The Witches of Bone Hill: A Novel

by Ava Morgyn

Overview

Ava Morgyn's The Witches of Bone Hill is a spellbinding, romantic novel about family secrets and two young women who discover they're Nordic witches.

Cordelia Bone's meticulously crafted life and career in Dallas are crashing down around her thanks to a philandering husband with criminal debts. When her older, carefree sister, Eustace—a cannabis grower in Boulder—calls to inform her that the great aunt they never met has died and they must travel to a small town in Connecticut to deal with the estate, she sees an opportunity to unload the house and save herself.

But once there, the sisters learn they are getting much more than they bargained for. The Victorian mansion they stand to inherit is bound in a dynasty trust controlled by their late aunt's aging attorney, who insists they retain and inhabit the house but keeps them in the dark about the peculiar rituals of their ancestors. Not to mention a sexy, tattooed groundskeeper with a shrouded past who refuses to leave the carriage house and a crypt full of dead relatives looming at the property line.

As both women grapple with their current predicament, they come face to face with a haunting family secret, the truth of what happened to their mother, and the enemy that's been stalking them from the shadows for generations. In a twisting torrent of terror and blood, the sisters must uncover the power within them to heal their fractured relationship, reverse their mysteriously declining health, and claim the lineage they wanted to escape but now must embrace if they are to survive at Bone Hill.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250835444
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/26/2023
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	133,570
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

AVA MORGYN grew up falling in love with all the wrong characters in all the wrong stories, then studied English Writing&Rhetoric at St. Edward’s University. She is a lover of witchcraft, tarot, and powerful women with bad reputations, and she currently resides in Houston with her family, surrounded by antiques and dog hair. When not at her laptop spinning darkly hypnotic tales, she writes for her blog on child loss, hunts for vintage treasures, and reads the darkest books she can find. She is the author of YA novels Resurrection Girls and The Salt in Our Blood.
Ava Morgyn grew up falling in love with all the wrong characters in all the wrong stories, then studied English Writing&Rhetoric at St. Edward’s University. She is a lover of witchcraft, tarot, and powerful women with bad reputations, and she currently resides in Houston with her family, surrounded by antiques and dog hair. When not at her laptop spinning darkly hypnotic tales, she writes for her blog on child loss, hunts for vintage treasures, and reads the darkest books she can find. She is the author of YA novels Resurrection Girls and The Salt in Our Blood.

Editorial Reviews

07/17/2023

This wonderfully macabre contemporary fantasy from Morgyn (The Salt in Our Blood) deals in family secrets and bone magic. A messy divorce leaves Cordelia Bone’s life—and financial situation—in disarray. After the death of an aunt she’s never heard of, however, Cordelia and her estranged sister, Eustace, are surprised to learn that they’ve inherited Bone Hill, their aunt’s estate. Cordelia wants to sell, while Eustace thinks of moving in. Reluctantly reunited, the sisters discover that Bone Hill comes with much more than just a Victorian mansion and spooky crypt; it also contains family secrets, enlightening them both to a legacy of witchcraft. As Cordelia and Eustace awaken to their own magical abilities and learn Bone Hill’s dark history, mysterious threats appear around the estate—including dead animals and messages written in blood. It’s clear they’re being watched and that someone wants to drive the sisters from their new home. After a gruesome attack leaves Eustace in a coma, Cordelia must harness her ancestors’ powers to defeat the stalker. Morgyn’s chilling and atmospheric tale is darker than many of the recent slew of witchy contemporaries, though a romantic subplot for Cordelia adds some lightness amid the blood and gore. Readers will be spellbound. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Part family epic, part supernatural thriller, and part gothic romance, Ava Morgyn's The Witches of Bone Hill is a haunted house book with a witchy twist. It reminds me of Practical Magic — the novel, not the movie — this is definitely a gothy, edgy witch book, not a cozy one!" - NPR

Reader's Digest, "20 Spellbinding Books About Witches That’ll Enchant Adults and Teens Alike"

"[A] wonderfully macabre contemporary fantasy. Chilling and atmospheric... readers will be spellbound." - Publishers Weekly

"[A] spellbinding tale...Morgyn effortlessly weaves together supernatural, horror, and romantic elements to create a quick but compelling read." - Library Journal

“The Witches of Bone Hill is a potent spell of legacy and sisterhood. With its haunted manor, powerful magic, and many mysteries, this eerie tale will keep readers up well into the night.” - Rachel Griffin, New York Times bestselling author of The Nature of Witches

"A simmering, supernatural mystery that conjures a brew of legacy, sisterhood, and Scandinavian witchcraft within a magnificent and malevolent house." - Katherine Harbour, author of Thorn Jack

"Upon her death, their mysterious Aunt Augusta left Eustace and Cordelia a sizable inheritance including Bone Hill, a strange Connecticut mansion that their mother went to great lengths to keep from them. In need of money, both sisters think they’ll sell the house quickly and pocket the cash, but when they arrive neither the mansion, nor its rules are what they imagined. The longer Eustace and Cordelia stay at Bone Hill, the house's sinister pull begins to envelope them giving them magical powers - at a cost. This enchanting tale of two sisters who must come to terms with their family’s legacy before it comes to claim them is funny, suspenseful, and cinematic. With Morgyn’s fresh take on strange rituals, odd townspeople and gothic mansions, this tale will delight fans of Alice Hoffman. I read it in one sitting and wanted more! Ava Morgyn is a powerful new voice in magical realism.” - Constance Sayers, author of A Witch in Time

“Wickedly wonderful, The Witches of Bone Hill is a delicious concoction of darkness, magic, and sisterhood. Ava Morgyn imbues her story with a haunting sorcery all her own, making this compulsively readable new dynasty of powerful witches impossible to put down.” - Paige Crutcher, author of The Orphan Witch and The Lost Witch

From the Publisher

07/01/2023

Morgyn's (The Salt in Our Blood) adult fiction debut is a spellbinding tale of two estranged, polar-opposite sisters who inherit a spooky home full of ghosts and centuries-old family secrets. Cordelia and Eustace Bone have many questions about the family they never knew; as they're the last remaining descendants, only the house and quirky family attorney can provide the answers. The sisters must work through the childhood fears instilled by their deceased mother, as well as the differences that led to their estrangement in order to solve a supernatural mystery plaguing not just their inheritance but their lives. While the pacing can be inconsistent at times, bouncing between the action of the main plot and lagging secondary stories, there are plenty of twists that keep readers engrossed. Overall, Morgyn effortlessly weaves together supernatural, horror, and romantic elements to create a quick but compelling read. VERDICT A delightful addition to collections where Anne Rice's "Lives of the Mayfair Witches" and other witch-centric supernatural series are highly circulated.—Kara Jonson

Library Journal