Joint Review: The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

by:   Jennifer McMahon 
published by:  Doubleday
publish date:  February 11, 2014

West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter, Gertie. Now, in present day, Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse with her mother, Alice. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that suddenly proves perilous when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished without a trace. Searching for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother's bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked deeper into the mystery of Sara's fate, she discovers that she's not the only person who's desperately looking for someone that they've lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.

I'm a fan of Jennifer McMahon, I've enjoyed all her books so far.  I was excited about this book because it was a little bit of a departure from her previous books.  This one had more of a historical aspect to it and I like that.  My opinion is that this is her best book so far.  It had all the creepy, scary, supernatural things that she works into a book so well, but this one had a better developed story to go along with why these supernatural occurrences were happening.  Personally, the historical part of it was much better, than the present day.  That part of the book was much more sinister and seemed to really capture the mood of The Winter People.

Compared to Don't Say a Word, which was a DNF for me, this book was much better.  I thought the book was really creepy.  I liked the back and forth between the past and the present.  I was also happy that there were alternating points of view.  That made the book more interesting.  There were a few things about Ruthie that I thought I had figured out about halfway through, but I was wrong.  I like when that happens.  The couple of twists thrown in were surprising.  There were also some pretty gruesome scenes, but that added to the sinister and creepy feel of the book.  I do recommend this one.  It's made me want to try again with this author.