This book was recommended to me several times and has made several online lists of best winter horror novels. I came in really wanting to like it. That unfortunately did not turn out to be the case. The book begins to drag around the one third mark and continues to drag almost all the rest of the way. The supernatural elements of the story are present simply to drive the characters toward the solving of two disappearances. That might not be such a bad thing if the novel did not end up feeling like mostly a procedural investigation novel with a few ghosts thrown in. I suppose this makes sense given that the author is known mostly for writing investigative procedurals.

This novel might have been better if the characters were more fleshed out. As it is, none of them are all that interesting. The conflicts between them are likewise prosaic, right down to the discoveries of infidelity and murder.

I have read several hundred horror novels in my lifetime and I admit that I may be a bit jaded, but that doesn't change how little I enjoyed reading this novel. Hopefully others will find it more compelling than I did.