A Sound Among the Trees

Starred review from August 15, 2011
A woman marries into a Southern family with a dark past in this mystery about love and loss. Marielle Bishop meets her future husband, Carson, online and moves to the steamy Virginia hills from her home in the arid Phoenix desert. She soon learns that the family’s stately mansion, Holly Oak, houses more than just her new family. Ever since the Civil War, the Bishop family has been afflicted with hardship and strife—with many locals blaming their troubles on the estate’s alleged haunting. Suspicious herself, Marielle decides to investigate Susannah Page—the family’s former matriarch and spy during the Civil War—to figure out why her spirit refuses to leave the property. Meissner (The Shape of Mercy) delivers a delightful page-turner that will surely enthrall readers from beginning to end. The antebellum details, lively characters, and overlapping dramas particularly will excite history buffs and romance fans.