I honestly tried, but oof this was rough! Does it have an interesting premise? Absolutely! Does it deliver? Unfortunately not! I gave this book until the 60% mark hoping, and praying the story would pick up from a snail’s pace. I wish I could get back the time I wasted waiting for this book to get good. Unfortunately, I DNFd it at the 60% mark.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my review.

Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of The Witch’s Orchard in exchange for an honest review.

This was a slow burn mystery with our main protagonist, Annie, a private investigator assigned to an old missing child case from a decade before. The brother of the missing girl hires her to figure out what happened.

Turns out there were multiple girls missing and the book turns into an investigation into all of them. The book primarily consists of Annie interviewing townsfolk in a small Appalachian town in North Carolina.

There are a lot of characters and I struggled to keep things straight with the multiple girls missing and different connections. This made it hard for me to fully invest in things. Plus the majority of the book is dialogue in these interviews so it’s a lot of talk about the past. That’s not my favorite way to experience a story and I found myself struggling to fully pay attention.

Plus there’s some repetition with Annie asking everyone about the witch folklore. I didn’t fully get that part. I love some supernatural elements but they were mostly background here. There’s some symbolism tied in, but it started to feel quite repetitive.

Eventually things picked up and there’s a twist at the end I wasn’t expecting. Overall this was a decent debut if whodunnits are your thing. The book came out this week, so it’s available now!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book. This work by Archer Sullivan was a plot and character study. The characters are written as having realistic traits. The story and plot are mysterious without being heavy handed. This is perfect for readers who love a dash of magic and witchcraft with their mysteries.

This book kept me guessing until the end. Three young girls went missing ten years before. One girl came home, but the other two were never found. Part of the mystery is that a specific type of doll was left for each missing girl, one with a wizened apple as the head.

Annie Gore served in the Air Force as a special investigator, and is currently a freelance private investigator. She has been hired by Max, the brother of the still-missing girl, who would like closure - to find out, if possible, what happened to his sister Molly. She was 4 years old when she disappeared. Annie began interviewing the parents of the children who were missing and people who knew them. I never suspected the person who turned out to be the culprit.

I received an e-arc from the publisher St. Martin's Press via NetGalley, and voluntarily read and reviewed it.

The Witch's Orchard
by Archer Sullivan
Pub Date: Aug 12 2025

What did I just read! I was instantly drawn into the plot, intrigued by the characters, it was full of mystery and at times very tense. I can't believe it's a debut novel! I will definitely be reading more of author, Archer Sullivan's books in the future!

Synopsis: 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 to hire a private investigator, 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.

Many, many thanks to #TheWitchsOrchard #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for providing me this E-ARC.

This is one book you don't want to miss. If you love a good edge of your seat thriller. A mystery to hold your interest from start to finish. If you love a good story that keeps you guessing. I loved this one. It is definitely in my top ten of the year.

I listened to the audio and I am blown away at how good the narrator, Emily Pike Stewart, did. She made each character her own. The realistic voices were spot on perfection. I'll definitely listen to more by this narrator.

Three girls went missing. One was returned. What happened to these little girls? Who would do this? And why was one returned? When PI Annie Gore takes a job from a young man looking for his missing sister, she has no idea what she's in for. The girl has been missing ten years. Most likely she is never returning. Most likely she is dead. Annie took this job because Max Andrews was so persistent. He had saved so much to hire her. He had heard she was the best. The best at finding missing people. She could not say no.

This book takes you to the Appalachian mountains. To a small town where everyone knows everyone. But there are a lot of secrets. A lot of things that are well hidden. And there are missing children. Two still missing after ten years. Can Annie find them and if she does will they be alive.

Some of the people in this town help without blinking an eye while others want it to go away. Want it forgotten. But it can't be forgotten. Not by ones mother and by one brother.

This book is so well written. It's writing it almost lyrical. The descriptions make you feel like you are there. In the cabin. In the bakery. In the mountains. In the woods. It's so realistic and haunting. It's filled with so much hope and a whole lot of sadness. You want Annie to find these two girls as much as their family does. Then another child goes missing. Was it the same person or a copycat? Will Annie be able to save this child too.

I'm telling all my friends who love a good thriller/mystery to grab this one. From what I can tell this is a debut and so beautifully written. It's not about witches. It's not magical realism. It's just a story about stories told. Told about a witch and her two beautiful daughters. A story of a town where three children went missing and one was returned....

Thank you #stmartinspress, #macmillianaudio, for this ARC.

I was provided an ALC and an ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This was a unique and atmospheric thriller set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Private Investigator Annie Gore has been hired to investigate the long cold case of three missing girls from a small town. Max, her latest employer, has never given up hope that his missing sister could be found and is determined to get closure on her whereabouts. Having grown up in Appalachia herself Annie knows how private and protective people can be of their own and she is well aware of how her investigations can stir up a town. Annie has a track record of solving cases, and while hesitant to take this one she is willing to see what she can find even if it brings up her own painful memories and angers the townsfolk.

I'm not usually a fan of thrillers that involve children, but this is captivating and the focus is more on the investigation. Annie having spent time in the military as a special investigator is tough and she knows how to draw out information and follow a lead. She also has great instincts and knows when her bias is possibly leading her astray. This book kept me interested from the first minute to the last. There are so many people that Annie interviews that could be the kidnapper, but the twist at the end really surprised me. I also loved the addition of the tale of the "Witch of Quartz Creek", the folklore and various retellings of the tale play a key role in the investigation and the lives of the people that live in town. I always love when folklore plays a part in a novel and story of the Witch and it's variations was a wonderful addition to the novel.

This was a fantastic debut, and I look forward to seeing what the author writes in the future. If we follow Annie on further investigations or if there are more thrillers to come I would be happy to read them if they are all as gripping as this one.

It looks like The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan is a debut novel, and I must say, it was a great start to Archer Sullivan’s writing career. I was quickly drawn in by Annie Gore, a Former Air Force Special Investigator turned private investigator. Three little girls had gone missing ten years ago. One was returned, but the brother of one of the girls that was never found wants to hire her to discover what happened.

Annie knows about small mountain villages and knows her poking around will make a lot of people uncomfortable. That doesn’t stop her from seeking out the answers to her questions. I love watching an outsider come in and stir up a hornets nest in a place where everyone knows everyone else, but do they? Do we ever really know what someone is thinking or doing?

“Does chaos just happen to follow you around or do you invite it along for rides in that ugly clunker of yours?”

Through the horror and sorrow that Annie investigates, we have some light hearted moments. I love stories that take place in small towns and I love watching the secrets being exposed. The novel moves along at a steady clip. I would categorize The Witch’s Orchard more a mystery than a suspense or a thriller. It lacks those intense nail biting moments that move at a rapid pace, but do deliver on the steady work of Annie as she uncovers what others wish would remain buried.

I would like to thank Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan.

See more at http://www.fundinmental.com

The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan is a riveting mysterious, suspenseful ,fiction novel. Its main character, Annie, is a former Air Force Veteran now Private Investigator. She has come to the Appalachian Mountains and hollers (hollows) to solve a cold case of a missing little girl, sister of Max, the young man who hired Annie. It gets pretty sketchy and dangerous almost as soon as Annie gets there and moves into the cabin Max has gotten ready for her. Between the mysterious woman, up in the hills , who the town citizens believes might be a witch, and the police sheriff it’s pretty rough going. But finally, Annie does make some friends besides Max. Things go from bad to worse, and way worse. It moves pretty quickly and has short chapters. A really good read and fast paced. I read it pretty quickly Thank you to Net Galley, the publishers, and the author for the ARC. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a great mystery /suspense. The plot is intriguing and well developed. It’s a gripping tale that will keep you engaged from beginning to end. An excellent debut novel.

Rating: 4 stars

I received a digital copy of this book through the publisher on NetGalley for an honest review.

From start to finish, The Witch’s Orchard was a thrilling read that I couldn’t wait to read to its conclusion. With the setting taking place in a small mountain town in North Carolina, I felt like I could imagine what the inhabitants were like whenever Annie described them, as they all seemed like the typical people who would live in such a place. I also felt that I could imagine the terrain where this story takes place, and I was excited to find out where Annie’s investigation would lead me as a reader.

One of my favorite things about the story here was uncovering the mystery surrounding these young girls’ disappearances. There’s just something really exciting to me about reading books where people go missing through the investigator’s eyes to uncover who’s responsible and why. I think a lot of the excitement, to me, stems from trying to figure out who’s responsible, as the investigator is interviewing people and uncovering clues. And along with that, these disappearances happened in such a small town, which made it more interesting because there are only so many people who could’ve taken them. I found myself feeling like Annie and having a difficult time pinpointing who I thought had taken them.

What I also enjoyed about The Witch’s Orchard was the local story about the Quartz Creek Witch. During her investigation, Annie asked everyone in the town about this story, and each person’s account of it was different. And I loved that not everyone told her this story the same way, because I felt like it was just another mystery, along with finding out what happened to the girls who disappeared in this town. It also made you wonder if the person who took the girls felt a connection to the Quartz Creek Witch in that the person responsible felt like they were giving these girls a better life than the one they had.

If there’s anything with this book, I didn’t particularly enjoy it was the lack of character development and the ending. In this book, I wanted to learn more about Annie and her life. While The Witch’s Orchard does give you a sneak peek into her past before coming into this town, I felt like it gave me just barely enough to keep me hooked on the story. But I wanted to learn more, especially about her relationship with Leo, which gets hinted at throughout, and how she grew up, which also gets hinted at here. I also wanted to learn more about these characters in this small town she goes to, but I feel like with this book, we barely get to know them before the case is solved and she goes back home. That’s why I wasn’t particularly fond of the ending, too, because I wanted to see what happened with these characters now that Annie figured out who took the girls.

But overall, I enjoyed reading The Witch’s Orchard. It was a book with just enough mystery to keep me hooked and coming back for more. I also enjoyed the setting, taking place in a small mountain town in North Carolina, and the different local stories about the Quartz Creek Witch. The perfect read for anyone looking for a simple mystery to enjoy. The Witch’s Orchard was published on August 12, 2025, for anyone interested in giving this book a read.

(Rounded up from 4.5 stars)

This book took me by surprise! It’s so atmospheric and engaging! Set in the Appalachian Mountains, Sullivan masterfully intertwines mountain folklore with mystery. Annie Gore is a fabulous main character, and I hope this isn’t the last that we see of her. Heartbreaking and full of secrets, this debut will surely captivate you from the first page; I highly recommend!

I enjoyed this book. I had no idea where it was going and all my guesses were wrong. I was very surprised at the way it turned out and that was great that I didn't have anything figured out. I just went along for the ride and it kept me wanting to read more to find out what happened.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley who let me have an ebook ARC of the book.

This is Archer Sullivan’s debut novel, but I wouldn’t have guessed that reading it. I really enjoyed the vivid writing, and Sullivan makes good use of the small-town setting in the North Carolina mountains. I enjoyed the Southern Gothic vibes and the incorporation of Appalachian folklore, as well as private investigator Annie Gore’s interactions with the town’s residents. I liked Annie, and I look forward to reading about her next case.

The mystery was disturbing and creepy, and the plot incorporated some difficult subject matter, including poverty, drugs and alcohol, domestic abuse, child abuse, and death of family members. Nothing felt gratuitous though, or described in gory detail. The tension, violence, and suspense ratchet up toward the end, as the story reaches an unexpected conclusion.

Recommended for fans of Southern Gothic mysteries.

I received a free advanced review copy of the ebook through NetGalley. I volunteered to provide an honest review.

There's a certain comfort and satisfaction that comes with series and a character (or characters) with whom you become familiar and confident you'll be in for an enjoyable adventure every time you meet. I've got more than my share of those, I think, but I'm always up for (or "down with" as they say these days) discovering new ones. And this one just found a place on my future don't-miss list.

Series "star" Annie Gore is an interesting character in her own right, leaving a dysfunctional home to join the U.S. Air Force after she graduated from high school. Now in her early 30s and further scarred by military experiences she'd rather forget, she's finding work as a private investigator. When she's asked for help by the teenage brother of a little girl who went missing a decade ago. Named Molly, she was the third little girl apparently abducted from remote Quartz Creek, North Carolina - tucked into the mountains of Appalachia. Early on, one of the three missing girls was returned to her family, but the kidnapper has never been found. The only substantial clue is that whoever it was left a doll with an apple for a head to replace the little girls, suggesting that the same person abducted all three.

Intertwined in Annie's investigation are stories - some say folklore, others say truth - about a witch, her daughters and the crows who caw raucously and incessantly in the woods nearby. I'm certainly not a believer in such tales, but it's still pretty scary stuff (we do have a bunch of crows who regularly visit our backyard, and it's always a bit unsettling to see them swooping in). It doesn't help when most of the folks Annie must speak with are reluctant to do so, if not downright hostile. They're part of a close-knit community, have never recovered from the horror of never finding the girls and don't welcome questions from a nosy stranger. That is, all except Molly's older brother, who diligently saved up to pay for Annie's services, and a certain hunky deputy sheriff who's trying his best to run interference.

With no shortage of suspects, there are of course some twists, turns, roadblocks and dead ends, some of which are all too reminiscent of Annie's own troubled past. For readers, though, all that adds up to an engrossing story - plus, at least for me, the anticipation of reading the next installment. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for making that possible by way of a pre-release copy.

I enjoyed this mystery and the strong sense of place that the author gave us. The main character is strong and independent but not without her own baggage.

There is a magical element to the plot as well lots of life as it happens in a small town.

This one will keep you turning the page, with lots of twists and turns.

Thanks to @netgalley and @minotaur_books for the advanced reader copy.

This atmospheric mystery plunges readers into the haunting beauty-and danger-of the Appalachian hills. Annie Gore, a former Air Force special investigator turned private eye, takes on a cold case that hits far too close to home: the decade-old disappearance of three young girls in a remote mountain town. The author weaves together local folklore, generational secrets, and the
claustrophobic intimacy of a community that guards its past as fiercely as its people.
Annie's characterization is compelling-equal parts grit and vulnerability-as she navigates the investigation in a community steeped in superstition and silence. The pacing is deliberate, drawing you deeper into the town's dark history, and the tension builds as Annie's investigation awakens dangers that have lain dormant for years. This mystery includes themes such as memory, trauma, and the places we come from but can never quite escape. I appreciated Annie's dogged determination despite the increasing threats and violence, as well as her respect for the town's residents.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Emily Pike Stewart, who did a phenomenal job with the dialects of the town (accurate without being overperformed), as well as capturing the claustrophobic atmosphere, and slow burn suspense. Stewart's performance immersed me in the storytelling, and I was completed transported to the Appalachian region.
Fans of rural noir, slow-burn suspense, and mysteries infused with folklore will find themselves utterly captivated. The Blue Ridge isn't just a setting
-it's a character, one that watches, waits, and remembers.

Annie Gore is a PI, former military investigator, and a product of Appalachia. When she gets the call to investigate a cold case of a young girl who went missing 10 years ago in a small mountain town in NC, she heads for the hills. What she encounters are linked cases of victimized young girls, hostile residents who want the past in the past, some earnest townsfolk and mysterious folklore that may hold the key to what happened. Atmosphere, characters descriptions and a well told plot will keep readers engaged. Fans of Sharon McCrumb will surely enjoy this.
Recommended. Thanks to Netgalley for providing this title.

Being shown a child's picture means one thing...

...this case will be a bad one.

Years ago three young girls went missing from their homes in the small Appalachian town of Quartz Creek; one was returned shortly after her disappearance, but no trace of the other two missing girls has ever been found. The older brother of Molly, one of those two girls, has been haunted by his sister's disappearance (and what happened within the family as a result of the loss) and vowed to save enough money so that he could hire a proper investigator to look into the case. He contacts Annie Gore, herself a native of a small Appalachian town like Quartz Creek who escaped her less than ideal home life via the military and became first an investigator in the Air Force and later a PI, and asks her to take the case. Business isn't so great at the moment, and although she knows that this search will be unpleasant on many levels (not the least of which is being back in the surroundings similar to those she tried so hard to leave behind) she needs the money Molly's brother is offering. She agrees to go to Quartz Creek for one week and stir up some hornet's nests, but cautions that she is unlikely to make any headway. The town is tight-knit and not particularly welcoming to strangers, the local sheriff is downright hostile, and things only get worse from there. What happened to Molly and the other girl all those years ago, and what are the townspeople hiding? Its clear that someone doesn't want the truth to come out, and they are willing to resort to violence to rid the town of Annie one way or the other.
The Witch's Orchard is an intriguing twist on the female PI genre, with Annie a well-nuanced and relatable protagonist who is both tough and a shrewd investigator. The setting in Appalachia, full of gritty small town details, local folklore and superstitions, and the secrets hiding in the holler, is a major strength. Annie's past is a complicated one (about which I am eager to learn more) and has a direct bearing on her ability to navigate this particular case. The plot starts simmering early on and the tension builds as it unfolds, with the requisite twists and turns along the way. Author Archer Sullivan's own background (ninth generation Appalachian) infuses the story with authenticity, and I found it a page-turner loaded with atmosphere, suspense and a well-developed cast of characters. Readers of Linda Castillo, Karin Slaughter and Sharyn McCrumb would be well-advised to grab a copy of The Witch's Orchard, which is rumored to be the first in a planned series (I for one hope this rumor becomes reality). My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for allowing me access to the novel in exchange for my honest review.

The Witch’s Orchard is a beautifully atmospheric mystery that blends the grit of a cold case investigation with the haunting folklore of the Appalachian mountains. Archer Sullivan paints a vivid, moody portrait of a small town steeped in secrets, silence, and a lingering sense of loss.

Annie Gore is a compelling protagonist—tough, sharp, and shaped by her past in ways that feel authentic and deeply human. Her return to a mountain community not unlike her own upbringing adds emotional depth to the investigation, and the story’s setting becomes almost a character itself, rich with regional tension, eerie legends, and the unspoken rules of tight-knit towns.

The pacing is deliberate but engaging, allowing time to soak in the setting and slowly untangle the mystery. While the story doesn't reinvent the genre, it offers a fresh voice and a strong emotional core. A touch more intensity in the final act might have pushed this to a full five stars, but overall, it’s a strong, satisfying read.

Perfect for fans of character-driven mysteries with a strong sense of place, and for those who enjoy crime stories with a subtle undercurrent of folklore.