Charlotte (Charlie) Cates is grieving after the death of her 4 year old son. So when she starts having dreams about children who are dead or in danger she at first dismisses them as part of the grieving process. But, after agreeing to go to Louisiana to do a book about a wealthy family and a 30 year old mystery of a missing child, she has reason to believe her visions are actually a gift – a way to help children and their families. A dying matriarch who has always been quiet about the kidnapping of her son, three siblings who may or may not have the best interest of their mother at heart, a handsome outsider who is hiding something and new clues about things that happened 30 years ago all build to an exciting and satisfying conclusion. This great debut novel has all of the elements of a modern southern gothic, and is not to be missed.

This book is definitely one of my new favorite books. There's so many different plot turns, and secrets. Not only is it a book about mystery, but it includes a coping mother trying to grieve over the loss of her son. This is a book you won't regret reading.

3.5 stars. The plot seems to be well enough outlined in other reviews, so I'll skip it.

Two things made me round down rather than up. 1) Every white person above a certain social status speaks standard English. Everyone else seems to speak some version of phoneticized "country hick," which I found very annoying. Note: Unless you're Mark Twain or one of a handful of other very talented writers, it's probably not a good idea to attempt dialect. 2) Considering that this was supposed to be a small town, people seemed to know virtually nothing about each other. A couple of examples: Our heroine goes into a skeevy bar and is pulled out by the detective with whom she has been consulting on her book, yet evidently none of the shady characters in the bar know who he is. They think she's his cheating wife, but don't seem to have a clue that he's part of law enforcement. Secondly,

Spoiler

the police seem completely surprised to find out that a known local child molester has been living with a local woman who has a small boy - and then the detective attempts, at least in conversation with Charlie, the main character - to put the blame on the mother

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I think this could be a good beach read but I wasn't into it. Just a timing thing.

Charlotte “Charlie” Cates is grateful for the opportunity to go back to her writing roots in the field of true crime. Her new book assignment given to her by her old editor gives her the chance to get out of New York and the memories of her deceased son Keegan. Charlie’s assignment sends her to “Evangeline”, the Deveau family’s Louisiana estate, to look into a thirty-year-old case of a missing child. Charlie is drawn to the case for more reasons than having a job. She thinks the spirit of the Deveau child is communicating with her. The investigation, as well as a new romance, seem to be helping Charlie heal from her son’s death. However, there are so many secrets, as well as danger, at Evangeline which could spoil Charlie’s chance of happiness and may even prove to be fatal!

I loved this book! The prologue immediately captured my attention and never let go. The book got better and better as it went on and I didn’t want to put it down. I like the author’s style of writing and the way it pulls you in and gets you hooked on Charlie’s story. There were so many twists and turns, I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next. Charlie’s visions were intriguing and made an already interesting mystery even better.

The book has a classic gothic mood, with a Southern mansion, swamp, and fog, but with a definite modern feel. Charlie is such an interesting character, who is much stronger than the typical damsel in distress. I love that the local police detective is her ally, but not her love interest. Her relationship with Noah is fresh, believable, and I was invested in wanting things to work out for them.

"The Gates of Evangeline" has a lot of different elements and deals with themes such as infidelity, forbidden love, and evil, as well as forgiveness, a mother’s love, and healing. Everything is woven together seamlessly into a first-rate thriller that I loved reading. Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance copy of this excellent book.

I loved this book so much!! So many twists and turns! I figured out a few things before the end but it was still so incredibly good!

Good stories. I figured out the twist about half way through but still enjoyed watching unfold. Interesting prophetic visions story line.

I was never one for mystery novels but I downloaded this one out of a whim from iBooks. Needless to say, it definitely kept me up into the wee hours of the morning to finish! I really enjoyed the progression of this story and although at times it seemed a bit overdone, it was still a very well done story and great ending.

Cold case, Louisiana, nearly drowned child, missing parents, fake adoptive parents