Night of the Candles by Patricia Maxwell

 

A strange and very much not PC gothic, NIGHT OF THE CANDLES takes place just after the Civil War in the South, when the economy is still crumbling and resentment against the North still fans high. The heroine, Amanda, comes to the plantation where her cousin, Amelia, got married, to give her a necklace that's part of her inheritance. But Amelia apparently became sickly and then mysteriously died, and none of her in-laws seem particularly sorry. Especially not the husband. #sus

There were some things I really liked about this book. The descriptions of the house were lush and gorgeous, and I liked the references to Greek/Roman mythology (it always adds a pop of color, you know?). The mystery itself is not very "mysterious," although there are some triggers nonetheless: the dog in this book dies, one of the characters is (I believe) developmentally disabled and everyone is very mean to him, and the KKK makes a surprise cameo appearance (not in a favorable way). I might have rated this higher if the romance had been better, but for most of the book, Amanda is like, I love my fiance, but then when he comes to retrieve her she's like, oh, ew, whatever.

Honestly, by the time I got to the end of the book, I had no idea who she was going to end up with because she didn't have any chemistry with anyone. I will say, though, that this book has one of the best excuses for infidelity I've ever seen. "Sorry I cheated on you with my dead cousin's body, my dead cousin must have become a ghost and possessed me" is gonna live rent-free in my head for a while, along with the phrase "fusillade of balls," which this author used twice. TWICE.

NIGHT OF THE CANDLES has a great title and some interesting scenes, but it ended up feeling just a little too silly to become a favorite.

3 out of 5 stars