#Review - The House at Watch Hill by Karen Marie Moning #Gothic #Fantasy

Series: The Watch Hill Trilogy # 1
Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Release Date: October 1, 2024
Publisher: William Morrow
Source: Publisher
Genre: Gothic / Fantasy

#1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning is back with a gripping, imaginative, and seductive new series in which a young woman moves to Divinity, Louisiana, to inherit a large fortune and a Gothic mansion full of mysteries and ominous secrets...

Zo Grey is reeling from the sudden death of her mother when she receives a surprising call from an attorney in Divinity, Louisiana, with the news she has been left an inheritance by a distant relative, the terms of which he will only discuss in person. Destitute and alone, with nothing left to lose, Zo heads to Divinity and discovers she is the sole beneficiary of a huge fortune and a monstrosity of a house that sits ominously at the peak of Watch Hill—but she must live in it, alone, for three years before the house, or the money, is hers.

Met with this irresistible opportunity to finally build a future for herself, Zo puts aside her misgivings about the foreboding Gothic mansion and the strange circumstances, and moves in, where she is quickly met by a red-eyed Stygian owl and an impossibly sexy Scottish groundskeeper.

Her new home is full of countless secrets and mystifying riddles, with doors that go nowhere, others that are impossible to open, and a turret into which there is no visible means of ingress. And the townspeople are odd…

What Zo doesn’t yet know is that her own roots lie in this very house and that in order to discover her true identity and awaken her dormant powers, she will have to face off against sinister forces she doesn’t quite comprehend—or risk being consumed by them.

The House at Watch Hill, by Karen Marie Moning, is the first installment in the authors The Watch Hill trilogy. The story is told in the first person narrative past tense. Zodecky (Zo) Grey is your main character, however, there are curious other characters who also partake in telling the story, especially Alisdair. Zoe has struggled for years to take care of her mother who has incurable cancer. While at yet another interview, Zoe gets a call saying her home is on fire. 

After her home burns to the ground, and her mother dies, Zoe is told that she has inherited a house outside of New Orleans from someone who she never heard of. Without having time to process the shock, she’s summoned to Divinity, Louisiana, to inherit from an estranged relative, Juniper Cameron, a pillar of the town she never met. Zoe's new lawyer, James Balfour, informs her that she must remain in the house for 3 years. She will get a stipend every month, and $1 million if she remains a full year. 

If she stays for the full 3 years, she becomes quite wealthy. However, there are strange rules she must obey, including that nobody can live with her for three years, and her guests cannot stay more than two days, meaning her best friend Este can only visit her briefly. Zoe is a woman who takes what she wants. When she wants sex, she goes out and gets it without thought of continuing any long term relationship. She only long term relationship she has is with her best friend, Este Hunter who has her own secrets.  

Zoe devoted everything to her mother, losing her was devastating. She was left with no family, and no ties to ground her. They moved often running from some unknown danger, her mother never explained. The more Zoe explores Cameron Manor, the more mysteries are unraveled. Especially when it comes to the mysterious Devon who apparently lives on the grounds. Zoe also has to deal with a coven of local witches who don't take kindly to outsiders. Especially outsiders who may not like the kind of person she turns out to be after getting a shocking surprise from Este.

The House at Watch Hill series is Lives of the Mayfair Witches meets Mexican Gothic, with a dash of True Blood and shades of Shirley Jackson for good measure. This series shares enough DNA with the Fever (which I never finished for the same reasons I likely won't continue this either) series to delight the author’s massive existing romance fan base, and introducing new elements like the lush Southern setting, eerie Gothic atmosphere, and lineage of witches to entice new readers.  

A small hint: Moning’s stories have a tendency of unravel slowly, but as each piece is revealed, it paints a vivid, powerful picture. You can not predict what is going to happen in this book, because it kind of all jumps out and punches you in the gut. Especially the ending. 

Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble | Kobo