Owl Manor: Final Stroke is the fast-paced ending to the Owl Manor trilogy. This came out in September 2022, so the full trilogy is currently available.

Dolores, Kitty, and Rachel are the best of friends, and have bought Owl Manor to create a dinner theater and gallery for the people of Denver. Rachel is a wonderful chef, and although everyone loves her food, she isn't getting the same recognition that Kitty and Dolores are. Kitty is an actress and singer, writing and putting on a show once a month with Theo, Cecil, and Margaret. After the show, everyone gathers in the gallery to look at and purchase Dolores's paintings focusing on pain.

Soon, Delores starts having nightmares and unwittingly paints women being murdered in various ways. Although Dolores doesn't want to put these paintings in the gallery, Rachel wants to sell them and the customers love them, purchasing them for more than any of the other paintings. At the same time, Cecil has become close to Kitty, and they start changing the show. Rachel and Didi hardly even recognize her anymore. Rachel starts looking into the history of the manor and becomes obsessed with Rafe Blackstone, making her act strangely. When women in the red light district in town start being murdered, and Dolores is painting them, she becomes a suspect. But is it really Dolores? Or someone else close to her, that spends a lot of time at the manor?

This book was more fast-paced than the other two novels. Still gothic, with paranormal happenings, the plot moves along quickly, from one of the women to the next. With the multiple points of view, we get a full view of the goings on at the manor, and none of it is good. All three women seem to have something dark stirring within them, so could the killer be one of them?

All in all, this was a great ending to the Owl Manor trilogy. Gothic with a bit of paranormal and some romance, friendship, possible possession, multiple suspects, drama, and superstition, this book has got it all!

The final book in the Owl Manor trilogy. Dolores is an artist and she has a unique ability, she senses pain. She uses this ability, the pain she feels to express herself through her art. This ability comes into play throughout the story. Dolores and two of her friends travel to the Rocky Mountains and they stay at Owl Manor. The manor is rumored to be haunted and has some deep dark secrets. Soon, Dolores starts hear whispers, this is just beginning of some strange and unexplained events the friends will experience.

Disclaimer: Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this review copy and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

What I Didn’t Like:
-The downward spiral of our characters felt a bit rushed. I expected sort of a slow descent and instead it was more like a switch was flipped.
-None of the characters particularly grabbed my attention. I felt like they were all at arms length, never really connecting with me. It made it difficult to relate to.
-The ending felt rushed. We had a journey to get here, I wanted to linger with it a little longer.

What I Did Like:
+I never read Book 1 or 2. I did like that you don’t NEED to read them. Enough information is given that you can understand all of the story even if this is the first one you read. I will say it made me intrigued enough to want the other stories though!
+Gothic creepy vibes. The house has a great old feel with its dangerous past and secrets. This is great for haunted house fans!
+The care and research invoked in keeping this period story accurate is evident. From the language to the customs, this one just fits the early 1900s and made for an interesting tale.

Who Should Read This One:
-Haunted house fans, more in the style of Hill House. Great vibes from this one!

First up thank you so much for allowing me to read this book. I heard a lot from other bloggers about this series and also heard that you could read them as standalones so that is why I was so excited to find book 3 on netgalley. However, I am not sure if it is just me, but it felt for me as if I walked into a book already ongoing instead of just starting. There were several parts in the first chapters that had me thinking I should have read something before. It was very confusing. So I sadly had to DNF this book. I may just reread it one day when I get to read the first two books (not now though).

The writing was atmospheric in this Gothic horror set in 1904. Three young women are great friends at college and have unusual , well unconventional for the times, ideas for their futures A painter, an artist and a chef. They set up a business in Owl Manor covering all three aspects unaware of its history but apparently unphased at the very low offering price. That history, of murder and abuse, starts to awake and their friendships gradually fall apart helped by drugs and psychological manipulation, Although not essential, it would be best to read the previous two books in the series as that would help to understand some of what was going on.. My problems was with the main characters none of whom was especially likeable at the start let alone when their relationships fell apart. Their trying to break conventions is perfectly understandable from the 21st century point of view but just didn't come over as quite right for the early 20th century. Well-written though and did mostly keep the interest going. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

Owl Manor by Zita Harrison.
the Final Stroke.
Book 3 of the Owl Manor Gothic Suspense Trilogy.
For a quarter of a century, the horrors at Owl Manor have been buried under dust and decay, forgotten and unheard.
Then Dolores hears the whispers.
I really did enjoy this book. Spooky. I loved the cover. 5*.

The Owls Scream a Warning

Author Zita Harrison is adept at writing Gothic horror. Her careful use of language, setting, and symbolism brings her tales to a life of their own. This third is the final book in the Owl Manor series and the only thing I'm disappointed in is that the series has ended. I've enjoyed each volume more than the last.

In this story, thirty years have passed and it's 1904. The historical references explored within the novel are fascinating in their own right. I marveled at how difficult road trips must have been when automobiles had to compete with horses on unreliably paved roads, but I was surprised to learn that phones were already being installed in private homes.

I was pleased that the author portrayed how people pushed the boundaries of social rules back then: some women even wore pants! Central character Dolores's "shocking" preference for culottes reminded me of how females were still protesting skirts-or-dresses-only rules for women at school and work sixty years later. Though the novel doesn't insert politics overtly into the story, the seemingly eternal fight for fair treatment for women does seem to be an underlying theme.

I think the author was successful at balancing Dolores's nonconformity with keeping her believably rooted to their time. She doesn't invent the pantsuit, yet she and the other characters seem modern and relatable.

The three at the heart of the story became close friends in college, despite their different interests and temperaments. Dolores, or Didi, was the easiest for me to identify with. I liked her positive attitude, poise, sensitivity, and kindness. She's a talented artist. Rachel, determined, capable, and sometimes abrasive, is an adventurous chef and dreams of her own restaurant. Kitty, lovely, sweet, and charming, loves the theater and wants to write and perform her own plays.

I appreciated that the recent graduates want to establish their own careers instead of relying on marriage for their security. Since their talents complement each other, they're inspired to create a unique business together. Their search for a location for the proposed project fatefully leads them to Owl Manor and, uninformed about the history of the house, they move right in.

The odd behavior of the owls and Didi's terrifyingly clairvoyant dreams soon make her aware that some malevolent force is at work. The author skillfully builds suspense as disagreements between Didi, Rachel, Kitty, and members of Kitty's theater troupe drive the three friends apart and make each more vulnerable. As Owl Manor wakes up, it doesn't take long for the energies there to affect them all and bring them to the breaking point.

There is subject matter that might be triggers for some, including violence, drug use, psychological manipulation, and suggestive behavior. There's also a chaste, upbeat romance that offers a needed contrast.

Thank you so much to Zita Harrison, who made me aware that the conclusion to the Owl Manor story was finally available. Thank you to NetGalley for the free advance reader's copy. My review is not written out of any obligation or as repayment, but my thanks is well-deserved. The Final Stroke is a fast-paced, scary, perplexing, and exciting book and makes a truly satisfying conclusion to the Owl Manor epic. I can't recommend it enough!