In the Shadow of Spindrift House

Written by Mira Grant

Narrated by Jesse Vilinsky

For Harlowe Upton-Jones, life has never been a straight line. Shipped off to live with her paternal grandparents after a mysterious cult killed her mother and father, she has grown up chasing the question behind the curve, becoming part of a tight-knit teen detective agency. But "teen" is a limited time offer, and when her friends start looking for adult professions, it's up to Harlowe to find them one last case so that they can go out in a blaze of glory.



Welcome to Spindrift House. The stories and legends surrounding the decrepit property are countless and contradictory, but one thing is clear: there are people willing to pay a great deal to determine the legal ownership of the house. When Harlowe and her friends agree to investigate the mystery behind the manor, they do so on the assumption that they'll be going down in history as the ones who determined who built Spindrift House—and why.



The house has secrets. They have the skills. They have a plan. They have everything they need to solve the mystery. Everything they need except for time. Because Spindrift House keeps its secrets for a reason, and it has no intention of letting them go. Nature abhors a straight line. Here's where the story bends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jun 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781400170982

Mira Grant

Mira Grant lives in California, sleeps with a machete under her bed and highly suggests you do the same. Mira Grant is the open pseudonym of Seanan McGuire, a successful fantasy writer and the winner of the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

[S. Moore · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The repeated declarations of love every few pages and the foreshadowing nearly beating you over the head made for one of Grant’s less well done novellas. I kept being pulled out of the story because of these things, and how dramatically the whole thing was written.

[paul · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a strange journey. It starts off feeling like it was trying to be the next Haunting of Hill House with the eerie descriptions before jumping halfway across the country to meet a team of mystery detectives reminiscent of Mystery Incorporated minus Scooby Doo.
So that was the weird part. Then it becomes a “you have to spend a week in the haunted house and find the hidden papers in order to make lots of money” type book.
It actually worked for me. There were twists that kept it interesting

[muzmuz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book should’ve been a full novel as it felt really short.
The story is really good, well built and the characters had some depth but again I wished it was longer as I wanted to know more of their adventure.

[Børge Blåtind · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked it. An old feel to it sad in many ways

[iam · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really cool and eery lovecraftian horror, with a ghost hunting and haunted house vibe!

[mutantpudding · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Weird and creepy but it didnt particularly grab me.

[krau0098 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone novella that I borrowed from the library.

Story (3/5): Harlowe has a violent and mysterious past but after her parents’ deaths she went to live with her grandparents. There she formed friendships with some neighborhood kids and eventually they formed a detective agency. As they are all poised to move on to more adult lives and pastimes, Harlowe gets an offer they can’t refuse. If they can figure who owns the deed to Spindrift House they will be granted a prize of millions of dollars...the only catch is that once they enter the house they aren’t allowed to leave it.

I really liked most of this story but it does take quite a while to set up the story and get into Sprindrift House. Once Harlowe and crew were in Spindrift House, things just weren’t as creepy as I expected. I was not a fan of the end of the story which just seemed….so abrupt.

Characters (4/5): The characters are well done and all have quirky personalities and issues. Their relationships to each other are anything but normal. I liked the uniqueness of these characters even though I struggled to engage with any of them.

Setting (3/5): The set up for the setting of Spindrift House was amazing. I loved the desolate coastal setting and the creepy history of the house. However, once we were in the house I just found it kind of lacking. There wasn’t enough description for me to really picture the house well and the story wasn’t as creepily atmospheric as I was hoping for.

Writing Style (4/5): The writing style bounces around in this book. The prelude and Harlowe’s dreams are very literature-like, discussing the philosophy of life as a curve versus the straight lines humanity places on it. These were beautifully written but had to be very deliberately read. The parts of the story with Harlowe and her friends were much more typical fictional story-telling sort of style. The pacing was a bit off and it took a long time to set up the story; I felt like a lot less of this took place in Spindrift House than I was expecting. I also felt like things were tied up really quickly which didn’t match the pace of the rest of the story.

My Summary (3.5/5): Overall I was really looking forward to reading this and it was a bit of a let down for me. The pacing was kind of off and it just wasn’t as creepy and atmospheric as I was hoping for. It wasn’t a bad story, but it didn’t really tread any new ground. It does explore themes of madness and the Deep and at times has a very cthulhu tone to it, but it felt a bit forced. It was short so I didn’t mind reading it, but I didn’t love it either.

[glennis.leblanc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful Lovecraft flavored story.

A group of mystery solving teens takes on one last case before adulthood and insurance runs out. But this last case is special, it seems that the haunted house they are staying at is connected to the orphaned friend in their group. Harlowe doesn’t know anything about her mother’s family but in researching it she finds out about a house that has a complicated ownership and a mystery about who owns the correct owner should be. Near the water in Maine a house sits with three families claiming ownership of it and the large amount of acreage. A large cash prize is awarded to anyone that can stay in the house until they find the original paperwork that will decide who is the correct owner. Everyone who has tried before has died of unknown cases. But this one is personal to Harlowe and the money will allow the other three to set up their adult lives and move on from teenage mystery solving. As the story progresses it becomes less Scooby Doo and more tinged with horror. The last chapter finally speaks the one word that confirms what a well-read reader has seen coming during the story.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

[amanda4242_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this Lovecraftian novella, a Scooby Gang-type group of investigators take on one last job before going their separate ways. The characters, other than the main one, are a little weak, but on the whole it's a very good read.

Received via NetGalley.

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A Scooby Doo-like gang of ghostbusting kids is growing up and possibly breaking up, when one of them (the Velma) puts together one last big score—if they can find the deed to Spindrift House, they’ll make millions, but they can’t leave once they’ve entered and others have died in the attempt. Quickly things go full Lovecraft, with not!Velma’s heretofore unknown family secrets playing a big role. Grant doesn’t rely on her usual repetition/fairytale tics here, which I really appreciated; a brisk and different novella.