St. Joseph’s orphanage.
I enjoyed our main character, and a few side characters definitely had me fooled.
This book is a slow burn so be prepared to really settle into the story.

Thanks to Netgalley, Bailey Seybolt, and Atria books for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

My jaw dropped at the big twist in this one, book peeps!! Did not see that coming!! 🙌

This was a dark crime thriller that was based on the true history of St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Burlington, Vermont and sheds light on the abuse that occurred in these institutions. This was excellent for a debut and I definitely recommend checking it out! 👏

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Bailey Seybolt for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

TW: child abuse

The fact that this is inspired by a true story is both creepy and extremely sad. Nine year old Tommy vanishes one summer day. Some think he was drowned, some were told he ran away. It's also possible he never existed. Writer Alex Kelley is asked to ghostwrite a book about the orphanage where Tommy supposedly went missing from. As she begins to uncover more facts, she comes across a woman's dead body. As the body count rises, Alex races the clock to clear her name and uncover the truth behind it all.

The story is a slow burn, but I really enjoyed it. I felt like a detective piecing together all of the puzzle pieces that we are given. There are transcript interviews sprinkled throughout between chapters which adds an interesting element. Warning: these transcripts describe child abuse and so if that is a trigger it is probably best to avoid this book. Otherwise, it's a very enjoyable read that I can highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Alex is an author who has been hired to come to Vermont and help ghost-write a story for a lawyer. Coram House was a church-run orphanage and has a storied past. As she meets people and starts to peel back the layers of the onion, there's murder, suspicion, and an overall general storyline that has a big twist at the end!
I enjoyed this book. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

Coram House is a chilling, atmospheric thriller that seamlessly blends true crime with fiction, drawing inspiration from real-life horrors at St. Joseph’s Orphanage. The novel’s premise is gripping—a decades-old mystery of a missing child, a crumbling orphanage with a dark past, and a determined crime writer seeking the truth. The plot is undoubtedly the book’s strongest element, weaving together past and present in a way that keeps the reader engaged. While the plot twist was somewhat predictable, it was still satisfying, adding a layer of intrigue that kept the story moving.

However, where the book falters is in its characters. They felt frustrating, unlikable, or difficult to connect with, which made it challenging to become fully immersed in their struggles. Despite this, the writing style was solid, if a bit slow at times. The pacing occasionally dragged, but the suspense and eerie atmosphere compensated for the lulls in action.

Readers should be aware that the novel contains heavy themes, including child abuse and references to sexual assault against children. These aspects are handled with the weight they deserve, but they make for an emotionally difficult read.

Overall, Coram House is a compelling, if imperfect, thriller that will appeal to fans of slow-burn mysteries and investigative fiction. If you enjoy crime novels that are as much about uncovering the past as they are about solving a murder, this one is worth picking up—just be prepared for some unsettling moments along the way.

A thriller with a bit of historical fiction.

Coram House is inspired by real-life tragedies that occurred at an orphanage in Vermont. The story follows an author, Alex, who is asked to ghostwrite a book about the orphanage. Her investigation hits a nerve with many of the locals who would rather keep the past buried.

This is a slow-burn and atmospheric thriller that I really enjoyed. I love a jaw-dropping ending that I don’t see coming and Coram House definitely delivered.

Thank you Net Galley and Atria Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was so well done! I loved all the research that is so believable, the characters, the mystery...all of it!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

The basis for this historical fiction novel is an orphanage called Coram House in Vermont where, for over 100 years, thousands of children lived. Unfortunately, their treatment during part of that time was horrific and abusive; some just disappeared and others died.

This is also a mystery story, trying to discover what happened to one particular child. The author does a great job with setting, describing the icy cold of a Vermont winter and the aloneness of a rural forested area. Most of the characters are dealing with a loss to some degree and there is a multitude of suspects throughout the story. This is an emotionally difficult novel to read but well written and informative.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC to read and review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC!

I loved this book so much! Seybolt does an amazing job of immersing the reader into the story, and surfacing from the book felt like re-entering the world. She was truly able to transport me into the world of the story and make me feel what the characters were feeling: the deep coldness, the mystery, the frustration, the anger, even the fear.
This is a moody, atmospheric mystery that left me feeling so much. I didn't realize when I was first reading it that it was based on a true story, but that adds another layer to the story. This was truly a masterpiece of writing, and Seybolt has a fan for life here.

I will share a triggering warning that I think is important: child abuse and death are mentioned throughout the book - the orphanage was full of abuse and it is Alex's (the main character) job to unravel the story. In almost every instance these events are told through the use of interview transcripts, so there is a bit of distance. I didn't feel like the events were very detailed (meaning the author didn't linger on these topics or include gratuitous descriptions).

A solid debut and I loved the setting! So many mysteries and thrillers lately are set on lush tropical islands/beach resorts/etc, so it was a fun change to read one set in snowy, windy, icy-cold Vermont during the winter. The story follows a crime writer whose husband passed away and whose last book ended up sending an innocent man to jail. Soooo she’s not in an amazing place emotionally when she takes an assignment to ghostwrite a book about a former orphanage (which is now being turned into fancy condos) where abuse of children occurred. The story revolves around her uncovering exactly what happened there, despite efforts from some of the townspeople to keep it under wraps. Will definitely read Bailey Seybolt’s next one!

Thanks so much to Atria Books and NetGalley for my review copy! Coram House launches April 15, 2025.

This was a chilling mystery that send shivers down my spine. The story is based around real life tragedies that took place in the well known Vermont orphanage “St Joseph’s”

In 1968, on a hot blistering summer day, a nine year old boy Tommy vanishes without a trace. Fifty years later, and that's still an unsolved case. The police catalogued it as a runaway. Even though another child said she saw him being drowned.

Now- Alex is crime writer who is a recent widow who needs a fresh start in life especially after her last book didn’t do well. Soon the perfect story lands in her lap when she’s hired to be ghostwriter about the abuse that occurred at the hands of the caretakers (priests and nuns) at Coram House orphanage. While doing research she comes across the mystery about a missing young boy named Tommy who may have been murdered and it was covered up by the orphanage personnel. When Alex discovers the dead body of a woman by the lake , she finds herself being pulled into the investigation and realizes that the horrors of the past never go away. Alex is convinced the woman’s death is connected to Coram House’s dark past, even if local police officer Russell Parker thinks she’s just desperate for a career-saving story. As the body count rises, Alex must prove that the key to finding the killer lies in Tommy’s murder, or risk becoming the next victim.I loved this book and it was sad that events like this really happened. Please be aware of the trigger warnings of children’s sexual and physical abuse

🏚️ T O R M E N T I N G T H U R S D A Y review 🏚️ featuring “Coram House” by Bailey Seybolt!

MY RATING: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

Back in 1968, a young boy named Tommy mysteriously disappeared at an orphange called Coram House and his case was never solved. Rumours say that a nun drowned him in the lake, while others say that he ran away.

Now in present days, Alex Kelley is a true crime writer who is asked to ghost write a book about Coram House and the horrors that supposively took place there. Alex relocates to Vermont to investigate what went on at Coram House and soon finds that most information is misleading and those involved are very tight lipped. All signs point to some seriously sinister occurrences, especially when the few connections to the past she finds end up murdered!

Based off of real life stories of tragedies that took place at St Joseph’s orphanage in Vermont, this book starts off with a slow burn that pulls you in and entraps you! Haunting, atmospheric, dark and gritty … it had the gears in my head on overdrive! I loved the use of mixed media and flashbacks to bring the past and present together!

Thank you kindly to @baileyseybolt @atriabooks @simonschusterca @netgalley for my #gifted advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review. This book releases on April 15, 2025 and is a debut you don’t want to miss!

If a book is set in Vermont, I will be doing everything in my power to get a copy into my hand. Discover that its story was inspired by the true events that occurred at St. Joseph's Orphanage, and I needed to devour this book as soon as I possible could. I am so happy that I did. I will be recommending this to everyone that I come across. On the street, at work, the grocery store, you name it I will be getting the word out there. I love that Bailey Seybolt mentioned well-known places of Burlington haunts in the book, Beansie's Bus, and Nectar's to name a few. I love when a town I used to live in, and my home state is featured in a book. The entire setting opens in my mind like a map. Anyway, to get back to the book. The characters are spot on. The setting is hauntingly atmospheric, the story superbly written. Have I said this is a must read?

Alex Keeley is still reeling from the death of her husband. She needs to find an escape from the everyday reminders of him. She needs a new project. A new book she can dive into research and lose herself in. Alex thinks she has uncovered one. She decides to pack up her apartment and head to Burlington, Vermont. What she finds when she arrives is more than she anticipated. The stories are conflicting. The eyewitness accounts on what went on at Coram House will send shivers down your spine. It will make you wonder how these atrocities could have happened in an orphanage run by the church. As Alex slowly begins to uncover information, she finds out more people she has encountered since moving to Burlington have connections to Coram House. As the past and the present become interwoven, the puzzle pieces become harder to fit. Until the shocking finally slapped me in the face.

I tore through this book, like the wind whips across an open lake. The pages turning into snow pelting my face. The characters taking on their own forms, their voices ringing in my ears. This is one fantastic read that you partake in. Thank you to Bailey Seybolt and Atria Books for my gifted copy.

This, folks, is inspired by a true story! And look at that cover. It has everything I want. Was a good page-turning thriller. I’ll have to check out more from Bailey Seybolt!

She may have been a slow burn but she packed a OUNCH! I was absolutely enraptured by the story and was itching to know what was going to happen next!

This is a slow-burner, an atmospheric book about death and hidden secrets. Alex is a disgraced true crime author who has just lost her husband. When she gets the opportunity to ghostwrite a book about the abuse that went on in a church-run orphanage in the 1960’s, she leaves city life behind to move to a small town in Vermont. Her coauthor imposes limits on what she can and cannot write. But Alex can’t help herself, she needs to find out what happened with a missing boy. Then, people start dying all around her. The story is mostly set in the present, but the mystery is centered in the past, so there is a lot of Alex digging around for information, as well as many details about the village, the town and life at the orphanage. This is not something I enjoy too much, but the plot itself was engrossing enough to keep me turning the pages.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Atria Books.

The setting of this book was so good. It was enough "creep" but wasn't scary. This thriller was definitely a slow-burn thriller, which are difficult for me to really stay connected to. I thought this book was good (and will definitely recommend), however, it didn't keep me as enthralled as I would have hoped.

I truly liked this book just wasn’t captivating from the start which I need in a thriller! I would definitely read another by Bailey Seybolt and do recommend you try this!

Wow. This is not my typical genre, but I’m so glad I read this book. I had no idea what it was about, just saw everyone talking about it and didn’t want to miss out. I’m so thankful I received a copy and gave it a chance. I look forward to more by this author. The storytelling is amazing.