At the bottom of the garden A novel

Bruce (All the Blood We Share) goes gothic in this chilling fantastical horror novel. After preteen sisters Lily and Violet are orphaned, their wealthy parents' will stipulates they must live with their next nearest relative until elder sister Lily is 18. Unfortunately for them, all their kind, loving aunts and grandmothers have also died, and the only option left is cruel Aunt Clara. Clara is grasping and deceitful, much more interested in her late brother's millions than his daughters. But Lily and Violet are not ordinary girls: they have inherited magical powers from their mother's side of the family. Lily can tell from Clara's aura when she is lying--and Violet can see all the ghosts in Clara's rural mansion, including the kind old lady in the dining room and the angry man with terrible wounds who paces back and forth in the garden. The more of Clara's secrets the ghosts reveal, the more Lily and Violet must use their powers to avoid joining the ranks of these restless dead. The story loses focus somewhat in the final third as it strays from the claustrophobic mansion, but the combination of creepy folk-horror notes and tense, gory, and haunting scenes conjures plenty of scares. Readers will want to sleep with the lights on. Agent: Brianne Johnson, HG Literary. (Jan.)

After adopting her nieces, a woman finds her life turned upside down by the ghosts of her past come back to haunt her--literally. Clara Woods hated her brother in life. Now that he's dead, killed on an anniversary quest to climb K2 with his wife, she finally has a way to get back at him: by using his daughters' childcare allowance to fund her business venture, Clarabelle Diamonds. What Clara doesn't know is that Ben's children are special: 14-year-old Lily can see emotions like multicolored flames on other people's bodies, and 9-year-old Violet can commune with spirits. But when this last ability causes Violet to inadvertently free the ghosts lingering on her aunt's property, Clara, Lily, Violet, and Clara's housekeeper, Dina, find themselves at the epicenter of a real-life haunting. The ghosts of Clara's former employer, Cecilia Lawrence, who left her the house where they're living; Clara's missing husband, Timmy; and his mistress, Ellie, come untethered from their places around the home. Now unshackled and able to affect the material realm, they have one mission: to make Clara's life a living hell. And unluckiest of all, a séance reveals that the only way to stop the haunting may be Clara's own murder. In spite of subject matter consisting of axe murders and occult rituals, this is a light and lighthearted reading experience. The audience will crow to watch the deliciously awful Clara get her comeuppance, as her not-so-friendly ghosts do everything they can to make her even more miserable than she already is. Lily and Violet are capable narrators, and Violet's plucky attitude makes her chapters a particular delight to read. Although Bruce's latest offering will not appease readers looking for a terrifying haunted-house story, mystery and thriller fans will find a lot to love in this romp through the ectoplasm. An entertaining ghost story that is often more silly than spooky. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.