The House on Buzzards Bay - by Dwyer Murphy (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

When a group of old college friends reunites for a summer vacation at a beach house in coastal Massachusetts, a sudden disappearance and the arrival of a seductive stranger threaten to unearth the darkest secrets of their relationships.

As they hurtle into midlife, Jim and his closest college friends get together to rekindle the bonds of their friendship in his family's beautiful, generations-old vacation home along Buzzards Bay, the demands of work and family having caused them to drift apart over recent years. But what begins as a quiet and restorative seaside escape takes a darker turn when Bruce, an aloof but successful writer, disappears from the house without a trace, sending the group into an uneasy tension.

Meanwhile, a series of mysterious break-ins besets the town, which is the site of an old Spiritualist campground turned idyllic fishing village. After a series of uncanny disturbances at the house, Jim can't help but feel that someone--or something--is watching them from the other side of the marsh. And with the arrival of a strange, seductive guest at their home, the group begins to question the very nature of their experiences--along with their already precarious ties with one other.

In The House on Buzzards Bay, Dwyer Murphy returns with a chilling, atmospheric page-turner that explores the bonds of friendship, the growing accumulation of life's responsibilities, and whether our youthful dreams can endure the complexities of adulthood.

Review Quotes

"Gothic chill wafts like ocean mist throughout this tale of college friends reuniting at an old house one of them has inherited."
--Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air

"Brings to mind the novels of Javier Marías or Katie Kitamura."
--The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)

"[An] atmospheric thriller [and] an excursion into the uncanny."
--The New Yorker

"Murphy's evocative novel is a noir thriller filtered through the prism of middle-aged friends dealing with the emotional weight of adulthood."
--The Washington Post

"[The House on Buzzards Bay] inserts a David Lynchian dreaminess into a whodunit about a tight group of college friends reuniting on Cape Cod."
--The Chicago Tribune

"Murphy creates such a perfectly haunting atmosphere that you'll be looking up to make sure your own doors are locked before any blood is even spilled on the page."
--Elle, Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2025

"Dwyer Murphy expertly crafts a sense of dread in this psychological thriller, and the last pages will have you shocked."
--Town & Country

"An engrossing psychological thriller . . . The House on Buzzards Bay is part The Big Chill and all simmering suspense, showcasing the talents of Murphy."
--Oline Cogdill, Sun Sentinel

"A haunting dream you can't shake off. . . . From the first page, Murphy casts a spell. The prose is moody and precise, soaked in salt air and ambiguity. . . . If you like your mysteries strange, poetic, thick with fog, and slow burns, The House on Buzzards Bay is a hypnotic ride."
--BookTrib

"A classic New England literary mystery pitched somewhere between The Secret History, If We Were Villains, and L'Avventura, with all of Dwyer's economy and wit. I loved it." --Adrian McKinty, New York Times bestselling author of The Island

"A delicious, brooding heart-stopper of a book." --Téa Obreht, New York Times bestselling author of Inland

"[A] masterful psychological thriller. . . . Murphy takes time to flesh out each of his main characters before executing a series of dizzying rug pulls. It's a devilish twist on the traditional locked-room mystery."
--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"[The House on Buzzards Bay] is extremely well-crafted--it's not just the superb writing but also the structure of the story, which grabs the reader from the opening paragraphs and keeps them constantly on their toes, trying to figure out what's going on, and becoming increasingly concerned for the safety of these beautifully constructed characters. Murphy outdoes himself here, spectacularly."
--Booklist

"The sly, subversive way Murphy undercuts Agatha Christie and Big Chill tropes keeps the reader on edge. . . . Another top-notch effort by Murphy, one of the most distinctive of young crime-oriented novelists."
--Kirkus Reviews

About the Author