The Family Plot by Cherie Priest

Chattanooga Tennessee is full of lots of things, including the century and half old estate owned by the Winthrow family. Augusta Winthrow, the only remaining Winthrow wants it demolished, but first she approaches Music City Salvage to see if they would be interesting in gutting the house for all it's valuables. Chuck Dutton wagers the future of the salvage company on the floors and woodwork inside of the Winthrow Estate, and out, and sends a small crew to get everything that they can. Led by his daughter, Dahlia -- a recently divorced lover of all houses old and spooky -- they operate on a shoestring budget trying to get the house emptied in four days.

Quickly the crew realizes that there are certain things that Ms. Winthrow has left out of her story of the estate, like the small cemetery plot that they happen upon on the very first day and the spirits that inhabit the estate, long after the last living Winthrow had stepped foot on the property.

What better time of the year to rediscover the joy(is that the right word) of reading a well put together haunted house story. Cherie Priest manages to bring a feeling of a classic Southern Gothic horror story and blends it with a modern ghost story. It does succumb to the modern horror tropes from time to time, but overall The Family Plot is a well written ghost story with characters you care about, and a ghost that is downright evil.

365 pages