Hey there!

I'm currently on a research trip for Book 1 of my Danica Burns mystery series, and as I checked into the kinda remote Airbnb and started unpacking, I realized that the two books I was in the middle of reading both shared a theme:

They were both thrillers about writers on research trips, staying alone in remote Airbnbs.

*facepalm*

The first is The Blackhouse by Carole Johnstone,* which is set on the Isle of Harris and Lewis in Scotland. It's about a girl who may or may not be psychic, who's staying in an old blackhouse while investigating a decades-old murder. Which, of course, is stirring up lots of local resentment.

I'm absolutely loving it, but it's chock full of noises-in-the-dark and who's-scratching-at-the-door and omg-are-there-ghosts-now??? moments.

The second book is The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf, about a true crime writer staying in a creepy farmhouse where a family was murdered decades earlier. She's researching their murders when an epic storm strands her (of course!!!) and an unexpected guest shows up to take shelter.

Needless to say, neither of those are great reading material for my mental health at the moment.

As the light was fading last night and I was contemplating my quandary, I heard a scratching at my own Airbnb's door. It sounded like someone was trying to punch in the code. So I went to the door and looked through the window — but I couldn't see anyone out there.

Yet the noises continued.

Ghosts?

Werewolves?

Serial killers???

I decided to be brave and open the door (I'm already not surviving this horror movie, am I?) and still saw nothing.

Then I looked down and found a small child in a flouncy pink dress.

She took one look at me, yelped, and ran back to her mom.

It turned out to be the host's daughter. And whether I'd just surprised her or because I wasn't wearing my eyepatch at the time, I scared her almost as much as she'd scared me. 🤣

Anyway, if anyone has recommendations for books that aren't about writers being terrorized by weird noises in remote guesthouses while on research trips, I'd love to hear them.

But first! It's your last chance!

The Outsiders Kickstarter is wrapping up tomorrow, so if you haven't picked up your copy of the collection, now's the time. Here's the link.

I'm on the fence about selling this collection more widely than Kickstarter, so please don't miss your chance to grab it now if you want it.

OK!

Hope you're doing well.

I'm off to steep in small town charm and figure out where to hide bodies. (Fictionally, of course.)

Happy reading,

Jessie

(* P.S. Not to be confused with The Blackhouse by Peter May, which is also set on Harris and Lewis and is also excellent.)