Specters in the Glass House
It’s 1921 and one year into Prohibition. With her family’s brewery company bankrupt, recently orphaned Marian Arnold has one thing left to her name: Müllerian Manor, the family’s summer home. But her secluded quiet is quickly shattered when she finds the body of their milkman dead in her late mother’s glass butterfly house.
Present day: the manor is occupied by an author writing a biography on Marian Arnold and her connection with “The Butterfly Butcher,” an unidentified person who committed a series of murders. When author’s research assistant, Remy, begins finding the butcher’s calling card appearing in the form of dead butterflies and animal bones, she wonders: How could this killer still be around terrorizing victims 100 years later?
Jaime Jo Wright is a master craftswoman of the dual timeline suspense novel. She switches between characters at just the right moment to keep building tension. Nothing is as it seems, from secret rooms to the questionably motivated side characters. Both women must fight against the stigmas of their respective eras. The author explores the challenges of mental illness, and the topic is portrayed with the utmost sensitivity and grace. Meanwhile, Remy struggles with her faith and questions why God helps some people but not others. The setting details, particularly of the glass butterfly house, are darkly enchanting. Jaime Jo Wright’s novels always deliver on twisty plot threads, engaging characters, and conversations of faith, and this one is certainly no exception. Recommended!
