This book was much better than I anticipated, as ghosty books aren't usually my jam. But throw in a murder and a couple of mysteries to solve and I am all in! I loved the twists and turns of this book and the kinda happy ending. Off to look up more books by this author!

#TheGhostsofThorwaldPlace
#NetGalley

First off, if you enjoyed The Lying Game series by Sara Shepard and are looking for an adult book that is similar, I would definitely try this one.

This book is very interesting in the way that it is written. I read it as an audiobook and I honestly think it really enhanced the experience. This book is very narration heavy as our main character is a ghost throughout pretty much the entire book. As a result, most of the events in the book are being viewed from a third person perspective.

The overall mystery (who killed Rachel?) is compelling. You want to know what happened to her and why. This is definitely aided by the fact that Rachel is trying to solve her own murder. The overall answer to this question did feel a little lackluster to me, but the journey there is enjoyable enough to still give this 4 stars.

I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a new sort of perspective in the mystery genre, and anyone who isn't a huge fan of super intense, thrilling mysteries. It is an enjoyable book overall.

I wasn’t entirely sure what this book was about, only that it had ghosts and a murder mystery. What I was expecting was the unique POV of a ghost as one of our MC’s. I absolutely loved this aspect of the story, and watching her murder investigation unfold through her own eyes. There were some super creepy interactions with other ghosts in the building, and some twisty turns that I truly didn’t see coming. The ending left me feeling satisfied and that the story was properly resolved. I listened to the audiobook and absolutely loved the narrator. The pacing was quick and held me thoroughly captivated until the end. Definitely recommend this Paranormal Thriller to anyone who is looking for a unique story!!

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version. This was an interesting concept novel. A murder mystery through the eyes of the person that was murdered, as she comes back as a ghost. It is depressing concept but it was an interesting story.

In a Nutshell: I didn’t expect paranormal elements to be a part of this ‘mystery-thriller’. But despite some scenes that were a tad too spooky for this scaredy-cat, I enjoyed the book. Entertaining, though somewhat slow. Better enjoyed without overanalysing.

Story Synopsis:
Rachel Drake, who is hiding from someone, has not stepped out of her apartment in the two years she has lived in Thorwald Place, a doorman building for those who can afford it. When Rachel gets a phone call one night, she knows that she has been found and decides to run away. She gets murdered in the lift while on her way to the garage.
Now Rachel’s ghost is stuck in Thorwald Place, tied to the lift. Her reach is limited to the apartments near the elevator. As she gets a glimpse of the residents of the building, she realises that all of them have some dark secret. Could any of them have been her killer? Or was it the person she had been hiding from?
The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Rachel.

Where the book worked for me:
👻 Rachel was a distress helpline volunteer when alive, and this aspect is woven well into her afterlife arc. She isn’t necessarily a likeable character, but she’s good at heart, though a bit slow to get a grasp of things. I liked this imperfect depiction of a lead. She is as human as can be with her judgemental nature coupled with genuine concern for others, all of which is quite ironic as she isn’t a human for most of the story.
👻 There are many characters in the story, whom we see though Rachel’s eyes while her ghost wanders into various apartments. Almost all these secondary characters are complex and even creepy. It just goes to show that humans are scarier than ghosts!
(Of course, you can take this point and turn it on its head as well, saying, “There were too many creepy characters within a single building!” But it added to the fun, especially as each character was distinct.)
👻 Though somewhat morbid, the writing incorporates plenty of humour through Rachel’s comments about the residents.
👻 An amazing ending that kept throwing surprise after surprise my way. Who doesn’t love surprises! The final scene was just beautiful.
👻 I didn’t guess the killer and I enjoyed all the red herrings thrown in my direction.
👻 I loved the diary excerpts as they revealed a lot about Rachel’s personality.
👻 I am a big scaredy cat when it comes to paranormal novels. I like all fictional ghosts to have a rational reason for existence (Don’t laugh!) and a happy ‘ending’. This book satisfied me on that count.

Where the book could have worked better for me:
☠ The level of spookiness was slightly above my comfort level. Of course, this point isn’t a shortcoming of the book per se, but of my limitations as a reader.
☠ I didn’t buy the little girl’s back story. It wasn’t convincing.
☠ There’s a little bit of repetition in Rachel’s first person thoughts. This stands out more in the audio version.
☠ Things become farfetched in the final quarter. The need to provide a satisfactory ending to all characters made the story cross logical limits and rush to tie all ends neatly. (Reminding you again, I still enjoyed the actual finale. So not all was lost!)
☠ One thing I simply didn’t figure out was how agoraphobic Rachel was not at all hesitant about leaving her flat after the phone call. Not once does she deliberate over stepping out! So the agoraphobia felt more like a decorative label than an actual phobia.

The audiobook experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 11hrs 18 min, is narrated by Rachel Fulginiti. I enjoyed her performance. She doesn’t try too hard to give individual voices to the myriad characters, making them sound natural. Her narration was very easy on the ears, and gave the audiobook the perfect realistic touch. I’d definitely recommend the audio version, especially as the book is on the longish side at 400+ pages.
That said, there are too many characters to keep track of in this story. If you are an audiobook newbie, better stick to reading.


All in all, this was a nice audiobook for me, despite its going over the top at the end. If you don’t overanalyse the proceedings and just go with the flow, this can be a great entertainer.
The book has elements of mystery and drama, with a hefty dollop of the outworldly. The dominant genre here is drama, which worked in my favour. Mystery lovers will also find much to like. (However, horror fans will find it too mild, and horror phobes will find it too scary.)
Definitely recommended to those looking for an unusual mystery read with paranormal elements. For a debut work, it is quite ambitious, and achieves most of what it sets out to do. I will surely try more by this author.

4 stars.

My thanks to CamCat Books and NetGalley for the ALC of “The Ghosts of Thorwald Place”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.

PS: I don’t know why but the cover somehow gives a historical vibe to me, despite the clear presence of the elevator. Is it the font?

Content Warnings: Domestic abuse, infidelity, murder, suicide, human death, brutal animal death, (Well, there are graphic human deaths also, but we readers love animals more.),… Y’all, treat it as a horror story and prepare yourselves accordingly!

I did really enjoy this, the premise was good, a murder victims ghost is trapped in the building until she solves her murder and the other mysteries of the house. The characters were really well developed but I do think there were too many of them which made it a bit confusing to follow. It was also a little too long and then the ending/conclusion felt rushed.

Thank you NetGalley and Helen Power for this audiobook The Ghosts of Thorwald Place. This is an imaginative murder mystery/ghost story. A young woman hiding from her husband’s murderer has changed her identity and hidden herself in a high security apartment building . Unfortunately she is murdered in the elevator one night. We then follow her ghost as she is forced to exist in the elevator and parts of the surrounding building and learns more than she wanted about her neighbors and who might have murdered her.

Follow this link to see the review on this book: https://blujeansbooks.co.za/the-ghosts-of-thorwald-place-review/.

This was intriguing - I couldn’t put it down! Rachel Drake was living as a hermit, hiding from someone while working as an operator for a domestic abuse hotline. Rachel finds herself in the afterlife, and she learns all about the secrets of her fellow apartment-dwellers. But who was the murderer?

So good! Excellent narration.

The Ghosts of Thorwald Place is a fascinating story that is dragged on for too long. I always enjoy a story that weaves together the lives and secrets of seemingly distinct characters and the supernatural twist added an interesting dimension to the story. The author did a really good job crafting the secondary characters and I was genuinely invested in many of their stories. However, there are too many of them which really weighed down the story at times. If she had cut out two or three of them, the other stories would have been stronger and more engaging. The ending felt rushed, especially after Power put so much work into building tension throughout the story. She definitely succeeded at creating that tension and I really enjoyed some of the supernatural elements.

Sometimes less is more...

In "The Ghosts of Thorwald Place" we follow the story of Rachel, or to be more precise, we follow the story of Rachel's ghost. Rachel before her death was on the ran. She was hiding from her husband's killer. But he found her. And he killd her. And now she has to solve the mystery of her death in an apparment building full of people with secrets.

The author wanted to accomplish too much. The secrets, the mysteries, the plot twists at one point they lost all their meaning, simply because there was too many of them. How many can you take and be shocked? ._. It turend out that I have a limit.

It is not a bad book. It has a little bit of suspense, I just personally think that the author overdid it. Half of the events was unnecessery, because they were taking us from the main plot, which was: RACHEL LOOKING FOR HER TRUE KILLER.

It was also evident that the author didn't quite know the world she created, the moment something supernatural was going on, Reachel would explain something to us (the reader) by saying, "I don't know why or how, but I know that's what's going on and that's how it should be.".

So yeah... you might like it... you just have to try!

[Shortened and spoilers redacted from Goodreads review]
The Ghost of Thorwald Place was not a typical kind of book that I would pick up. I've never really ventured into horror/thriller elements of writing, however, the description hooked me. After reading Belladonna, I discovered I had a liking towards stories with an element of mystery which makes sense seeing as I often lose interest in many movies if they don't have some level of mystery to solve, so this was another step down that road.

I am glad I picked up the audiobook version of this. The narrator's voice was great and minus one or two times that I felt like the voice didn't fit the character right, it was smooth listening.

Rachel, or Kae, lives in a building that is supposed to be high-end with security as she hides from her husband's killer. When she dies in the elevator, she is tied to this spot with a dome to explore that constantly moves with said elevator. This idea was awesome, really, and very imaginative. I absolutely loved the idea of this almost being a crime detective story but the detective is the victim themselves. I was a little nervous that having a ghost narrator who couldn't really interact with the world would become boring very quickly but it didn't! There were only a few pieces that dragged on a bit but they didn't impact my whole reading experience.

I enjoyed reading about the characters and their interactions with each other. I really didn't suspect [spoiler redacted] The characters were overall enticing, especially the medium and the other non-living around the building. I do wish the shadowman had a bigger role as I feel like he could have simply not existed and the story would have been the same.

My only disappointment comes really from who ended up being the killer in the end. [Spoiler redacted]

I love the concept of this book. A murder victim is trapped in the apartment building where she died and she must spy on the occupants to not only solver her own murder, but to solve all the mysteries of the building. So great! You'll never guess the ending.

A twisty and memorable book, the GHOSTS OF THORWALD PLACE was filled with strong characters and lots of smaller mysteries intertwined with the main story. I enjoyed it a ton and look forward to reading more by the author.

This was a creative ghost story/murder mystery, told from the perspective of a new ghost, tied to the site of her murder. While she observes the happenings at her high security apartment building full of secrets and sin, she yearns to interfere, to help solve her murder and save others from a similar fate.
There’s so much going on in this book—almost every resident in the building has a secret, and there are several twists and turns (some predictable and some not). It has a satisfying ending and I enjoyed the narration.
I have a lot of thoughts about the book, but they’re all spoiler material, so if anyone wants to discuss, send me a message. I’d recommend it to supernatural murder mystery fans.
Thanks to the publisher for the complimentary audiobook.

But did the cat really have to be killed?

This book was almost, almost a solid 4-star for me.

Alas, I really dislike animals dying in books. I don't step into every thriller book thinking I'd encounter it. Maybe I should have been wearier since this is also shelved as a 'horror' book.

Still, I will say it now and again. You do not need to graphically kill an animal to make a good book. This alone dodged a solid star from me. It just wasn't needed.

On the other note. We follow Rachel, with a past. Rachel is murdered in her apartment building, and her ghost remains. Now we follow her ghost as she uncovers many secrets of the residents of Thorwald place.

This book - minus killing a cat - was actually an enjoyable read. The audiobook was well done. The book was well done and I kind of liked this idea, it felt different from anything that I have read before.

I like following Rachel and learning about her neighbors through her eyes. I liked all the mystery and the drama. It was such an intriguing read. It was creepy, it was uncomfortable at times. It was gory, and the plot kept me drawn and on the edge of my seat. Really well done. I loved how all the pieces fell into place.

I liked how for the most part it seems that the author has tied up all the loose ends. I don't recall anything that she might have missed that left me with questions.

Would I try anything in the future from this author? Yes, I think I would go in cautiously knowing that there is a possibility of animal abuse.

Overall, despite a dodged star, this was an entertaining, original story that I did really enjoy.

Thank you NetGalley and CamCat Books, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Audiobooks for accepting my request to audibly read and review The Ghosts of Thorwald Place.

Published: 10/05/21

Narrator Rachel Fulginiti did a great job. I thoroughly enjoyed her as the narrator.

I have mixed feelings about the story. I'm rating this 3.5 stars, but not rounding up. Primarily the language is keeping this at a 3. The foul language was placed just because the author could, and I found that to be sad. The story was developed, the end was coming, there were no doubts.

While reading there were times when I reminisced on previously read books and watched movies with ghosts. At one point I decided there were only so many things a ghost could do. I liked the ghost -- human dynamic, and I liked how the dark man was played.

My second issue -- there were too many characters with storylines, and once the novelty wore off, (The Place) and it was time to move the story, it slowed. Some of the tertiary characters felt like seat fillers or page fillers, and the story didn't need them.

The ending tore me up, I thought it was beautiful, I cried for five minutes. Writing this now, I teared up. Power wrote the scene so well, it felt real and I can close my eyes now and see it. I wish the author success and hope if she gets the opportunity she removes the F words. Without those, I would have let my mid to late teen transition to adult books.

4-4.25⭐️🎧

It’s a Canadian based book and narration. It’s a strong debut.

A murder mystery with ghosts. It just my kind of quirky book. I do enjoy a delve into the supernatural.

I had the audiobook version read by Rachel Fulginiti, who did a good job with the narration, she created a good atmosphere.

Rachel Drake never leaves her safe haven an apartment in a block with a doorman until a phone call sends her running.
She is murdered, she finds herself tethered to the building where the secrets of her neighbours are revealed, but is restricted to an area of the position of the lift.

I liked how she was tethered to the proximity of the lift, it added a quirky detail which added to the frustration for Rachel and added a bit of anticipation/suspense for the reader. I was engaged with Rachel wanting her to get her answers.

A voyeuristic view into lives and deaths of the many other occupants of the building. There’s so many lies, secrets, and twists, it kept me entertained throughout. It’s an easy listen, the supernatural element gives it a different edge, I thought that aspect was well handled. There’s a subplot regarding Will at the end that just stretched things a step too far for me. Surprised my niggle was was one of the living rather than the dead.

You have to be open to the supernatural element to be able to enjoy it. It’s one that I really enjoyed and would recommend.

Ghost stories are my favorite and this one is unique. Sometimes it was a little hard understanding what character was talking. But, overall it was an engaging ghost story with a fresh take.

What a great story. I like the many twist and turns; a bit of scary parts, and mystery of who dunnit story. Easy read and quick page turner. Fun to get into the characters and lose yourself in their lives. Audio was good to listen too. Was understandable to hear. Would recommend this to my friends. Love the ghosts and their different characters.