After her grandmother's death, Eleanor has inherited her estate and is shocked to find that it included an estate in the country. Vivianne the grandmother had raised Eleanor when her parents were killed in a car crash and she never mentioned the estate nor had they ever gone there. Eleanor is fighting off anxiety as she walked in on Vivianne's murder and found the body. Now she, her fiance Sebastian, her aunt and a lawyer are headed to the estate to make an inventory.
The estate is grand and has been kept as if the inhabitants had just left yesterday rather than years ago. There is a caretaker but they can't find him. Soon after they arrive a blizzard occurs, trapping them in the house. Then the strange things start happening. Eleanor is trapped in a dumbwaiter. There seems to be someone outside that only Eleanor has seen. The aunt insists that she had letters from her father that the lawyer must have stolen or someone has. What is going on? Before the group leaves, the dark family secrets will be revealed and Eleanor will find that she has been living in a bubble of carefully created lies.
Camilla Sten is a Swedish author best known for her mystery novels. Her debut novel, The Missing Village, was a major hit and this one was released the next year. She has a great ability to portray families with secrets and the psychological damage they do. This novel was told in alternating views of the group now trapped at the estate and those who lived there thirty years before. I listened to this novel and the narrator was able to portray Eleanor's anxiety and determination to find out what was happening. This book is recommended for mystery readers.
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