1. Leaving Birds by Virginia King.
About: "Leaving Birds is a collection of creepy folktales with adult themes. It contains a Russian folktale, a modern ghost story re-imagined from an Irish folktale, and the possibly true crime behind a traditional English murder ballad.
If you like to peek behind the scenes of books and how they're written, Leaving Birds is also a companion to Laying Ghosts, the prequel to the Selkie Moon Mystery Series, with insights into how the folktales inspired the prequel."
These short stories are reminiscent of the tales we all heard and told in the dark or around a campfire, as we grew up.
The Woman with Hair of Gold reads like a children's folk tale but it is not for children. Is Gilda a witch? Does she have magical powers? What fate befalls Gilda?
Peig's Place is a good old fashioned ghost story set in modern times. Read it at night, in the dark during a storm and you will be looking over your shoulder.
Polly's Folly - The Possibly True Events Behind the Murder Ballad 'Pretty Polly' is the third story. A tale that has been told since long ago about events that possible took place in the 1700's. Very interesting to read the research that has been done to validate this tale.
I really liked the author's notes after each story, that shows how they played into her book Laying Ghosts and Selkie Moon
.
You will have to read the stories to discover the meaning of "Leaving Birds."
I have read Virginia's other books that tie into this ; Laying Ghosts, The Selkie Moon series, and really liked them.
2. Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths (Ruth Galloway series book 2)
About: "It’s been only a few months since archaeologist Ruth Galloway found herself entangled in a missing persons case, barely escaping with her life. But when construction workers demolishing a large old house in Norwich uncover the bones of a child beneath a doorway—minus its skull—Ruth is once again called upon to investigate. Is it a Roman-era ritual sacrifice, or is the killer closer at hand?
Ruth and Detective Harry Nelson would like to find out—and fast. When they realize the house was once a children’s home, they track down the Catholic priest who served as its operator. Father Hennessey reports that two children did go missing from the home forty years before—a boy and a girl. They were never found. When carbon dating proves that the child’s bones predate the home and relate to a time when the house was privately owned, Ruth is drawn ever more deeply into the case. But as spring turns into summer it becomes clear that someone is trying very hard to put her off the trail by frightening her, and her unborn child, half to death."
I had read the first in the Ruth Galloway series last year and liked it. (The Crossing Places)
This was a spooky book. Someone is trying to scare Ruth by writing her name in blood, leaving models of babies, hanging around her door in the dark and breathing and worse. The writing is so descriptive, that it is scary.
Besides all that, the books have the underlying story of Ruth, her work as a forensic anthropologist, her friends and all of the relationships that go with it. Ruth is very likeable; independent, not a size 2 or probably not even a size 12 and doesn't care what people think about that, lives alone and is fine with it, but yet has several men vying for her attention. And it looks like she has gotten herself into a predicament. I found myself very worried about her unborn child while she was getting scared, walking around at "digs" in the dark and more.
I really liked this book and wanted to jump right into the next in the series but went on to....
3. The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
About: "West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter, Gertie. Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister, Fawn. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that suddenly proves perilous when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished without a trace. Searching for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother's bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked deeper into the mystery of Sara's fate, she discovers that she's not the only person who's desperately looking for someone that they've lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself."
Creepy, creepy, creepy. We get to go back and forth from Sara's diary from 1908 to present time with Ruthie and Fawn. Lots of shadows slinking around, old creepy women that may or may not be witches, ghosts, a weird ring (that needs to be gotten rid of), other people looking for other people that disappeared, spells, snow, cold and dark. Even the end is creepy. I was surprised at the ending.
Sounds complicated? The story is so well written that it is easy to follow. Besides, you won't be able to put it down, so it's easy to keep up.
I do want to read more of this author's books.
Enjoy!
