If you work at salvaging the remains of old houses, you're bound to run into some weird things, from left-behind photo albums to perhaps ... a ghost? Dahlia is an old hand at this, but when she gets to the old Withrow estate, she encounters a whole new challenge. Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My sincerest apologies for the very delayed review, I have no idea why it took me almost a decade to get to it!

I don't think ghosts are real. I have visited plenty of old buildings, cemeteries, and places where horrible crimes took place, like concentration camps, and never seen one. But in each of these places I felt the history that lingered there, the weight of past events that hung thick in the air. I remember walking through Auschwitz and not hearing a single bird nor feeling the warmth of the sun. So, although I've never seen a ghost, I do not think that the past is ever dead and gone. Things are left behind and if you let yourself be open to it, you will feel it. Because of this belief on my part, I really liked that Cherrie Priest did not waste time having her characters battle their own disbelief. Don't get me wrong, they're not ghost hunters, but they are all people who work in old houses, elbows-deep in the past, and so they have had their own fair share of feeling the past press down on them. Having this openness from the beginning means that you can dive straight into the Gothic feeling of ghostly oppression and mystery. The Gothic is the ideal genre, really, to explore trauma and while I didn't necessarily love every aspect of how Priest worked this out, I did overall enjoy it.

Chuck Dutton, knowing full well it might mean the end of his family salvage business, signs up for a massive job: stripping the dying Withrow estate of all its value. He puts together a crew, led by his daughter Dahlia, and hopes that this will be the making of his company, rather than its end. Dahlia, meanwhile, is in her thirties and fresh of a miserable divorce which saw her lose her own beloved old house. She promises the Withrow house she'll be kind while stripping it but, sadly, the history and ghosts of the estate promise no such thing in return. A job which started out stressful becomes dangerous overnight and the incoming storms are not going to help. While The Family Plot has something of an ensemble cast, the focus truly is on Dahlia. I really liked that she cared deeply for the houses she strips, even if it is perhaps a little trite to wander around and apologise to inanimate wood and stone. Not all of it works equally well. Her bickering with the other crewmembers is a little repetitive at times, for example, and I wasn't entirely sure what to do with the use of autism in the book. The latter felt very underbaked, even for 2016. However, Dahlia's openness to the house and its history creates this delightful Southern Gothic atmosphere, where her rage merges with that of the unquiet spirits of the house. The last quarter or so of the book is also very nicely paced, building up some lovely tension and drama.

This was my first book by Cherie Priest and I really liked the atmosphere she created and the beautiful descriptions of the estate itself. It really felt like I could see the house and the estate, its overgrown gardens, its beautiful marble, its fugly pink bathroom, its wood. It's clear that Priest did her research on how a salvage team might approach a job like this and the technicalities of the work kind of ground the paranormal aspect of the plot. As I mentioned above, not everything about the plot and setting works well, and the biggest issue I had with it was that the backstory of the main ghost at the house remains a little vague. Some of that vagueness works, allowing the reader to make up their own mind a little, but the book goes back-and-forth quite a bit on whether she was a woman wronged or actually just evil and crazy. I wish Priest had picked one side of that fence and stuck to it, as I think it would have allowed for a clearer idea of the house's history. This is also true for another presence in the house who hovers between being a helper and a problem. I would have loved to know more about her, but she kind of disappeared from the narrative at some point. Despite all of this, however, I did have a very good time with The Family Plot. I loved the details of the house and the tension Priest built and would definitely recommend it for those who enjoy their horror with a side of antiquing!

I did very much enjoy The Family Plot despite it occasionally feeling a little rough around the edges. It was very atmospheric and I spent a delightful weekend reading it!

A great horror novel with plenty of twists and thrills, i will read more by this author

Thank you netgalley for a copy for an honest review

There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

Well...as others have said, very by-the-numbers. Technically flawless but it lacks....something?

So, good characterization, good plot, you pretty much know what's coming, but it's still written well. I just feel like it's missing that special something that turns a book from good to great. (I really miss Priest's steampunk series. *sigh*)

3.5 stars rounded up to 4...

The Family Plot is another haunted house story in a world that doesn't have nearly enough of them. The best, and those worth recommending, have a nice twist. This house is being set upon by a salvage crew. This house, and its inhabitants, won't go down without a fight. Good enough--the best haunted house books also feature characters worth caring about, and Dahlia of Music City Salvage is real. That cemetery on the premises that the owner swears is fake--yeah, it's not. When Dahlia and her crew face off against the Withrow estate and all of its residents, the result is a lovely little horror gem.

If you're a lover of all things creepy, this was a superb read. Even though this book wasn't extremely terrifying, it was still such an engaging and interesting read. I loved the atmospheric writing and how it was both simple but effective. I could see everything that was being described which made everything that much more creepy!

I loved the mystery surrounding the Withrow house and the characters were dynamic and interesting. Dahlia, the main character, was so fun to read about. I love any protagonist that is strong-willed. I liked the dynamics with her family, as well. I think the only thing that I didn't enjoy as much was the ending because it felt to me that it wrapped up too quickly. But besides that, this was a very solid story for any fans of slow-burning horror stories.

If you love haunted house stories, then this is a book you need to pick up. I don't want to give anything away because the surprises are worth it.

Music City Salvage can't really afford the deal being offered on Withrow mansion, but the promise of salvage that could finally earn them some cash is too good to pass up. And so, Chuck Dutton decides to risk everything to make it happen.

Dahlia Dutton is well aware of the fact that the job at Withrow can literally make or break the family business. And so, when things start to turn strange, she's ready to brush it off and get the job done. It's just a week, after all, and everyone sees ghosts at these old places. But as she and the crew continue, things become not only weirder but potentially more dangerous. Ghosts haunt a graveyard said to contain no real graves, another specter lives inside the mansion itself terrorizing the crew increasingly as the week passes, and then there are clues found around the estate that seem to indicate not all is on the up and up with the Withrow family history.

But again, it's only a week...

I love Cherie Priest's horror. It's what introduced me to her work - her Eden Moore trilogy, that is. So I was definitely stoked to see her return to those roots, so to speak.

The Family Plot never quite reached the same level of creepiness as Four and Twenty Blackbirds. But it was a quite fun outing anyway. Inspired by reality tv salvage shows, the book features a Nashville salvage company hired to gut an old estate near Chattanooga, Tennessee. They're told the house features chestnut flooring, marble fireplaces, and more - details that definitely start owner Chuck's mind working. With unpaid accounts out there, the business is already in trouble but the promise of chestnut alone, a wood lusted after in the salvage community, is enough for him to say yes to the job.

A job two other companies already turned down.

Dahlia is also risking everything, she can't afford for the family business to shut down especially now that she's divorced and living on just her income alone. Her salary barely covers her rent but the loss of it would be a serious detriment.

So you have a family business that has sunk everything they have left into one job that HAS to pay out, or else. Of course they're going to ignore any ghostly visions. And they trust, based on years of experience, reality ghost hunting shows, and stories amongst the industry, that nothing bad is going to happen to them regardless of how many ghosts they encounter.

And of course that decision gets them all in trouble!

I have to say this particular element - the fact that they all believe in the possibility of ghosts and that they even refer to ghost hunting shows and such as proof that nothing bad will happen was extra fun. You don't have to be a fan of reality tv to love Priest's latest, but I would definitely say that you have to be a fan of haunted house books!

Priest does an amazing job with this foray into horror. The incidents start small, and grow more menacing as each terrifying fact is revealed. The dread ratchets higher as the horrible history takes hold, and culminates in an frightening climax and a horrifying epilogue. Highly recommended for horror fans.

Cherie Priest has written a whole bunch of different books, and I don't love them all, but I have found them all to be solid stories. The Family Plot has a fun setting and concept: a salvage crew go in to get what they can from an old house scheduled for demolition. Problem is, the house has a history, and its past occupants aren't all gone. It makes so much sense: of course old houses are creepy, and of course salvagers are going to be more interested the older it is. And of course, the older it is, the more history it has, tragedy included. The main character, Dahlia, believes in ghosts already; she's felt them, she knows they're there, and mostly they leave the living alone.

I won't discuss too many of the details of the plot, because that mystery is part of the interest. It is worth noting though that every summary I can find doesn't match with the events as they unfold in the ARC I got.

The problem with me is that I'm a total wuss, so horror isn't normally my thing -- in fact, I only picked this up because it was by Cherie Priest. Even so, I felt that a lot of the elements were pretty traditional and obvious. Doors that slam behind you and won't open. Burials where there shouldn't be burials. Ghosts who scratch messages into the floor. It felt like we saw it all a bit too clearly for it to be creepy. The final resolution -- the whys and wherefores of the haunting -- also didn't quite satisfy me. There's so much monstrous build-up, and then the solution is kind of... anti-climatic.

Nonetheless, the setting works really well, and I loved Dahlia. She's capable, but not a superwoman. She knows what she's doing, she's decisive and smart, but she doesn't always make the right decisions. And she's not some fresh-faced kid with no history: she has a past which informs the way she acts now and the way she interacts with those around her. The supporting characters weren't developed as much, but I found myself oddly interested in Bobby in particular, and how he might get his life together. At the very least, he raised a decent kid in Gabe.

Overall, it's enjoyable, if not ground-breaking, and probably worth a look if you're into ghost stories.

[Live on my blog 18/02/2017.]