A House With Good Bones

No cover — T. Kingfisher: A House With Good Bones (Hardcover, 2023, Tor Nightfire)

Hardcover, 400 pages

Published March 28, 2023 by Tor Nightfire.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-82979-5

(2 reviews)

A haunting Southern Gothic from an award-winning master of suspense, A House With Good Bones explores the dark, twisted roots lurking just beneath the veneer of a perfect home and family.

"Mom seems off."

Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even …

A haunting Southern Gothic from an award-winning master of suspense, A House With Good Bones explores the dark, twisted roots lurking just beneath the veneer of a perfect home and family.

"Mom seems off."

Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.

5 editions

enne📚 reviewed A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

A House With Good Bones

4 stars

I am a huge fan of everything T. Kingfisher writes and have slowly been working through her backlog of work. A House With Good Bones is a very southern (United States) sort of horror story. The setup is that Samantha has to go back to live with her mother in small town North Carolina, and her mom and the house have changed while she's been gone.

I love the wry tone and joking asides. There are some deeply creepy moments, both big and small that ratchet up the tension right up to the climax of the book. I love the weaponized horror of southern white racist grandmas. Also, an info-dumping entomologist protagonist is exactly what I'd expect out of Ursula Vernon.

Bonus spoilery thoughts in this post

Kat reviewed A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

Gran plans

4 stars

Sam, a thirty-something entomologist, temporarily moves back to the family home to cover a housing gap. The house, where her mother now lives, was originally the home of her now-deceased grandmother, the cruel and overbearing Gran Mae. Sam notices some jarring differences in both her mum and the house, and the story unravels from there.

This book was the perfect easy and entertaining read to end and begin the year with. I enjoyed it and finished it very quickly. I could have done with more tension and a bit more length once the horror really kicked off. Also more insects! Still, T. Kingfisher remains one of my favourite recently-discovered authors and I will read every horror book she puts out.