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Secrets of Hallstead House Kindle Edition

by Amy M. Reade (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 1,785 ratings
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"You are not wanted here. Go away from Hallstead Island or you will be very sorry you stayed."

Macy Stoddard had hoped to ease the grief of losing her parents in a fiery car crash by accepting a job as a private nurse to the wealthy and widowed Alexandria Hallstead. But her first sight of Hallstead House is of a dark and forbidding home. She quickly finds its winding halls and shadowy rooms filled with secrets and suspicions. Alex seems happy to have Macy's help, but others on the island, including Alex's sinister servants and hostile relatives, are far less welcoming. Watching eyes, veiled threats. . .slowly, surely, the menacing spirit of Hallstead Island closes in around Macy. And she can only wonder if her story will become just one of the many secrets of Hallstead House. . .
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  1. Print length
    224 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    eOriginals
  5. Publication date
    July 1, 2014
  6. File size
    1073 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Amy M. Reade grew up in Northern New York, just 30 miles from the St. Lawrence River. Her first novel, Secrets of Hallstead House, is set on the river among the Thousand Islands. A former attorney, Amy found that writing was her true calling, and is currently working on her second and third novels, set in South Carolina and Hawaii, respectively. She loves cooking and travel.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00IO3QR70
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ eOriginals (July 1, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 1, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1073 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 1,785 ratings

About the author

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Amy M. Reade

Amy M. Reade

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Amy M. Reade is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling mystery author who practiced law until she realized it was way more fun writing fiction.

She writes cozy and Gothic mysteries under the name Amy M. Reade and historical mysteries under the name A.M. Reade. She lives in New Jersey with her family and loves reading, cooking, traveling, playing with the dog, quilling, counted cross-stitch, chocolate, wine, and cheese, though not necessarily in that order.

If you're looking for her and she's not in her office, check the kitchen. If she's not there, she's definitely in the laundry room.

To find out when her next book is coming out and to grab some fun freebies, sign up for her mailing list at www.amymreade.com.

Follow her on BookBub at https://www.bookbub.com/authors/amy-m-reade.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
1,785 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

CamReading
5.0 out of 5 stars Hits All the Must-Haves!
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2021
Verified Purchase
As someone who reads a number of mysteries, I really enjoyed this book. "Secrets of Hallstead House" is a good old-fashioned mystery with a touch of the gothic (wealthy elderly woman in an isolated, rambling old house) thrown into the mix. And it's a recipe for some seriously satisfying reading. From the first page, I was drawn into the story of Macy and her endeavor to embark on an exciting new career on unfamiliar turf. The descriptive passages of the 1000 Islands always made me feel as if I were in the boat right along with her, which I appreciated. My connection to the main character was solid and I found myself at various points feeling concern for Alex, distain for Will, and warmth towards Pete. The pacing of the plot is designed to keep readers interested (and guessing) throughout the book and I think most will enjoy the nail-biting, but still plausible, ending as much as I did. For lovers of traditional mystery novels, "Hallstead House" hits all the key notes. Highly recommended!
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Colleen M. Chesebro
4.0 out of 5 stars To make matters worse, her fiancé deserts her just when she needs ...
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2015
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Nurse, Macy Stoddard is desperately looking for a new beginning. Loss has become her sole existence after the deaths of both of her parents. To make matters worse, her fiancé deserts her just when she needs him the most. Now she finds herself totally alone in the world. To turn the corner of tragic life events, Macy decides to take a position on a remote island in upstate New York where Alexandria Hallstead, the elderly mistress of Hallstead House needs the care of a qualified nurse.

Immediately, Macy is enamored with the natural beauty of the island and the uniqueness of the old house. She enjoys caring for Alex Hallstead and the elderly woman values her friendship on the remote island. Not long after Macy’s arrival it becomes apparent that the rest of the family and servants do not want her there. A mystery drifts about Hallstead House encircling Macy, drawing her into the delicate web of family intrigue. Shrouded threats from the housekeeper and other family members begin to escalate into random acts of unexplained violence.

Macy turns to Pete McHale, Hallstead House resident handyman, and boat captain, who becomes her ally in solving the mystery that permeates the island. What Macy didn’t bargain for was falling in love, or discovering the deep, dark family secrets that threaten to engulf her forever.

The descriptions of the Thousand Islands in upstate New York on the Saint Lawrence River were absolutely glorious. I thought Amy Reade’s words painted vivid images of the sea and the haunting beauty of the islands and the river near Hallstead House. She depicts in her writing, grand homes that dotted these islands with rich tales of the occupant’s failures and achievements. To me, this added story telling augmented a realistic twist to the unraveling events in the story.

The Secrets of Hallstead House is Amy Reade’s debut novel. This book is an enjoyable and comfortable read, much like the gothic suspense novels by Victoria Holt I read as a young woman. For me, Macy’s journey about finding herself and solving the mystery was satisfying and all I needed within the confines of the story.

So come on! Grab a cup of tea, settle in your favorite chair, and visit Hallstead House. Oh, and, by the way, don’t underestimate the nature of the mystery that lurks within these pages. I never figured out the end of the story beforehand and was pleasantly surprised in the end!

RATINGS
Realistic Characterization: 4/5
Made Me Think: 3/5
Overall enjoyment: 4/5
Readability: 4/5
Recommended: 4/5
Overall Rating: 4
One person found this helpful
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Vicky
3.0 out of 5 stars An easy afternoon read
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2015
Verified Purchase
This book was okay--I liked it and it moved forward. As far as mysteries go, it wasn't a page turner. There were a couple of surprises, and that's always nice! I enjoyed the attention to setting and all the details about Thousand Islands. What a great place to set a story.
Some of the characters were developed--Alex and Macy, the two main characters, for example. But the others were one dimensional. I realize that character development is tricky in a mystery because you want to keep the suspense. You don't want to give too much away so that you can 'keep 'em guessing'. But I think it's important to also make these people come to life. Some of them were just unlikable and there wasn't much to base their actions on.
Macy is a nurse from NYC, and yet she is just twenty years old. Her parents died in an accident six weeks earlier. The motivation for Macy to get away and accept this nursing position in the Thousand Islands is clear. How she handles her grief is glossed over, and that's a much too important plot element to not give attention to.
I lost connection to the story at certain points and found my attention wandering. Also, I think the resolution is a bit unbelievable. But it's a quick read and it's well edited (thank God!). I could almost see this as a series--Macy the traveling nurse who solves mysteries on the side!
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Well-Read Pirate Queen
5.0 out of 5 stars part gothic, part cozy mystery, and all wonderful
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2017
Verified Purchase
Once I really started this I found that I couldn't/wouldn't put it down willingly! It's a beautiful tale set in one of the most beautiful places there is -- the Thousand Islands. I was born at the eastern end of the Thousand Islands region and while we moved from the area before I was old enough to really know anything of it, it's still near and dear to my heart.
It's the story of Macy Stoddard who has accepted a job as the personal nurse to an elderly woman recovering from hip surgery. It's a bit of a dreary place and several of the inhabitants and frequest visitors make it known that they don't want Macy there, but she has a job to do and intends to do it. She does bond with her patient, though, as well as with the keeper of the boathouse and falls in love with the locale (as well she should!).
Before long everything Macy thought that she had known about everything gets turned upside-down. It's part gothic, part cozy mystery, and all wonderful. Well, almost all.
The only nit-picky thing I had with it was Macy's age. She's supposed to be 20 years old but seems older and that boathouse guy? She figured him to be in his mid-30s (I can't recall if we ever did get an exact age on him). Call me horribly old-fashioned, but she isn't even able to legally drink unless she crosses the border! If she had been, say, 25 and him mid-thirties I likely wouldn't have been as skeeved about it. Much. Maybe. Still, it's only a mild irritant in an otherwise wonderful book full of secrets and mystery and twists that I totally didn't see coming.
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Top reviews from other countries

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Jealousy is dangerous
Reviewed in Canada on September 8, 2016
Verified Purchase
Love the story. Jealousy can cause insecure people to do awful things. Will read more books. Keep up great work Amy.
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Sebastian
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 15, 2015
Verified Purchase
A very good interesting book that gives you a surprising ending. I don't think many people will guess who done it
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maryb
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
Reviewed in Spain on June 5, 2015
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I got half way through this book. The story just seemed to drag on and on until I just lost interest.
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fit_artist
4.0 out of 5 stars A good read
Reviewed in Canada on November 23, 2017
Verified Purchase
A quick read. I read the entire book in one sitting. I really enjoyed the story and the descriptive setting of the Thousand Islands.
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Dani
3.0 out of 5 stars Forgettable
Reviewed in Canada on October 29, 2016
Verified Purchase
While I enjoyed the novel enough to rush through to the end I found it very slow going, just enough suspense at the end of a chapter to encourage you to keep going, just enough mystery to finish the book. The writing style, first person, meant little variation in sentence structure which made the paragraphs quite monotonous: I did this, he did that then I did this. I personally loathe first person novels, I would not read them at all if they were not so prevalent. Overall it was an easy, moderately entertaining read.

All I really took away from this book is a desire to purchase real estate in the area. Setting descriptions are stunning.
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