A great debut! Found the characters engaging and the mystery intriguing. Would 100% read more from this author.

Annie Gore is a private investigator. She is tough, savvy, and determined to uncover what happened to three little girls who went missing from their small Appalachian town. As Annie starts digging around, she stirs up a hornet’s nest of secrets and people eager to keep them hidden. This is a solid thriller, filled with complex characters and an authentic setting. Archer Sullivan excels at crafting a tense narrative that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I really enjoyed this one! Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a fantastic story! I loved Annie and I adored the entire cast of characters. It was told so well and with so much nuance. I loved that everyone had a different version of the Witch’s lore. It made the story better developed and I really enjoyed the fast paced plot. Great story, definitely recommend, and can’t wait for more Annie Gore stories!

4.5 stars!
Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC!

Phenomenal debut. The writing was gorgeous, not over the top, but able to set a strong atmosphere. The applehead dolls and the setting added a great spooky/eerie feeling to the book. I thought the twists and turns were great, without being too unbelievable. I thought the ending was well set up, which I prefer to completely unpredictable/bizarre endings. I found myself second-guessing a lot of the characters even when it made no sense for them to be the culprir. I still had some questions about the ending but now that I know this is a series, I am invested to hear more!

This gets your attention and doesn't let go. The twists and turns were page turning and didn't know which way it was going to go. It had been a minute where a book keeps me on the edge of my seat. The elements, characters were so good. One of the best reads for me this year.

Phenomenal writing with masterful crafting of characters. I never felt bored or felt the need to move on, I stayed engaged and am incredibly pleased with this piece.

I could not put this book down. The characters were vivid and memorable, enough so that even I could keep track of the large cast. Although I do not have the main character's tenacity and patience, I was happy to follow her as she dug and dug and dug to find the truth. There were plenty of red herrings and twists to keep you turning the pages! The setting was a little bit atmospheric and mysterious, but not so much that it distracted from the PLOT. My rating is knocked down to four stars only because of some language and a completely off-page one night stand. Pick up this book to get lost in the small NC mountain town vibes and swept up into a mystery that will keep you devouring chapter after chapter, without keeping you up at night with the willies.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a free eARC of this novel!

This book was a great historical fiction. I really enjoyed the story and the mystery woven in. Overall held my interest and had a decent story line that kept me guessing til the end!

'The Witches Orchard' is a contemporary mystery/thriller set deep in the hills of Appalachia. This novel is the atmospheric story of Annie Gore, former Air Force Special Investigator, now turned private citizen and private eye. With not much more to her name than her beloved Honey, a Datsun 26OZ, Annie makes a meager living with her P.I. license. Eighteen-year-old Max Andrews travels all the way to Louisville, Kentucky from western North Carolina to petition Annie to investigate the disappearance of his then four-year-old baby sister, the third girl to go missing from their small town, nearly a decade before. Annie knows a hopeless case when she sees one, but Max's pain proves to be too much for her to ignore. With warnings of the futility of her search at this late date, Annie agrees to a week-long contract to search for missing Molly. Small towns can hide a multitude of sins however, and Annie learns just how wrong her assumptions about this case could be.

As a sixth-generation Appalachian woman living in eastern Kentucky, I was able to relate to the character of Annie so much. 'The Witch's Orchard' covers issues indigenous to the mountain area that both the setting of this novel and I call home. Generational poverty, lack of resources, stereotyping, and superstitions are just a few of the topics touched upon during Annie's investigation into the missing girls of Quartz Creek. The topic covered more than any other though, is motherhood. It dives into motherhood in its different forms, and the clever use of the tale of the Quartz Creek Witch, and how it changes from telling to telling, is a great device to show how people perceive things differently. This book is so well written. The dialect, the regional phrases, and the vivid descriptions of Quartz Creek itself all combine to firmly place you in the mountains of Appalachia.

'The Witch's Orchard' is a highly enjoyable mystery to read, its clues scattered like apple seeds themselves in the pages of this book. With a little close door romance, and some hints of the mysterious Leo to intrigue me more about Annie's past, I sincerely hope that we see more novels with Annie and her exploits in the future.

Archer Sullivan does an excellent job of bringing you into the moment with her descriptions of the scenes and settings that she drops you into right from the get go at Roxanne's. I've never met anyone who hasn't been to a diner and who couldn't relate to the smell memory she brought forward with the opening scene of the book. The book had an interesting way of making me ask questions when something didn't feel right, and then answering them for me. It kept me engaged in the book, and invested in the story line. The story felt real to me.

The mystery of the missing girls had me thinking that I knew where this was going, the doing an about face and fully invested at the plot twist. I was there in that town, I was accusing neighbors. I kept a sticky note at my desk of who could have done it, their reasons and the how. I was full fledged invested in the story, in the investigation, in this small town.

I enjoyed the way the story of the witch was told in different ways, how each person had their own variation of it that they had heard. It felt more real, like the way lore has been passed down through the generations in reality.

Phewwww did I love this book! Annie is one of the best protagonists I've read in a while. She's smart, witty, driven, and actually knows how to watch her own back (aka, she's an investigator who actually knows what she's doing). Loved the story's nuance and twists - I could see where we were headed, but the ending still surprised me. I'll be keeping an eye out for future books in this series, that's for sure!

Thanks x a million to NetGalley and Archer Sullivan for the arc. This was a real treat!

Annie Gore is a former USAF investigator turned PI living about four hours away from the place she needs to go to investigate a 10-year-old missing persons' cold case. The client is a young man whose younger sister was one of those who disappeared. Her own personal history impacts the investigation which is incredibly convoluted. There is the most amazing plot twist at the end!
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected digital galley from St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Pub Date Aug 12, 2025
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I was so excited to read The Witch's Orchard. The book has a great premise - a female PI, Annie Gore, who came from a dysfunctional Appalacian family, returns to an Appalacian holler to help solve the 10-year-old mystery of two missing girls. The Witch's Orchard was full of twists, turns, and misdirections. I found myself second guessing who the kidnapper was throughout the book. I really enjoyed the book's creativity through the intertwining of the mystery with the folklore story of the Witch of Quartz Creek. The main character, Annie Gore, was complex and relatable, and I liked that her entire backstory was not divulged. It gave me hope that Annie Gore may become a series. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for providing a review copy of this book. The book was so well written and fast-paced that I was able to get fully immersed in the story. I definitely recommend this book!

5-Star Review: The Witch's Orchard by Archer Sullivan

The Witch's Orchard is an absolute gem! Archer Sullivan's talent for weaving a captivating tale is undeniable. The way she sets the scene in the North Carolina mountains is so vivid that you feel like you're right there alongside private investigator Annie Gore.

I was hooked from the very beginning, drawn into the mystery and suspense of the story. The characters are complex and intriguing, and the author expertly weaves folklore and secrets into the plot, keeping you guessing until the very end.

If you're a fan of atmospheric mysteries with a strong sense of place and unforgettable characters, do yourself a favor and pick up The Witch's Orchard. You won't regret it!

The Witch’s Orchard is a very promising debut, with all the elements of the greatest crime and mystery novels, but I almost got the sense that Sullivan is holding back.

Let’s start with the atmosphere: I love a great setting and an atmospheric vibe. The Witch’s Orchard delivered that, but not as strongly as I would like, which is what I meant by saying that the author is holding back. And I don’t mean that comment as a criticism, it was nicely done. It was just very subtle.

The characters: I am very intrigued by our lead PI, Annie. The story alluded to some skeletons in Annie’s closet, but they never really come out in this novel. Again, I get the feeling the author is holding back, which makes me think this is the start of a series. It definitely could be and I would definitely read the next book. I want to know Annie’s backstory for sure. I want more development of her character! Again, my comments are not meant as a criticism, I greatly enjoyed Annie in this novel, but I feel as if there’s more to come, in the best way possible. And Leo! I want to properly meet Leo!

The plot: the plot really stole the show in this novel, the pacing was very well done. No lulls or redundancy. While I wouldn’t describe this novel as fast paced, I also wouldn’t describe it as a slow burn, it is somewhere in between the two. Add in the local lore twist, and a truly engrossing mystery is born!

Overall, I really enjoyed this one, I definitely recommend it for any mystery lover! I will be looking forward to a sequel if there is one !

I received a free digital copy of The Witch’s Orchard from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a perfectly paced small mountain town mystery. It's not so fast that it feels like a whirlwind but not so slow that the feelings of suspense fizzle.

Annie Gore is a PI that takes a job in a town that is similar to the one she grew up in. As she attempts to unravel the mystery of three kidnapped girls, her memories are triggered and we learn a lot about why she is the way that she is. She's unrelenting and undeterred when she sets her mind on something and that's something I appreciate in characters and is certainly necessary for someone that takes the job of a PI if they ever wish to be successful.

There are a good support cast of side characters but I'm left with so many questions about Leo, this steady support character for Annie. I truly hope this is to become a series.

Appalachian folklore is mixed into the story. Multiple variations of the same story about a witch. I thought that was a unique touch that added depth.

This is a debut novel for Archer Sullivan and I think it's reasonable to expect more good things from her.

I am grateful for the advanced copy from NetGalley to read this and share my opinions.

Finally, a mystery where I went back and forth on who-dun-it and couldn't quite figure it out until the end! Most of the time it's so obvious you don't even need to keep reading, but this one was well crafted and thought out. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Annie is a PI who is good at what she does, but a little down of her luck and low on funds. She finds herself in the middle of a cold case in a mountain town similar to where she grew up unraveling a ten year old cold case of two missing girls. She promises a week of her time not expecting much, but pulls at the strings of the town and unravels more than anyone could have anticipated.

I liked this one a lot! It ticks all the boxes of a good mystery thriller without being too cliche. The characters are interesting and have depth as does the setting. I enjoyed the folklore aspects of it too. There were a few parts that seemed random when they popped up but were tied in nicely by the end. I do think we could have learned more about Leo or could have done without him, but all in all I liked this one and would recommend.

Thank you St Martins Press via NetGalley for the eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Witch’s Orchard by Arthur Sullivan is an easy and entertaining read that kept me engaged from start to finish. The storyline was well-paced, and I especially enjoyed the way the witch’s story unfolded throughout the book. The blend of mystery and folklore made for an intriguing read that was both atmospheric and immersive.

One of the highlights for me was the character development. Each character felt well-crafted, and their growth over the course of the novel added depth to the story. The witch’s backstory, in particular, was fascinating and brought an extra layer of complexity that made the book even more compelling.

It’s a great pick for those who love a mix of magic, mystery, and strong character arcs.

The Witch’s Orchard completely captivated me! Annie Gore - female PI- is a total badass. The Appalachian folklore and small-town setting is so vividly described that I was drawn into the story completely. The mystery itself was gripping, and I was guessing until the very end 🕵️‍♀️. The reveal was surprising yet satisfying, making for a truly compelling read 🤯📚.

I also loved the characters, from the hunky cop 👮‍♂️ to the witchy mountain lady 🧙‍♀️ and the southern belle 💁‍♀️—they each brought so much personality to the story. I can’t wait to dive into more of this series and uncover more about Annie’s life and solve more mysteries with her.