Cinderwich - by Cherie Priest (Paperback)

About the Book

"Who put Ellen in the blackgum tree? Decades after trespassing children spotted the desiccated corpse wedged in the treetop, no one knows the answer. Kate Thrush and her former college professor, Dr. Judith Kane, travel to Cinderwich, Tennessee, in hopes that maybe it was their Ellen: Katie's lost aunt, Judith's long-gone lover. But they're not the only ones to have come here looking for closure. The people of Cinderwich, a town hardly more than a skeleton itself, are staunchly resistant to the outsiders' questions about Ellen and her killer. And the deeper the two women dig--the more rot they unearth--the closer they come to exhuming the evil that lies, hungering, at the roots of Cinderwich"--

Book Synopsis

"Who put Ellen in the blackgum tree?"

Decades after trespassing children spotted the desiccated corpse wedged in the treetop, no one knows the answer.

Kate Thrush and her former college professor, Dr. Judith Kane, travel to Cinderwich, Tennessee in hopes that maybe it was their Ellen: Katie's lost aunt, Judith's long-gone lover. But they're not the only ones to have come here looking for closure. The people of Cinderwich, a town hardly more than a skeleton itself, are staunchly resistant to the outsiders' questions about Ellen and her killer. And the deeper the two women dig, the more rot they unearth ... the closer they come to exhuming the evil that lies, hungering, at the roots of Cinderwich.

Review Quotes

"Cinderwich is one of those atmospheric stories where the unease comes from inside as much as from an external threat. It's a ghost story, in the truest sense and I loved the questions it asked. It's a quiet story about grief and the ripple effects trauma leaves on the the people surrounding the trauma. It's a moody, atmospheric tale that delivers fear and hope, " - Mary Robinette Kowal

"Cinderwich gifts readers with a bit of a haunted tree folktale, some true crime detecting, a frustrated ghost, and a couple of academic ladies with a sometimes prickly friendship who are more than willing to sit through countless diner dinners to get to a much-needed truth." - Locus Magazine

"Crisp scholarly dryness pairs perfectly with barely contained drama and a potent smidge of urban legend horror." - Library Journal

"Verdict: Crisp scholarly dryness pairs perfectly with barely contained drama and a potent smidge of urban legend horror." - Library Journal STARRED (Audio review)

"A good solid story in the gothic tradition." - Redhatcatreviews.blog

"Cinderwich is a fantastic, spooky treasure from Cherie Priest -- a mystery wrapped in Appalachian lore and family secrets, with so much heart. An absolute must read." - Fran Wilde, double Nebula winner and author of The Book of Gems