Wendy Webb sets her story in a sanitarium which was a medical facility used to treat tuberculosis before technology gave us medicine. Back then people died at an alarming rate and were often kept quarantined in these ‘hospitals’ so it was easy to believe the tormented spirits of these people haunted those buildings as they fell out of fashion to be left abandoned to ruin. Webb obviously put some time into researching this stuff because her work is detailed and authentic which heightens that chilling sense of horror at what happened here.

Webb starts off strong so you become hooked early on, the excitement builds, her characters make it easy to follow their story, and the setting is everything a horror fan could want then it hits a small bump. It’s almost as if Webb lost some of her own excitement at writing such a cool and intriguing story. I definitely had a love/hate relationship going with around the middle or so because her writing is very descriptive so you can see her world unfolding before your eyes, you feel like you get to know her characters on a personal level. I think it was more my expectations because I wanted to know all about the spooky stuff, the sinister things that keep you up at night, the mysteries that keep you puzzling so life doesn’t get boring. It reminded me a bit of the second movie in a trilogy; the first sets up the story to get your interest hooked, the second is just there to provide the bigger picture then comes the third with all the action and payoff.

Even if it feels like the story drags a bit and you want to give up you must push through because the payoff will happen. The chilling plot will come and it gets good so the wait be awarded as the page turning supernatural mystery you were hoping for comes to pass.

Along the thread of books I could not put down (like Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris) this was a gripping page turner. If you're interested in books with a supernatural theme and enough twists to keep you on your toes, this is the book for you.

The first few chapters of this book were really good, then the book came to a lull it began to drag through until about 1/2 way through then it really go to the reason I chose this book, the ghosts. The last half of the book was really good and creepy. The part that began to drag was over run with description that was a bit boring to me, and really had nothing to do with the story. When a thought takes 3 pages I get bored. But like I said once it got to about the half way point I couldn't put it down. There were a few surprises along the way, a lot of mystery, and yep ghosts and a demon as well. The book really is worth the read.

Ex Crime reporter Eleanor Harper has come to Cliffside Manor as the New director. Cliffside was built as a TB Sanatorium and then turned into a retreat for arts. Shortly after her arrival the previous director and owner of Cliffside is found dead in her room after committing suicide. Now it is up to Eleanor to welcome the new group of Fellows to the manor and to carry on the work of the Dare family. As she goes to bed that night she finds a very cryptic and threatening letter from the old director under her blankets. Telling her her nightmare has just begun and that there is a puzzle she must solve. Strange things start happening as well as a long standing feeling of dread. As soon as the 5 fellows show up things really get creepy. Can Eleanor save the fellows and herself from the ghosts of Cliffside Manor and solve the puzzle?

I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review.

The setting in a TB sanitarium that was turned into an artist's retreat was suitably spooky. I remembered The Pines TB Sanitarium outside of Shreveport that had a pretty eery atmosphere, and I became curious about the "white plague" of tuberculosis that killed so many people prior to the discovery of streptomycin. I had no idea how many people died of TB before 1952.

Although the plot had promise, it deteriorated into silliness and the too long conclusion dragged.

Wendy Webb is the Queen of Gothic, and The End of Temperance Dare earns her a brand new sparkling gold crown. If you love settling in with an old fashioned spooky gothic, this is the book for you. Loved it!

After years of working the crime beat for a major newspaper, Eleanor Harper is suffering from PTSD. The ugly things she’s seen over the years have taken their toll and she leaves her job. She takes a new position as director of an artists retreat known as Cliffside Manor, a beautiful old mansion that once held patients stricken with tuberculosis. While the setting is ideal, Eleanor is overcome with feelings of dread and apprehension and begins to believe the former director chose the current group of artists for a reason that has nothing to do with art, something much more sinister. Does the mansion hold the souls of those who died there so many years ago? Webb is a modern Victoria Holt, a Gothic writer who can spin a spell of enchantment over readers