The Family Plot
Cherie Priest
2016, 368 pages
Fiction
Chuck Dutton is living on the financial edge. His business, Music City Salvage, is about to go under and with it his family’s livelihood unless he can sell some of his stock. Enter Augusta Withrow, with an offer he really should refuse: a grand family estate about to go under the wrecking ball, in a remote location, with a troubled history. Falling to temptation, Chuck sends his daughter Dahlia to oversee the salvage of the house. Dahlia and her crew arrive only to find that the property may be empty, but it isn’t abandoned. Something in the Withrow mansion is angry and lost. This is its last chance to raise hell before the house is gone forever, and there’s still plenty of room in the strange little family plot next to the carriage house. . . .
The Family Plot is a great, atmospheric ghost story, but that was (to me) secondary to the affectionate depiction of salvaging and restoring vintage furnishings. Although I started the book looking for a spooky ghost tale, the descriptions of salvaging and the materials that Dahlia and her crew find were what really drew me into the story. The Family Plot is recommended for readers who love reading about vintage homes and the work that went into them.
Nora CascaddenConcord Public Library
Visit CPL at concordpubliclibrary.net.
