In Bailey Seybolt's strong, moody debut novel, Coram House, the husk of a shuttered Catholic orphanage notorious for its legacy of abuse looms on the shores of Lake Champlain. True-crime writer Alex Kelley hopes Coram House will offer her a career restart. She's been offered a contract to ghostwrite a book about the orphanage and its history of violence.
The contract isn't very lucrative; furthermore, she had to sign "a punishing nondisclosure agreement," her name won't be on the cover of the book, and she'll have to stay in Burlington, Vt., for six months as she works on the project. But Alex feels she has no choice, because she is at her lowest. Her last true-crime book had numerous problems, and she is mired in grief for her recently deceased husband. The crux of Alex's work hangs on what happened to children who may have been killed at Coram House 50 years ago. Alex studies VHS tapes filled with interviews with former Coram House residents and the nuns, which only add to the mystery. Some remember brutal discipline but insist that no child died. Nevertheless, as Alex digs through old files and conflicting memories, new murders occur that might be connected to Coram House.
Seybolt maintains high suspense, making even searches through faded papers exciting. Scenes in which Alex learns how the children were disciplined are chilling. Although the Coram House property is being developed into luxury condos, the evil lingers. Seybolt convincingly shows Alex's growth in regaining her confidence as she works to uncover the truth. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer