4.5 stars
STRONG recommend

This was a great multi-genre book with storytelling, folklore, and mystery. Perfectly done with strong character development, great plot, and good writing. I loved the setting of a fictional town in Appalachian North Carolina, which is beautiful beyond belief! This book has so much to offer and is a true gift to the people and spirit of Appalachia.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7308999365 - posted 7/8/2025
StoryGraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/1f7b35ab-74ac-4e47-adfe-d97811548adb?redirect=true - posted 7/8/2025
booksbydorothea Blog: https://booksbydorothea.blogspot.com/2025/07/review-witchs-orchard-earcebook.html - posted 7/8/2025

A down on her luck PI goes out to a small Appalachian town to investigate a cold case involving two missing girls. As expected, some of the locals do not like an outsider poking her nose into their business. A haunting story with local legends of a witch sprinkled in.

An amazing mystery by Sullivan. More character driven than atmospheric, I do wish there was more feeling of Appalachia than just the small town vice and apple head dolls. Although the thought of those dolls gave a certain spook to the whole novel. I love how tough but vulnerable Gore is and how she isn't afraid to ask the tough questions. Even though I had the culprit figured out rather early in the novel, I didn't hesistate to continue reading to flesh out the story. I do require a second novel to learn more about Leo!

“The Witch’s Garden” was such a fun, creepy mystery! The author’s pacing was perfect, giving us just enough to keep engaged, but not enough to figure everything out before the last page.

Retired Air Force investigator, Annie Gore is a no-nonsense PI struggling to keep the lights on when she’s hired by 18-year-old Max to re-open his sister’s kidnapping cold case. Having escaped a difficult childhood in a mountain town like Max’s, Annie is perfectly suited to the task.

The rundown town of Quartz Creek, set deep in the Appalachian mountains with little to offer its residents, provides such an eerie backdrop to the story, it’s almost a character itself. Add in the constant pack (or is it murder!?) of screaming crows, the ever-changing folktale of the Witch of Quartz Creek and the cast of locals with a lot of secrets and little to lose and I’m hooked!

After finishing this book, I found out that it is the first in the planned Annie Gore PI series to come. I’m so excited to hear this! She’s such an interesting character and we’re given just enough here to get invested in her life, but I can tell there is a lot more to uncover.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Archer Sullivan’s “The Witch's Orchard” was an enjoyable mystery. Set in a North Carolina mountain town, three young girls went missing ten years ago. The second girl taken, Olivia, returned (or was released) a few days later. The other two girls seemingly vanished without a trace.

Private investigator Annie Gore has been hired by Max to look for his sister, Molly. She was the last girl taken and he’s been saving up for years to be able to hire a private investigator. He wants Annie because she was featured in an article about a cold case she solved. Annie also happens to know about small mountain towns.

I enjoyed the author’s writing style and discovering what happened to the girls. I appreciated reading about the town’s multiple iterations of its folklore around witches and crows. I hope this becomes the first book in an Annie Gore series and there are more cases for her to solve.

Overall, I recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

I absolutely devoured this book and I am really hoping the author is open to making it a series because I really loved the MC and connected to her character a lot. I loved the lore and connecting the fictional story to true Appalachian lore and culture. I have already recommended this to so many of my friends.

My one critique is I do think the ending was a bit rushed. It seemed to all speed race to finding the killer and the story and everything wrapping up. I would have been fine with 10-20 more pages to pace it a bit better. Otherwise INCREDIBLE I loved it!

The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫
4.5 stars (rounded up)

This was a great debut and introduction to the author, Archer Sullivan. I love a good mystery thriller and was drawn in by the promise of story telling in the Appalachian mountains. I was not disappointed.

Annie Gore is our FMC, retired Air Force special investigator now working for herself as a struggling P.I. Despite having a close relationship with her Air Force mentor and the opportunity to work in high paying private security and despite struggling to find enough work to pay her bills, Annie prefers her solitary life, doing things her way and answering to only herself. After having a lunch meeting with a barely eighteen year old Max, Annie is talked into returning to the mountains of North Carolina, the same type of hollers that she herself was raised in.

More than ten years ago, three young girls went missing. One was returned home. Max is the brother of one of the girls that never returned. Despite multiple law enforcement agencies and the FBI, the case went cold. Max has saved every penny ever earned to make one last attempt at finding out what happened to his sister. Annie is reluctant to take the case, so much time has passed with no new leads or evidence that she knows it’s unlikely that she will uncover anything. She promises Max one week and heads to the mountains.

I really appreciated the lore in this novel. It lended itself well to the mystery and eerie feeling of the stigma of small-town mountain people and their tight-knit communities. From the creepy Applehead dolls, to the various reiterations of the legend of The Witch of Quartz Hill, to the way the locals stymied Annie’s attempts at interviewing and gathering information, the author kept me invested in the story telling. The atmosphere of Appalachia was beautifully captured and although I had an idea of who the culprit was, I couldn’t be sure. There were definitely some twists I didn’t see coming.

This was a great debut novel and while the author gave us some backstory on Annie, she left out enough to keep me coming back for any future novels featuring Annie Gore. I’m invested enough to learn more details of her traumatic past and I need know more about Leo!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur books for the digital advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

This book was such a pleasant surprise! I didn't really know what to expect with this one. The cover was giving horror and the description was giving mystery. It was such a nice mix of both. Creepy abandoned doll factory? Horror vibes. Small town mystery? Definitely!

I really loved the town and the people. Annie, the MC, was great as well! This especially was nice as it was set in the Appalachian Mountains of NC and I read it on a trip up there.

Definitely recommend if you like small town thrillers!

4.5/5.0

This wasn't a bad book, it just felt a little more drawn out than it needed to be. The twist at the end was definitely surprising, but didn't feel too believable. I did love Annie's detective work and how she engaged with the residents of Quartz Creek, but that was about it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Annie Gore is called to a small mountain town in North Carolina by a young man to help discover what happened to his sister 10 years before, during a dark, dangerous summer in Quartz Creek. That summer, three girls were taken in broad daylight, and one was returned- but she is unable to speak, and therefore cannot reveal what happened during the unspeakable circumstances that happened to her. The other girls never appeared. Stymied, the investigation stalled. Now after trying so hard yo leave her own past behind, Annie a PI, is back in Appalachia and dealing with superstitions, small towns, and trying to figure out how two girls disappear into thin mountain air.

I love when stories blend local culture and lore into a good mystery, and this book does exactly that. I don’t want to give too much away, but the town of Quartz Creek has some deep local mythology like many small towns, and the author does a great job of weaving its roots into the story.

The author does a great job of creating a really fantastic mystery wrapped up in a small town atmosphere, where everyone is tangled up with everyone else and everyone knows everyone. Coming from a small town (not in Appalachia, though) I really felt the crushing claustrophobia of a small town that had seen better days and left people looking for more, but feeling unable to leave. Oh trust me, I know that town. And the atmosphere the author creates adds to the tense atmosphere.

The solution and the twists and turns are great, and I loved how everything turned out. It was all built up throughout the book, and when it was finally revealed, I was like “Wow. Why didn’t I see all this?!” It was also incredibly satisfying and very well written and executed.

I can’t recommend this book enough to people looking for a well-written story with a great backstory and themes. It’s so satisfying and engaging that I’ll definitely be thinking of it long after I put it back on the shelf.

Annie Gore is a private investigator. She is frequently underestimated.
When an earnest eighteen-year-old named Max offers her his life savings to look into the unsolved dissapearance of his little sister ten years before, Annie warns him that it may be a waste of his money, but she agrees to travel to his home town in the mountains of North Carolina for a week.
Ten years ago, three little girls were taken from their families. An applehead doll was left in exchange for each one. One of the girls, Olivia, was returned. Max's sister, Molly, and another girl named Jessica, were not. Olivia, who is on the autism spectrum, has never spoken.
Annie dives into the investigation with energy, intelligence, and compassion. She uses her military background and her experience of growing up in a similar community to overcome the reserve of people who do not want to talk about their lives to a stranger.
The Witch's Orchard is fast-paced and full of surprises. I would recommend it to fans of Sharyn McCrumb's Appalachian "Ballad" series or Linda Castillo's Amish mysteries. Annie is a wonderful character and I look forward to reading more stories about her adventures.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read a free advance copy of The Witch's Orchard in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have goosebumps after finishing this book. Annie Gore is a badass female Jack Reacher and this thriller was absolutely brilliant. Sharp, witty, and eerie as can be. The atmosphere was so vivid and while the investigation may have been 10 years old, the dust stirred up made this story anything but a cold case.

Thank you for the ARC! 🍏

What a great debut novel!
Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for a chance to read it early. Can’t wait to read more of Annie’s cases - hoping for a series. Annie was a great heroine for me. She was dogged in her attempts to solve her case and bring justice for the girls who were taken from their home.
Annie goes to Appalachia - to search for a young man’s sister who has been missing for many years. Her investigation was captivating with many twists that I definitely did not see coming. My only complaint was that it was at times a little bit horrifying for my sensibilities.
The plot was well thought out and the writing for the most part crisp and engaging.
The best of this book was the setting - especially all the local legends and folklore that the writer incorporates. The setting really came alive for me. It really made me think about the culture there and the lives of the people who live there.
The writer took a common theme- missing young girls and really turned it into something very unique. I really enjoyed the book and feel good recommending it to other readers!

The title of this book was what caught me. I love witches, which is why I usually read fantasy/horror, but I decided to take a chance and venture a little out of my comfort zone. And boy am I glad I did! The Witch's Orchard did not disappoint!
Annie Gore, former Air Force Special Investigator turner P.I., puts her sleuthing skills to the test as she returns to Appalachian roots when hired to uncover the truth about a missing girl. Smart, capable, and relentless Annie navigates her way through the small town mystery while also battling with her own dark past.
The vivid and eerie atmosphere of the Appalachian mountains comes alive and really enhances the suspenseful creepy feel of this mystery. It gives you the feeling of a chilly autumn night where anything could be lurking in the shadows.
I also loved how the folklore of the witch really helped feed into the plot. When Annie interviews the townsfolk, they all seem to have different stories, which only seemed to deepen the mystery and kept the book from feeling repetitive.
Archer Sullivan's debut novel was a page turning, plot twisting, suspenseful thriller that had you guessing the whole time! I hope to see more of both Sullivan and Annie Gore in the future!

Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read this ARC!

MAN I could not stop reading this one. I've never even considered going into the military or becoming a private investigator, but I felt like I was in the trenches with Annie Gore. I had no idea what the ending was going to be, and I felt my adrenaline spiking as I got closer and closer to the end of the book. Absolutely such an amazing read!!

Annie Gore is a PI who is just trying to pay her bills. When she meets with a young man who drove over six hours to talk to her about hiring her services to try to find his sister who went missing ten years ago, she drives her amazing car Honey down to Appalachia. Not quite her hometown, but close enough. On this trip and on this job, she uncovers more than she thought she would and unravels knots that have long been buried.

This book was very intriguing. The myths and legends of the mountain were very interesting. Some reviewers felt the repetitive retelling of the Witch's story took away from the plot, but it was a quick story that just enhanced the understanding of what people believed had happened in the mountain.
The characters are all well developed and full of real emotions, the plot was fast paced and had a few nice twists and turns especially at the end. Overall a great read for those who love a good unsolved mystery.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Former Air Force Special Investigator Annie Gore joined the military right after high school to escape the fraught homelife of her childhood. Now, she’s getting by as a private investigator and her latest case takes her to an Appalachian holler not unlike the one where she grew up.

Ten years ago, three little girls went missing from their tiny mountain town. While one was returned, the others were never seen again. After all this time without answers, the brother of one of the girls wants to hire an outsider, and he wants Annie. While she may not be from his town, she gets mountain towns. Mountain people. Driving back into the hills for a case this old—it might be a fool’s errand. But Annie needs to put money in the bank and she can’t turn down a case. Not even one that dredges up her own painful past.

In the shadow of the Blue Ridge, Annie begins to track the truth, navigating a decade’s worth of secrets, folklore of witches and crows, and a whole town that prefers to forget. But while the case may have been buried, echoes of the past linger. And Annie’s arrival stirs someone into action.

The Witch’s Orchard is an intriguing, sad mystery set in Appalachia. A young man hires Annie Gore to search for his sister who disappeared 10 years earlier. Annie is from a small Appalachian town so understands the dynamics. Annie stirs up the community and soon a body is found.
The characters are intriguing and well-drawn. I really like Annie - she is caring and sincere.
Would definitely read more from this author.

Review for The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan.

Annie Gore leaves behind an abused alcoholic mother who refuses help to join the Air Force and ends up a special investigator. Six years ago, after leaving the military, Annie becomes a PI in Louisville, Kentucky.
A young man insists on hiring Annie to find his sister who was one of three young girls taken from their hometown of Quartz Creek, North Carolina, ten years ago (one of whom was returned). Annie takes the obviously cold case and drives Honey, her battered Datsun 260Z to North Carolina to poke the hornet’s nest in hopes of finding fresh clues. Mountain people do not trust easily and poke she does. The story leans heavily on an old folk legend known as, “the witch of Quartz Creek”, but Annie discovers there are numerous versions of the legend, all dependent on the teller.
As the story moves on, we learn about:
stone circles and crows,
Olivia, the non-verbal autistic child who was returned who repeatedly draws spirals when questioned about what she remembers,
Apple head dolls and prophetic dreams,
and a defunct toy company now home to meth cookers.

The list of possible suspects includes:
Tommy Hoyle, wife abuser,
Deanna Drake, beautiful but aloof widow and piano teacher,
Susan McKinney, herbalist or witch,
Brother Bob, Baptist minister with a checkered past.

You can’t help but fall down the rabbit hole as I did as you navigate events. The character/suspects ripen and clash. Really enjoyed everything about this book and look forward to reading more from this author. I wanted to learn more about the mysterious Leo who Annie talks to every night, no matter where he is in the world or what he is doing (is this maybe the beginning of a series? I do so hope).

Read and reviewed with my thanks to Net Galley and St Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Max Andrews cannot forget his sister Molly who vanished 10 years ago. He cannot move on with his life without answers. He works to save enough money to hire private investigator, Annie Gore, in the hopes of finding Molly alive.

But it seems that all Annie has brought to the Quartz Creek town of Appalachia is trouble. From the moment she gets there, things begin to go very badly. But once she learns that Molly is not the only girl to go missing, she is hooked on finding out what happened.

The Witch’s Orchard is a very fast paced, page-turner. I could not put it down until I found out “who done it“. I thought I knew, but I was totally off base. Author Archer Sullivan had led me down the wrong path in very subtle ways.

Exactly what you want from a mystery. Well done!!!!