This book exceeded my expectations. What a read!!! Will definitely be looking for more from this author. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on my review.

Twenty-three-year-old Jesse Burns lives a tranquil life as the coffin maker in the enthusiastically eerie town of Gregor’s Hollow. Here, the By the Pricking of My Crumbs Bakery sells deep-fried candy corn year round, and manmade mist swirls through the streets every afternoon at three-thirty. As for the graveyard bells that chime at midnight and the Victorian portrait that materializes in the hotel guest rooms? Well, no one can account for those but they look impressive in the brochure.
This was a different sort of book. I really enjoyed reading it. I liked following Jesse’s journey through this tale. I can’t wait to read the next one. I recommend.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

So, the big question, CAN SOMEONE DRAW ME A MAP TO GREGOR'S HOLLOW?!?!? Dark and Twisted, slice of utter excellence!!! This is truly a page turner, Allison doesn't simply ask for your time to read, she demands it! Every second you're not reading, the book will call to you. I ended up having to download it at work because waiting until I got home seemed impossible! Ms. Allison, I hope you are writing right now, in fact, no sleep or food, until there are at least 3 more books!

Wow....I was NOT expecting to be so blown away by this book! After reading the short description, I wasn't sure what to make of it. The blurb sounded interesting, so I gave it a whirl. Boy, am I glad I did. This book went in such a different direction than I was expecting. Ms. Allison did an amazing job spinning this tale. I highly recommend!!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book, which I voluntarily chose to review.

Talk about a hidden gem! I took a gamble on this book because the blurb sounded like something up my alley. Thank the book gods that I was approved!!! Now this book is NOTHING like other YA books – in a very good but quirky way! You have to keep an open mind and take nothing at face value.
This story is about a young man who has taken over his father’s coffin maker business to support the family. When Death comes to call and request 8 coffins by month’s end, the hero is skeptical but dutiful and makes them. Sure, enough people started dropping like flies and chaos ensues!
As previously mentioned, there is a vast volume of quick and darkness lurking between these pages. There are some torture scenes to cats that could cause triggers and are not pleasant to read

Sometimes Netgalley has hidden gems - and this is definitely one. Welcome to Gregor's Hollow, a sleepy little town in the United States that has embraced it's haunted past and now pulls in the tourists with spooky hotels and mysterious attractions. It's all for the tourists of course - or at least it is at first glance, because some legends are real...and Death is in town with a mission.

Yes - as other reviewers are mentioned, you're going to need a high tolerance for quirk. If you've read the Odd Thomas series you'll have a rough idea of the tone of our protagonist - upbeat, irreverent, and quippy in the face of unworldly horrors. But the town is charming, oddly named residents or not, and the atmosphere really worked for me.

And some of the writing was genuinely fantastic - Death waxing lyrical about the Hitchhiker's Guide for example:
<i>Parody understands nothing in this universe is meant to be taken seriously. It is all just a series of accidents, of jokes, of random events, and - in the midst of it all - of insignificant life forms trying so, </i>so<i> very hard to matter in the grand scheme of things - which makes the grand scheme laugh even harder.</i>

There is some genuine horror - particularly if you're not a fan of hearing about nasty things happening to cats, beware, because they do - but it's spiked with humour and it all works out to a damn good read. Surprisingly, this is a first novel, so I'll definitely be keeping Breeann Allison on my radar - if it only gets better from here then we are in for a treat.

Gregor's Hollow is vying to be the best Halloween town in America. They put fog in the streets, graveyard bells, fried candy corn and a mysterious portrait in the local hotel to entice the tourist. It's October and the town is gearing up for the big night. Jesse, a recluse and the town's coffin maker is visited by death and told to make 8 coffins for use in the next two weeks. When a strange woman appears in town, Jesse joins with her to fight death's plan. This story is a cozy infused with some paranormal. It is the first book in the new series, The Coffin. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

An unusual tale but not very realistic or engrossing. I couldn't like the characters and didn't like the story.

Gregor's Hollow is a small, isolated town that lives off its spooky, tourist-gathering monuments and festivals. In reality, nothing supernatural seems to have ever happened in this quiet town. But when Death himself visits Gregor's Hollow, things are about to change.

Jesse is the town's young coffin maker. Admired for his work, he has isolated himself ever since his father vanished five years ago. Never having been an adventurous one, Jesse minds his own business. Until one day, Death steps into his workshop, making him an offer he cannot refuse : eight coffins need to be finished by Halloween, in exchange for the truth of what happened to his father.

But eight coffins mean eight deaths. Eight people in this town are soon going to be dead. The Bringer of Death is coming to Gregor's Hollow, and they are rapidly approaching. Can Jesse do anything to save his small town?

Welcome to a story that blends all the good assets of a brilliant thriller. Supernatural powers are about this small place, and a quiet but intelligent hero will struggle to save his loved ones. The Coffin Maker is a fast-paced, thrilling mystery book, filled with intelligent cliffhangers and suspenseful scenes. This is an exceptionally well-constructed thriller, marked by a completely unexpected ending.

" Sometimes you must simply flick the first domino and watch"

The Coffin Maker will provide you with one of the best personifications of Death in modern literature. Depicted as an extremely intelligent, cool, and incredibly calm entity, Death is one of the best features of the story. The plot is filled with absolutely hilarious dialogue between Death and the Coffin Maker. But, humor aside, the reader soon finds that Death's words hold universally accepted truths that apply in reality.

The Coffin Maker was an absolute delight to read. It is a book free of any pot holes, filled with humorous and interesting dialogue and unexpected scenes. Furthermore, the author's extremely deep knowledge of Poe's works depicted in parts of this story cannot be overlooked. I strongly recommend this book to all fans of mysteries and thrillers.

This story at first jumped all over which made it hard to get into. The beginning doesn't set the stage to really bond with the characters. However, once you sit and really try to immerse yourself, the story does pick up pace.

The Coffin Maker was even more fun to read than I could have imagined. I love paranormal mysteries, but this one blew me away. Super interesting characters, plot, and story that kept me reading long into the night (the best time to read paranormal books!). This is a must read book for all fans of the paranormal genre! So glad to have had the opportunity to read this and meet this new-to-me author. I will definitely be looking for more by Ms. Allison.

In a Flutter: So fun!
Fluttering Thoughts:
Worldbuilding: The Gregor’s Hollow, New England setting is a total killer. I loved it to bits! I mean, a Halloween-themed town – how exciting!
Characters: Jesse is a pretty remarkable character. At 23 he builds ornate coffins and is on his own. He’s appropriately dark and smart, also a reader so huzzah. I love his morbid view on some things and his caring nature when it came to his neighbors. He went through a lot too, poor guy.
Robin was an interesting addition, nicely layered and complex.
Now Death – he was beyond cool. Creepy and awesome.
In fact, the whole town was full of fab characters.
Plot: The story is so awesomely quirky. The two mysteries, of Jesse’s dad and the Monkey Man, were a great combo. I really enjoyed the pace of events and the atmosphere.
Writing: First person, present tense narrative, Jesse’s POV. Fabulous voice, darkish sense of humor – love it! Also, this is one of the most odd, charming, and exciting first chapters I’ve read recently.
Curb Appeal: Pretty cover, definitely hooking blurb – UF impulsive buy material galore.

I recommend The Coffin Maker to fans of quirky and original UF mysteries with a dash of romance and a lot of fun! This seems to me like a great new series, and I’m SO into it! <3

This is a very good book! A nice and weird town, lovely character and an interesting plot.
It's both a fantasy and a mystery book and the two elements mix very well and gives a special flavour to the plot.
I liked Jessie and the description of the town and was hooked since the first pages.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Curiosity Quills Press and Netgalley

I received a free copy of this for review from NetGalley **

3 stars. This was a fast and enjoyable read. I honestly didn't see the ending coming which doesn't usually happen. I'm curious to keep going with however many books will come after.

The Coffin Maker (The Coffin #1) Book ONE of The Coffin by Breeann Allison is a book I requested and the review is voluntary.
This is such a good book! It is about a boy that takes over his father's business when his father just disappears one day. He makes coffins. Not just coffins but such beautiful coffins that people put orders in for their ahead of time so they can see them. Then Death comes by and tells him to make 8 coffins by the end of the month because there will be 8 deaths. Sure enough, people start dying and the mystery is on! Great mystery! Death then tells the boy about his father. Wonderful book!

I am all about anything spooky or scary so I jumped at the chance to review this book. (I'm wearing Edgar Allan Poe-ka dot socks as I write this. It seems appropriate.) This fun cozy mystery had a unique and intriguing premise and a genuinely surprising plot. I could never have predicted where the story was headed and the outlandish happenings were clever and humourous. While the story requires some suspension of disbelief, if you can relax your hold on reality and just go with the flow you will be rewarded with a laugh out loud funny thrill ride with tons of action.

Vital to any cozy mystery is the cast of eccentric characters and Gregor’s Hollow does not disappoint. Jesse had such a distinct voice and I found him very relatable and hilarious. His deadpan sense of humour made the book for me. The town is full of interesting folk and it's always a bit heartwarming to see a small town pull together and support each other in the face of adversity. I'm a small town girl myself so I can appreciate a place where everyone knows your name and your business, for better or worse. Gregor’s Hollow faces some serious adversity in The Coffin Maker but they face it together.

The story is creepy but there isn’t anything that will keep you up at night. Well, maybe if you’re really wimpy. I should warn that there are a lot of animal deaths but they happen “off camera.” If even the mention of animals being killed disturbs you then give this one a pass. I am a big animal lover and while these deaths definitely disturbed me, this is a cozy mystery not a crime novel and there was nothing too graphic.

I’m thrilled that this is the first book in a series and I'm really looking forward to returning to this spooky, quirky town in the future!

Thank you to Curiosity Quills Press for providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for review.

OMG!!! I absolutely LOVED this book!! It had me hooked from the first paragraph and kept me turning the pages on my kindle at every opportunity I could pick it up to read! I will definitely be on the lookout for more from this author! Her writing was fantastic, characters stood out to me and she set the mood and scene perfectly.

Welcome to Gregor's Hollow. This town makes itself "famous" for the touristy Halloween festivities. With everything from Poe Pageants, Hitchcock festival, monster movies and of course the twins from "The Shining" making their bloody appearance at the local hotel.

With all of that, nothing tops having Death knock on your door and tell you to build 8 coffins by Halloween. Jesse is the local custom coffin maker after his father left town a few years ago and he inherited the task. Jesse is not keen on building 8 coffins for local townsfolk so he strikes a deal with Death and tries to stop the deaths from occurring. But try solving a riddle in a town full of them it seems.

The Coffin Maker by Breeann Allison is alluring. First of all, the title is interesting and found it apt after I finished reading the book. The small town Gregor’s Hallow is just like a dream town I would wanna live. It’s quiet, away from fuss and Halloween celebrations in this town are just amazing. The way the author connected all the dots is very nice. Jesse Burns who had to take over his father’s coffin making business upon his disappearance, Death personified, the Gregorians, Robin, mysterious events at the time of Halloween, plague, Randall/Timothy and last but not the least coffins. The twist in this books is unexpected. I like how the author managed to share her views about universe, balance, life, death and the life in between. Personally, I enjoyed how coffins that carry a corpse are used to save lives. The pace is good and I enjoyed the book. If I didn’t have a preplanned travel in between, I wouldn’t have put this book down before I finished it in just 2-3 days.

#NetGalley #TheCoffinMaker #kindle #AmazonKindle #BreeannAllison #CuriosityQuillsPress #mystery #Thriller #GoodReads #Chapters #Indigo #LibraryThing #TheClippedNightingale #BookReview

Twenty-three year-old Jesse is the respected coffin maker in the Halloween tourist town of Gregor’s Hollow. He took over the family business after his father disappeared years ago. His routine is disturbed when Death himself pays a visit to Jesse's shop demanding eight coffins in time for Halloween. The coffins are for his next victims, all of which are from the town. Jesse can't turn Death down, especially when in exchange Death will tell him what happened to his father. Although taking Death's deal, Jesse has a different plan. Although he's started on the coffins, he's going to save Death's next victims.

The Coffin Maker by Breeann Allison sounded like it could be right up my alley. While it was good, it just didn't quite work for me. It's described as a mystery/ thriller fantasy, but it's definitely much more of a cozy mystery with a dash of paranormal. Cozies aren't particularly my style. I liked getting to know the town, but I wasn't all that interested in any of the characters. Plus, some of the character names are really odd. I mean, Etsy Glass and Jebediah Jinkles - are you kidding me? Was I supposed to laugh so much every single time I came across them? I think my favorite aspect of the story is Death's introduction, but maybe that's because he reminded me of Death in Supernatural when it comes to food.

Overall, this mystery wasn't bad, it just wasn't for me. It wasn't quite what I was expecting in the long run. It has some intriguing elements, particularly in the world-building when it comes to the town of Gregor's Hollow and the dash of the paranormal. If you like cozy mysteries and perhaps Midnight Texas tv adaptation, you may enjoy this story. My real question: Why isn't this being released at Halloween, rather than on the first of May?

To be completely honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. The blurb sounded interesting, and I started reading it not knowing exactly what type of book it is. And, to top it off, I’ve finished it, and I’m still not sure what to classify it as. However, what I can tell you was that it was an extremely unique mystery. The mystery itself wasn’t paranormal in nature, although there were definitely paranormal aspects. One such aspect was a painting that changed rooms in a hotel. I found that really intriguing for some reason. I really can’t say much as I don’t want to spoil anything about this book, but I really did find this book very interesting and not like anything I’d read in a while. One caution I must throw out, though, is that it took me a while to get into this book. Don’t let that throw you off the book. It really pays off in the end. I was really delighted with the coffins at the end. Intrigued by what I mean? Read it to find out. Highly recommend! I was provided a complimentary copy of the e-book which I reviewed voluntarily.