Quiet Neighbors by Catriona McPherson

When I went to the ALA Mid-Winter Meeting in January, I was most excited about getting all the ARC's. Most of the books I picked up were children's/YA but I had to pick up the ARC of Quiet Neighbors by Catriona McPherson. I mean, look at the cover:

Creepy things entice me. Cemeteries, antique dolls, ouija boards, and abandoned asylums, etc.

I finally got around to reading it last night and so far I'm enjoying it:

1. It takes place in England- true Gothic!

2. The main character, Jude, is a librarian.

3. After taking a leave of absence from her usual life, Jude ends up utilizing her skills to organize an old bookstore.

4. There's already been a mention of Jodi Picoult.

I admit that I'm old-fashioned when it comes to my horror reading preferences: I like ghosts who are sad and/or vengeful due to their grisly, untimely deaths and I like characters who catch on to the ghosts' presences quickly. So far I haven't received much horror, but I've been reading on because the characters are so interesting. We have Jude, the runaway librarian. We have the bookshop owner Lowland Glen, who is eccentric and kinda messy, as most used-bookstore owners seem to be. We also have Eddy, who appears out of nowhere and claims that Lowland is her father, and who also appears to be pregnant, although Jude seems to doubt whether Eddy is actually pregnant or developing some hoax.  .  .

I am always a sucker for strong character development.

I'm not sure when the horror will develop more, but McPherson definitely pulled me into the story.