Don't Tell a Soul

By: Kirsten Miller

Narrated by: Emma Galvin

Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Stay up all night with this modern day Rebecca! Perfect for fans of Truly Devious - a haunting story about a new girl in an old town filled with dark secrets...that might just kill her.

People say the house is cursed.
It preys on the weakest, and young women are its favorite victims.
In Louth, they're called the Dead Girls.

All Bram wanted was to disappear - from her old life, her family's past, and from the scandal that continues to haunt her. The only place left to go is Louth, the tiny town on the Hudson River where her uncle, James, has been renovating an old mansion.

But James is haunted by his own ghosts. Months earlier, his beloved wife died in a fire that people say was set by her daughter. The tragedy left James a shell of the man Bram knew - and destroyed half the house he'd so lovingly restored.

The manor is creepy, and so are the locals. The people of Louth don't want outsiders like Bram in their town, and with each passing day she's discovering that the rumors they spread are just as disturbing as the secrets they hide. Most frightening of all are the legends they tell about the Dead Girls. Girls whose lives were cut short in the very house Bram now calls home.

The terrifying reality is that the Dead Girls may have never left the manor. And if Bram looks too hard into the town's haunted past, she might not either.

©2021 Kirsten Miller (P)2021 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"Twists abound, and numerous plot threads are satisfyingly tied together in the powerful ending." (Kirkus Reviews)

"[A] feminist twist on gothic horror that thrills and chills while exploring the myriad ways that society tries to silence 'problematic' women." (Publishers Weekly)

"[P]ure gothic horror with nods to du Maurier’s Rebecca." (Bulletin)

Haunting story

This book had a slow start, but it picks up and emerges into something very spooky that will keep you on your toes. Bram is a very well-written protagonist and the idea of the story reminds me of classic haunted house stories but with a little something new mixed in. Galvin is a good narrator as well, I think she was a good choice for Bram.

Not enough and too much at the same time

There were sufficient twists to keep me interested until the end, but the book fell flat in terms of spookiness. In the end the (too many) intertwining stories seemed forced to conclusion, and I was left mildly confused and underwhelmed. CW: abuse, addiction, and sexual assault

Great twists and turns in the plot

I just finished this Gothic mystery on audible. One of the better books I’ve listened to in a while now. Keeps you guessing until the end. Set along the Hudson River and upstate New York during a snowstorm.

At first, I thought the narrators voice sounded too young, but it turns out the heroine is only 17 in the story, and that’s probably why. However, she does have a very compelling voice, which makes it hard to stop listening to her. Enjoy!

Great!

I enjoyed this book. It is a dark tale so if you are looking for a light ghost story - this is not it. I loved the characters in this book. I connected with Bram and her experiences.
I was not scared by this book, it is marketed as Horror but it is more thriller/mystery. Though I think that was the authors intent. She wanted to present a real life tale with just a touch of the unknown, like so many real life ghost stories. Yet the truths are more horrifying then the actual tales themselves. Some truths would be better if they remained ghosts.

I love Kirsten Miller, but this book is not it.

I was excited to start an other Kirsten Miller book, but this book was incredibly disappointing. I got bored 1/3 of the way through and forced myself to finish, I wish I hadn’t.