There’s a heavy ache in this story that stayed with me long after I finished. It’s full of regret and sadness—the kind that makes you question if you were ever enough and whether some things can be repaired once they’re broken beyond recognition.

The plot was very predictable, but that predictability didn’t lessen its impact. Instead, it made the characters feel even more real and their struggles familiar. I found myself holding my breath, not because I didn’t know what would happen, but because I cared so deeply about them—even when they made mistakes or seemed beyond saving.

This book isn’t a neat or easy escape. It’s messy, raw, and painful, like real life. It reminded me that healing isn’t always possible in the way we hope, and sometimes wanting to fix things isn’t enough. That truth lingered with me, quietly breaking and staying with me long after the last page.

interesting story about Fiona and coming back home and finding this book and starts reading about the town and this house. she learns more about her family and what happened . slight romance.

The Midnight Estate is a dual timeline (actually more like 2 stories in one) that keeps you reading long into the night! Against her mother’s wishes (and pretty much everyone else’s wishes) Fiona Winslow purchases the old family estate after her uncle’s death and intends to restore it to it’s former glory. But many strange things go bump in the nights and Fiona finds herself wondering if in fact the house is haunted as many say it is. When she finds a book that her uncle, an author, wrote in the last years of his life, she begins to see an uncanny resemblance to things that happened to her family. As Fiona figures out what is fact and what is fiction she opens an entire Pandora’s box of family secrets that those near and dear to her would prefer remained buried.

It’s a terrific book, just what one would expect from Kelly Rimmer. Don’t miss it!

Absolutely! Here’s the revised version tailored for the ebook experience:

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Review: The Midnight Estate by Kelly Rimmer

I absolutely loved The Midnight Estate. From its richly atmospheric setting to its beautifully layered dual timeline, this story drew me in from the very first chapter and didn’t let go. There’s something irresistible about a crumbling old house filled with secrets, and Wurimbirra—what a name!—feels like a character in its own right. The gothic, slightly nostalgic mood was pitch-perfect.

The dual narrative was so well executed, keeping the mystery compelling while revealing emotional depth in both timelines. The characters felt genuine and lovable, especially Fiona. Her journey felt personal and quietly powerful, and I was completely invested in uncovering both her family’s past and her own healing.

The book-within-a-book element added another layer of intrigue, and the way fiction and reality begin to mirror each other made the story all the more captivating. There’s a perfect balance of suspense and emotion—nothing over the top, just enough tension to keep you turning the page.

I’d highly recommend The Midnight Estate to fans of Kate Morton, or anyone who loves historical mysteries, old houses, and emotionally rich storytelling. It’s a beautifully written novel that lingers with you long after the final chapter.

3.5 ⭐️. I didn’t love this book as much as I’ve loved some of Kelly Rimmer’s others, but it was a solid story. I did guess the “twist” that came at the end, but it didn’t take away from the story for me.

I had both the audio and the kindle version, and I very much enjoyed the Australian accent. Both formats were great.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC and the ALC audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I love Kelly Rimmer but I didn’t love this story. It felt slow paced and predictable to me. I thought the back and forth of the timeline was a little confusing and I wasn’t a fan of the character development.

Let my first start by saying that I Love Kelly Rimmer and her historical fiction. Her previous 3 historical fictions, all fantastic. This one just fell flat for me. Less depth in characters, and I just didn’t seem to connect with them . None were particularly likable to me. Just ok.

In The Midnight Estate, Rimmer masterfully weaves a story within a story, and I was completely absorbed by this book. The book is set in the US and Australia and covers three timelines. I loved the storyline of Fiona returning to restore her family's home, after a hard change that took place in her life. There's a great mix of family relationships, starting over, historical references to the First Nation peoples in Australia, and a mansion that may or may not be haunted.

The mystery of the story revolves around Fiona's return to her family home, and a book she discovers, after her uncle has passed away, written by an author she doesn't recognize. I found Wilkes "book" that alternates chapters with Fiona's POV was a beautiful way for the story to unfold, and even though it is clear early on what's happening in the story, I found it to be so well-written that I was completely invested until the very end. I also thought the spooky feel worked really well with the overall story, and it added a great sense of tension.

There are some heavy topics covered in the book such as mental, physical, and coercive abuse. But there is also a great sense of family, compassion, and empathy, and it all comes together to balance a story of sadness and tragedy with hope and love.

I highly recommend The Midnight Estate if you love books with dark secrets, complicated relationships, an international setting, coming home, second chance romance, and slow burn mystery.

I appreciated the book within a book aspect of The Midnight Estate, but I failed to connect with the story or characters quite as deeply as I’d hoped, and was able to solve the central mystery earlier than I would have preferred. It was still a decently entertaining story.

Siho Ellsmore does a good job narrating the audiobook.

Thank you Kelly Rimmer, Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA, Harlequin Audio, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

ARC ebook review: The Midnight Estate by Kelly Rimmer

Wow. About 20% in, this story gripped me, and I could not put it down. Historical fiction, family drama, a creepy, spooky mansion all told through a story within a story. What a fresh take on story-telling.

The ending made me cry quietly (or try to) on a crowded flight. Kelly Rimmer is quite the story-teller. Check your trigger warnings, especially if domestic abuse is a hard topic for you. This story explores the complicated dynamics of the mother-daughter relationship and what happens when long-buried secrets come to life. If you love watching dateline mysteries, I think you’ll really enjoy this book. I sure did.

After the passing of her Uncle Tad, architect Fiona Winslow retreats home to the east coast of Australia and finds herself in possession of her uncle's Wurimbirra estate. Still recovering from the betrayal of her husband and the end of her marriage, she's determined to focus on cleaning and restoring what she can of the dated home and lands, but can't shake the legacy of ghosts and spirits rumored to haunt the house, as well as the many memories and people she thought she left, including her own mother Virginia. As she goes through the many belongings of her uncle, an esteemed writer who amassed a large collection of books and writings, she stumbles across a box of books containing copies of "The Midnight Estate" by FJ Wilkie, a title and author she's never heard of before.

The story rotates between Fiona's perspectives and the storyline in "The Midnight Estate", which tells the story of Silas, who returns to his home in California upon hearing the news of his ailing mother, and is immediately confronted with both her death and the unexpected passing of his sister, Maeve. As Silas tries to get in order his family's items, he meets Marie, a young wife who appears to live a picture-perfect life, but is harboring a terrifying secret that puts her life at risk. Upon finding out, Silas makes an impulsive and risky decision that changes all of their lives forever...

As a whole, I did enjoy the plot of "The Midnight Estate", including the premise to weave in a "story within a story" over the course of the novel. My favorite sections were actually the storyline within the fictional novel, as Silas's and Marie's situation was so engaging and unexpected, and brought to light some of the less obvious forms of domestic abuse and how dangerous those situations can be. I struggled with Fiona's sections; it was hard to get a grasp of her as a person even with her passages being told from a first-person perspective, and much of her character felt flat. There wasn't that much context or build up for her and the characters surrounding her, and I felt that details about the house, the architecture, etc. were noticeably missing, especially given Fiona's career as an architect. The pacing felt quite slow at times, especially in the first half of the novel and while the ending was somewhat predictable, but I did find the unraveling of the truth to be a satisfying conclusion.

This is my first novel of Kelly Rimmer's that I've read and I think for those who are fans of her writing, it's well worth the read! Her writing style isn't my personal favorite however, so I wouldn't readily recommend to all readers.

A mansion that has been left to crumble and deteriorate is the key to secrets from past generations. Fiona Winslow is about to discover a book in the library. “The Midnight Estate” book will take her on a personal journey which seemingly measures her past.
Told in three timelines. Grab your favorite beverage and enjoy this gothic historical fiction. I have loved her historical fiction, but this gothic turn was unexpectedly a delight to my senses.

A breathtakingly beautiful read. A very important fictional topic that could help save a life. The switching from story to story made a very well paced read, it was about half way through that two and two were put together.

I got a chance to read the Midnight Estate. At first I was not sure how I felt about the book, I was a little confused about the different story lines, but I stuck with it! I am glad I stuck with it, the story was truly beautiful. It felt so real, and it had a very emotional ending. About halfway through the book, I felt like I could tell what was going to happen, and I was partly right. I love the way the author painted thw whole picture through Fiona's experience and the novel she read! It just felt so perfect!

The Midnight Estate by Kelly Rimmer

I was so excited to be selected for an ARC copy of this book. I’ve read one other book by Kelly Rimmer (The Warsaw Orphan) which I thoroughly enjoyed, plus the cover is beautiful. I had high hopes and the book was everything I had hoped it would be.

A strong heroine female character, the bonds of family and friendship, mystery and intrigue set in a glorious historic home which carried its own “ghosts.”

Thank you to the author Kelly Rimmer and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the opportunity to read this wonderful book. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

4⭐️

I really liked The Midnight Estate. It had that perfect mix of family drama, secrets, and a bit of mystery that kept me hooked. What stood out most to me was how layered the characters were—no one felt one-dimensional, and I found myself caring about what would happen to them. The story moved at a good pace, and there were just enough twists to keep things interesting without feeling overdone. It’s the kind of book that’s easy to sink into and hard to put down once you’re in. Definitely a solid read.

For some reason, I thought this book would be more of a ghost story, but ended up being a mystery tied into the history of the mansion that Fiona moves into. There are two stories going on, Fiona's story and the story within the book that she's reading. I became invested with both plots and was trying to figure out what happened. I was invested in the characters and wanting to know what happened to them.

This book was excellent and I really enjoyed it. Fiona is recently divorced and buys her childhood home, a massive and infamous manse in small town Australia. The former owner was her uncle Tad, a famous author who passed ten years previously.

While undertaking a massive home clean up Fiona uncovers a box containing multiple copies of a book called The Midnight Estate, but doesn’t recognize the author. As she reads the book, we read it as well, and as the mystery unfolds, Fiona is dealing with real life- her challenging mother, returning home after her upheaval, and her spooky house playing tricks on her.

What I expected would happen with the mystery is what happened, but not in a cliched or trite way. The story really drew me in, and I found it hard to put down. I’ll be recommending this to customers at my bookshop as soon as it’s released!

Thank you to NetGalley and MIRA
for the ARC!

“The Midnight Estate” is a novel by Kelly Rimmer. This book has two timelines, in the form of a book within a book. In the present day (which is in the early 2010s), the reader follows Fiona, who restores houses, as she decides to restore her uncle’s (basically) abandoned manor. There are rumors that the house is haunted, something Fiona doesn’t believe, though most of the people in the surrounding area do believe. While cleaning the manor, some strange things occur - things breaking, strange creaks, windows left often - but Fiona is determined to figure out what is going on - and knows it’s not supernatural (she hopes). While cleaning, Fiona comes across a book by an unfamiliar author (there are a dozen copies of the book, so her uncle must’ve ordered them) and starts reading the book. This is where the other timeline comes in - following a man, Silas, from California. While Fiona’s a bit slow in putting the puzzle pieces together about a few things, the reader is left with many clues to unravel at least one of the mysteries (which I, at least, didn’t know WAS a mystery at the beginning of the book). Ms. Rimmer did a good job covering the reason for the strange things happening, so that was good. In some ways I really liked this book - the atmospheric descriptions of the manor were great, but I never felt other I knew Fiona or her cousin more than surface things. Overall, this was a good and enjoyable read - and I’m glad I read it - and I’d recommend it to others, but I don’t think it was Ms. Rimmer’s strongest book.

Historical fiction isn’t usually my first choice of genre. After reading The Midnight Estate I began searching got another Kelly Rimmer novel. The book was an easy read and wove seamlessly the book within a book literary device. The transitions were smooth and revealing just enough in small increments that made me want to keep reading. The complexities of the characters were well developed and relatable. Writing about domestic violence can be a tricky task but this was handled well and left no room for sympathy for the abuser. The fallout did affect all the characters lives. I found myself recommending this story In social situations and look forward to exploring more of Rimmer’s stories.