A BOX FULL OF DARKNESS

4 stars out of 5

Small-town Fell, New York, isn’t exactly a great place to call home. Over the years, it’s had way more than its share of deaths – way too many of them total mysteries. The Esmie family is just one example; all their lives, siblings Violet, Vail and Dodie lived with scary things that went bump in the night, a friend whose body was found by railroad tracks and the disappearance of their much-loved young brother, Ben, who went missing as they played hide-and-seek like other kids do (just not those who live in Fell). Never feeling loved by their parents, the siblings took off for various parts doing various things.

But in many ways, they never left. They all have visions of past horrors; Violet is perhaps the most haunted, since she “sees” dead people – including an especially nasty one she knows only as “Sister.” But one other thing they have in common: they’ll never part with their family home, even hiring people to maintain the grounds – mostly because they all hope that someday their precious brother will be found.

Then one day comes a sign; some of the groundskeepers claim to have seen people at the old homestead, including a small boy who spoke the eerie words, “Come home.” Violet, the eldest child, gets the message; certain it came from Ben, she knows there’s only one thing to do: all three must drop everything to come home. For Violet, who cleans estate homes for a living, it’s a snap. For Dodie, a hand model in New York City, it means canceling her latest gig. Vail, who lives on family money and is a volunteer with the UFO society and worked on solving more than 20 “encounters,” it means eagerly picking up his investigation tools and hopping in his car. Not one of the three has a clue as to what they’ll find, but all three are certain they’ll at least get closer to solving the mystery of their missing brother.

Much of the book follows each of the siblings, both now and back when they were kids. Usually, I get frustrated with all that flipping back and forth, but with only the three it’s not very difficult. Besides, the Stephen Kind-ish aspect to the story, while not freaked-out scary, held my attention throughout. It’s also interesting in that they never really “got along” well and still don’t communicate much, but when it comes to finding out what happened to their much-loved baby brother, they’re of a single mind (well, almost; there are a few dissentions within the ranks on occasion).

Yes, there’s a big “revelation” near the end that pulls things together and brings closure, at least of sorts; that said, I felt a bit of a letdown, expecting a more shocking finale. Overall, though, it was a welcome treat to jazz up a somewhat ho-hum holiday season for me and keep my mind off worry about what next year will hold. Well done, and quite enjoyable. I heartily thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to give myself a much-needed break by way of a pre-release copy.

A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James (Berkley, January 2026); 352 pp.