The Fifth Petal, by Brunonia Barry, is a mystery with wisps of magic and witchcraft and a healthy dose of Salem history. While the story focuses in large part on the murder of three girls in the year 1989, and a police detectives quest to finally uncover the truth, it is also a story of the people who were affected by the murders and the ways that the past bleeds into the future.
The characters in this book brought interesting things into the story that helped keep my interest. For example, Callie, who is one of the main characters, is a sound healer and uses singing bowls to treat people. I found this fascinating and felt that the author did a wonderful job describing this. I have no idea how accurate it is to true sound healers but it made for an interesting addition to the story.
Though I truly enjoyed this book there were a couple of faults. The beginning of the story is a bit slow and it took a little while for the story to really grab me. It took me a couple days to make it through part one and only a few hours to finish parts two and three. There were times when I felt like there was too much going on, too many storylines in one section, but it was easy to overlook that.
If you have an interest in witchcraft and the occult, then this would be a good read for you. If you like mystery with only a small bit of romance thrown in this will be a good choice. In addition, it is not necessary to have read the first novel by the author, The Lace Reader, to enjoy this one.
My overall rating for this book is 4 out of 5 stars. One star removed for the slow beginning.

25 years ago 3 women were murdered on Halloween. Callie's mom was one of the women. She left town after the murders and just returned home. The police chief is still trying to solve the murder from 25 years ago. The book is mainly told from Callie's point of view. It is a story of murder, mystery, and magic. Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book.

This book was beautifully written, and the cover stunning. Not my typical style of book, but I really did enjoy it however. I will look forward to reading more by this author.

I loved the character development, and they were very easy to relate too, and enjoy. Which is a nice trait for any book to have. Makes reading it a lot more enjoyable.

I had been trying to win this book on so many giveaways! Thank goodness for Netgalley

I really enjoyed this book. Any story dealing with the Salem witch trials has always help a big interest for me. I felt that I could easy connect to the characters and the story flowed well. I did not realize that thjs was a second book and I wish I would have read book, 1 first. That being the case i still enjoyed this very much and will read more by this author.

Magical, adventurous. It will keep you in the land of page turning. You won't see things coming, they will just bit you in the but as they pull you a long for the ride. Old things are revealed to you in a way you least expect, leaving you want more.

This book has so much going on, Murder, History, Seduction, Romance and it is all pulled together beautifully.

This story follows the re-opening of a 20 year old crime, in which three of the Salem "witches" descendants in modern-day Salem got mysteriously killed.

Our main character Callie Cahill, was a child at the time of the crime, has been scarred for life (both figuratively and literally). Years later, she hears of an incident of a young teenage book dead in her hometown, Salem and Rose, her second mother from her past is being suspected. That drags her back, where its time to discover the answers about what really happened.

It's an average whodunit, and although this was fast paced, it had no real big twists or turns that I didn't see coming. At some points in this book, the answer was so obviously in front of Callie's face, that I was getting legit frustrated with the character's believed perception of what happened.

The romantic subplot was predictable, but I felt there to be absolutely no chemistry between the love interests. In general, this was an unnecessary side-tracking of the main mystery plot. I was also caught unaware that this was the second book in a series, therefore I might have missed some of the context clues in the first book.

“Tell me what you want, and I'll tell you who you think you are. Tell me what you fear, and I'll tell you who you really are.”

“I am a cypher...I carry no weight, no worth, no influence. I represent nothing. I do not exist.”


Writing style wise, it was almost too simplistic and self-helpy to me. For example, in the quotes that I have above I felt like the author tried too hard to get their point across. I understand that she wants our main characters to get extremely reflexive about their past, and how it's affecting right now, but it did get tiring at some point. This type of writing didn't click with me, with is the main reason why I just didn't care about this story.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinion are my own.**

This is one of those books that I really don't even know where to start with when talking about it. I think I've started this review about 4 times only to delete paragraphs of discussion that frankly begins to ramble. In order to get my thoughts about this book across in a way that makes sense to anyone that isn't me I'm going with list form!

1. This is not a simple mystery. The characters are fully formed, the history is essentially a character in itself, there are paranormal elements, town politics, and multiple mysteries going back to 1692. That being said the book doesn't feel disjointed - it just feels fully developed.

2. I found the characters interesting and complex. Rafferty is driven to find the truth and he doesn't like feeling pressured because of the victim's social position and his concern for Rose and for Callie feels very real. I enjoyed meeting Towner and those around her and getting to know her as the book went along though probably to know her best I should go back and read the first book. Callie was the most compelling for me. She genuinely cares for Rose and wants to help her, she's learning about her gift and her past but at the same time has a lot of fear. All the characters including minor ones where people that were interesting and made me want to learn more about them.

3. The history of Salem itself is fascinating and very dark. Barry really made it come alive and it became very vivid.

4. I had no idea how this was going to unwind in any form. There is a heavy paranormal aspect but to me it didn't read as particularly paranormal it just felt like one more element that made the story richer.

5. This isn't a fast read as there were times I needed to think about what was going on or even at times take a break when things got a little too overwhelming or too grim. However, it was an engaging read. I wasn't completely pulled in until around 35% but even before then I wanted to read it, I wanted to find out what happened next.

Overall, if you're looking for an unusual and thought provoking read with well drawn characters and a crazy intense mystery and aren't bothered by a somewhat slower pace this is a fantastic book to grab. While it is the 2nd in the Lace Readers series I believe the first book focuses on the back story of one character (Towner) and not knowing the details in no way impacted my enjoyment or comprehension of this book.

This novel started out super creepy, so that's what I was expecting for the whole book. Instead, it turned into a fast-paced suspense novel, drawing on the legends surrounding the Salem Witch Trials to add depth to the story. All the characters are complex and well-written, from the main protagonist and her friends all the way down to minor people from town and those shown only in brief flashbacks. Every scene is carefully placed to progress the story at the perfect pace, and the flashbacks are inserted only when necessary to avoid too much exposition. If you're a fan of suspense novels and fiction related to the Salem Witch Trials, definitely check out The Fifth Petal.

In The Fifth Petal, a young man in Salem, Massachusetts, dies under mysterious circumstances. The woman suspected by the town of the committing the boy’s murder is a mentally unbalanced, former scholar who believes the trees talk to her and a banshee resides within her. This woman is also tied to the unsolved, violent murders of three young women in the 1980’s, who were related to women hanged as witches in the 1600’s. A new sheriff re-opens the unsolved case, believing all four deaths may be connected, while the now-grown girl who witnessed the three women’s murders returns to Salem to understand her past.

Brunonia Barry masterfully crafted this novel. Barry clearly took great care with her research, so this novel has a realistic sense of place and history. Furthermore, although she combines delightful elements of the supernatural, they do not overwhelm the mystery, but complement it. Finally, the mystery itself is solid and will keep readers turning the pages until the very end. The Fifth Petal is the second in a series, and fans of supernatural mysteries will be looking for more books in that series.

Immediately upon starting The Fifth Petal, I found myself trying to remember more about Barry's previous book, The Lace Reader. It's a shame I wasted mental gymnastics on that effort, because this book stands along just fine, except for occasional references to Rose - I felt certain at those points that I should remember more.

That being said, that was a minor hiccup in the pure pleasure of reading the book. One can see the coastline, picture the houses described, and enjoy the quirks of Salem. I feel the publisher synopsis is overblown, and likely to cause disappointment for some readers.

This book is the sequel to Barry’s The Lace Reader, which has been on my TBR for quite some time (I picked it up at a library book sale a couple of years ago and simply never had the time). And while the characters in the Lace Reader do appear in this book, in The Fifth Petal, Barry chooses to focus on a few new characters in her slightly offset Salem, Massachusetts.

In 1989, three young women were murdered on Halloween night, allegedly while performing a satanic ritual. The crime, falling into legend as “The Goddess Murders,” were never solved, and continue to haunt the subconscious of Salem, Mass, ever since. Twenty-five years later, the sole suspect in the original murders is once again involved in an unusual homicide. The incident rips the scab off old wounds, bringing the Goddess Murders back into the limelight. Police Chief John Rafferty, with the aid of Callie Cahill, the only survivor of the massacre, must uncover the truth of what happened on Halloween two and a half decades ago, before more evil befalls the town.

This was an intriguing little mystery. The plots twists in and out of the Salem Witch Hysteria of 1692, and the lives of those victims and their accusers. Modern day witches, healers, and psychics abound. Banshees, wronged goddesses, and black magic infuse the plot. The modern day and the darkness of Puritan New England collide uniquely in Barry’s book. The plot meanders a bit, certain elements occasionally make the story seem overlong, but in all this is a tidy and engrossing mystery.

Any fan of mysteries will probably enjoy this book. The inclusion of plot lines from the Salem Witchcraft Trials was a big bonus for me. I had not read The Lace Reader before picking up this one (alas, I didn’t get the chance), but I was never lost. This book can be read as a stand-alone if preferred, though now I am doubly excited to read the first in the series.

An advance ebook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Fifth Petal will be available for purchase on January 24th, 2017.

A suspicious death on Halloween may have ties to the infamous "Goddess Murders", also committed on a Halloween night decades ago, and still unsolved. Callie is the daughter of one of the Goddess victims, found at the crime scene traumatized but still alive. Now the new death has brought her back to Salem, where family secrets and old grudges are brought back to the surface.


I really enjoyed Barry's The Lace Reader, and was excited to see she had come out with another book. This is a good mystery, with some excellent twists and turns. Barry uses flashbacks of memories to her advantage, creating a lot of suspense as Callie begins to remember what happened all those years ago.

I also really enjoyed how Barry made Salem its own character. The witch trials and their consequences still reverberate, and have a direct effect on what happens in the present.


The book moves a little slowly at parts. There are a lot of side story lines that, while interesting, do tend to slow down the pace.


I would recommend this read, especially if you read and enjoyed The Lace Reader. Barry brings an excellent mix of history and mystery to the table, with some fascinating characters and great twists.

I was very pleased to see Brunonia Berry return to the world of The Lace Reader - I read it years ago when it first came out and really enjoyed it. Well, it had been a while, so I decided I had to re-read it before I could give this latest installment a go. I'm glad I did - I've seen a few reviews/comments indicate that you don't have to read the earlier book to enjoy this one. That may technically be true, but you'd lose a lot I think - the mystery in this new book is not dependent on backstory or information from the earlier book, but the depth of the supporting characters would be completely lost if you had not read it...

I enjoyed this one. The mystery at its heart - what exactly happened to The Goddesses on the night of their murder, and who exactly was responsible - is wild and complicated and intense. The plot is engaging (although, I will admit, not quite as much to me so as that of the earlier book) and the secrets are thick on the ground. But, once again, Berry's true magic is in her characters... And that's where I think reading The Lace Reader before this one really turns this book into something special. She has an uncanny ability to write complicated, flawed, all too human characters that are likeable and believable even when they are at their most outlandish (or most badly behaved). The plot of this one occasionally felt a little distended to me - there were times when I just had to set the book down, because things felt a little draggy. But I always came back, and they always picked back up again. And the ending - wow. It really grabbed and held me.

All in all, I found this read a little more difficult than I hoped for, but it was still quite enjoyable to read - even when the story took me to some of its darkest places. I'm starting to think that may be a key element of Berry's style - her lovely and fragile (and often broken, albeit not permanently so) characters are forced through the fire more often than I'm comfortable with, but they (and we, as readers) always manage to come out the other side. We - like they - just have to persevere...

The Fifth Petal is the second book in The Lace Reader series. I really enjoyed the first book, especially with its setting of Salem and the witch history. This novel is set several years into the future and it features some new characters along with some from the first book.

Callie is at the center of this book, having come back to Salem after decades away. Salem holds a lot of memories for Callie, many of them too horrible to want to revisit. But coming back forces her to confront her demons, both inside herself and those around her.

Like the first novel, the story blends magic, history, and thriller elements to create a rich story. The characters are so quirky, even if you didn't like them. The local witch at times seems harmless and at other times the femme fatale. The romantic hero is one moment the privileged son of wealth, the next passionate about his work. Callie is a healer, who uses sound and singing bowls as her healing modality. And there is even a bit of old world feuding that has persevered for centuries, manifesting itself in unexpected ways.

I loved the story, but there was a lot going on at times that made it a lot to track. There really were two major plot lines, that while they overlapped from time to time, could really have been two different stories. One other thing to love... I loved Towner in the first novel so seeing her character's life now was wonderful. She was such a tragic character in the first that it was good to see her happy in the second.

All in all, a great read!

Were back in Salem Massachusetts 17 year later the story of the Goddesses who are all murdered Rafferty the town sheriff who is now married to Towner. Yay!! We meet Callie who comes to town for her Aunt Rose. Callie is a music therapist who uses music to help clients/people improve their physical health ( I want to learn more about this). With the story keeping my attention with mystery, witches, murders, a little romance and a whole bunch of paranormal.

I really liked this story and can not wait for book #3


My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story opens in Salem, Massachusetts Halloween 1989. A group of women is gathered together to consecrate the ground where the hangings of the accused witches in 1692 took place. Then suddenly they are attacked. There are 2 survivors. One is a 5-year-old young girl who was hidden by one of the women in some briars. The other is one of the women that the girl calls Auntie Rose aka Rose Whelan - the leader of the event.

Callie, the young girl, has no recollection of the event, but she has a scar on the palm of her hand in the shape of a rose from holding onto the rosary that Auntie Rose gave her so tightly while she was hidden. Rose appears to have lost her mind as a result of the attack and claims that it was a banshee that attacked and killed the young women collectively known as 'The Goddesses.'

Salem, Massachusetts 2014, 25 years later to the day, Rose is again implicated in an attack. This time on a young boy - a bit of a hoodlum. There are no marks on his body, but she was present when he died. She claims the banshee did it again.

John Rafferty, chief of police of Salem, finds himself in a position where he believes that Rose had nothing to do with either incident. He decides he must reopen the cold case of The Goddesses' murders.

Most of the book is from Callie's point of view, but a fair amount is also from Rafferty's point of view. Callie starts to have vivid dreams of what happened in the past and shares these with Rafferty. Meanwhile, Rafferty goes through legal channels and old evidence trying to solve the cold case while he waits for a cause of death of the boy.

It's mostly Callie's story. And she gets involved with local old families. One member of which is responsible for triggering some of her most vivid dreams.

There is history, mystery and a touch of romance in The Fifth Petal. I read the first book in this series, The Lace Reader, a while back. It was a good book, but not as good as The Fifth Petal. Brunonia Barry's writing seems to have improved in the time between the two books. You can read The Fifth Petal without having read The Lace Reader and still enjoy it. Truthfully, I remembered little of the first book. Towner and Rafferty were both characters in the first book and have roles in this one as well - Rafferty a little more so than Towner.

There are some things that you might consider either paranormal or magical realism elements. There is the ability to see the future by reading lace that is mentioned. And there is the way that Towner, Callie, and some of the other people seem to know things before they happen or are said by people. There is Callie's use of musical therapy for healing. And finally, there is the question of the banshee. Is she real?

Overall, it's a good book. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. It's well written. The mystery is good. The inclusion of the history is a plus. The author tells some of what is real vs pure fiction in the acknowledgments. I may have enjoyed it more because of the history in it. The 1692 events in Salem have always interested me. I would recommend the book to anyone who enjoys a good mystery with a few possibly paranormal elements and a touch of romance. If you like Salem and its history, then you will enjoy it even more.

The Fifth Petal was released January 24, 2017 from Crown.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Long after the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, another seemingly familiar tragedy has struck the town. In 1989, three young women were brutally murdered at the alleged site of the original hangings. The women were attempting to consecrate the ground in remembrance of their ancestors, the women that were hanged. The murdered women were dubbed the Goddesses and had seemingly bewitched the town, especially the men. There were two survivors, five year old Callie Cahill, whose mother was among the murdered and historian Rose Whelan who had brought the women together and looked after them. After the murders, Callie was taken in by a group of nuns in another town and Rose was left mentally unstable, a suspect in a crime she could never commit. Presently, Salem's police chief John Rafferty would love to solve the 25 year old cold case, but has never had a reason to open it up. However, when the now homeless Rose is wrapped up in another death, John wants to clear her name for good. Rose ends up on the news and, much to Callie's surprise, she learns Rose is alive. Callie races back to Salem to help the woman she once called her aunt. When Callie arrives, the suppressed memories begin floating back and she suspects that there is more than just foul play, and perhaps some magic may be involved.


This was a very intriguing murder mystery with just enough elements of the paranormal woven through to keep me guessing and enough history brought in to keep my interest. I do really wish I had known that this was the second book in a series, but I didn't feel like I was missing anything. One of the really interesting aspects for me was Rose's banshee. I enjoyed learning about the different stories of banshee mythology as well as having the belief that the banshee could actually be responsible for the crimes. The author did a wonderful job of playing the natural and supernatural and bringing them together. I also really liked the idea that no witches existed in 1692, but what happened to the women caused many witches to exist now. There were several mysteries at play in the story: who murdered the Goddesses? How were the Goddesses connected to the hanged women? and where was the missing Goddess? The mysteries were all woven together well and I did not feel overwhelmed. I really had no idea which element was responsible for what and I truly had no idea who was responsible for the murders till very near the end. Callie and Rose were amazing characters. Although Rose has a mental illness, I never felt like her character was belittled or demeaned, and Callie's faith in Rose was heartwarming. Callie, who could have been easily taken advantage of was continuously strong and confident in herself and grew in her abilities. Overall, this is a complex modern-day murder mystery that artfully weaves in history and aspects of the paranormal that makes this book hard to put down.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

After reading The Fifth Petal it was completely apparant to me that the author has grown and really sharpened her skill since the first installment in this series. Discovering that this was a "book 2" I decided to read The Lace Readers first. While I enjoyed it, I felt it was a little uneven. But I did not have that problem with this book!! This was a completely enthralling story that kept me interested from beginning to end and could very easily stand well on its own.

What I loved about this book was that it instantly grabs your attention, drawing you immediately into a very intriguing mystery. We then journey with Callie as she tries to unravel a traumatic event in her past, taking us on many twists and turns, including the events of the Salem witch trials and the affect that slice of history has had on this small town of Salem. This was a very satisfying read for me! And I was completely fascinated with how Callie used the power of music to heal, making me want to read more on the subject of music therapy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy and the opportunity to review this book. I loved it and highly recommend it.

The Fifth Petal by Brunonia Barry is the second book The Lace Reader series. John Rafferty is the police chief for the town of Salem, Massachusetts. It is Halloween which is a busy time in Salem and a big problem just landed in his lap. Rose Wheelan has been arrested for the murder of Billy Barnes. Billy along with his pals, James and Monk were tormenting Rose (Billy sliced her check with a knife). Billy’s great-aunt, Helen Barnes wants justice. Helen along with many others in Salem, feel Rose is a nuisance and a murderess. They blame Rose for the murder of three women in 1989. It is Salem’s famous cold case known as The Goddess Murders. Twenty-five years ago, Rose was a respected scholar in the community. On November 1, 1989 Rose and a little girl were the only survivors of a brutal slaying on Proctor’s Ledge. Rose has never been the same since then. She now wanders the city talking to trees and looking for the original hanging tree. John decides to start looking into the cold case and see if he can solve it. He wants to prove Rose’s innocence. Callie Cahill has been living in Northampton and working as a music therapist. When she reads about Rose in the paper, she is shocked. The nuns had told her that Rose was dead. Callie is the other survivor of that fateful night. Callie wants to help Rose, and she would love to finally get answers on what happened to her mother. Callie’s mother, Olivia was one of the victims along with her two friends, Cheryl Cassella and Susan Symms. It turns out that each person who was present that night was related to a “witch” executed in 1692. Callie, thanks to her visions, will be able to assist John with the investigation. What were the women doing on Proctor’s Ledge that Halloween night? Is the real killer a human, a witch, or something far more sinister?

The Fifth Petal sounds like a great paranormal mystery novel. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed with the final product. There is some nice writing and excellent research, but the novels pace is sluggish (actually, I think slugs move faster). I was never drawn into the story (it did not engage me in any way). The author did not stick with the main storyline. There are a couple of side stories that were unnecessary. The main one being Callie and her music therapy. I ended up skipping through these sections. Brunonia Barry is also a descriptive writer which leads to many unnecessary details. I give The Fifth Petal 2 out of 5 stars (I did not like it). I believe the book needs major editing. The Fifth Petal could be a good book with a little work. I wish the author had run with the supernatural elements (embraced it). It would have made for a more entertaining story. Many readers will be able to figure out the identity of the culprit. Only a couple of clues are needed to work out this mystery (if you can manage to get that far into the book). I was tempted many times to toss The Fifth Petal aside, but I did persevere to the end (which I discovered to be a letdown). Of course, The Fifth Petal has the requisite romance which just slows down the narrative even more (Thanksgiving seemed to go on for days). I found some information to be replicated especially about the 1989 murder (and I forget how many times we are told that John Rafferty is the chief of police). While this is the second book in The Lace Reader series, it can be read alone. The author updates the readers on what occurred in The Lace Reader.