The Haunting of Oak Springs

The Haunting of Oak Springs is the third book in a paranormal mystery series by Crin Claxton...

This is a very well written and engaging mystery with a protagonist who can communicate with ghosts. She's drawn into investigating a suspicious disappearance by the recently departed partner of a woman who is one of the two last members of a women-only collective farm. From the beginning, the story is atmospheric, from the creepy, downtrodden, hopeless farm setting to the poignant (sometimes surprisingly humorous) dialogue with Bryony, the ghost of the recently departed.

It's emphatically not a cozy mystery. The author deeply explores some disturbing themes: elder abuse, child abuse, deeply objectionable homophobia (which is maybe more disturbing for being so realistically depicted), emotional trauma, gender violence, psychological trauma. It's depressing in places.

Despite being the third book in the series, it works fine as a standalone. The author is quite adept at providing the necessary backstory without info-dumping...

Four stars. Strong narrative, good pacing, very disturbing in places...

Annie Buchanan via NetGalley

This book was extremely entertaining. Despite being part of a series, this was easy to follow, though I definitely want to read the rest of the series. There is a child abuse and homophobia, but they weren't there just for shock value, they served a purpose of painting a very real picture of what people have lived through. I felt like there were two story lines, the ghost story and the residents of Oak Springs struggle for acceptance. Both are intertwined and balanced, drawing us along with Tony in a spooky tale with a very satisfying conclusion.

Kay Mullane via NetGalley

I really enjoyed this book. I love they murder mystery that they had to solve and I especially like that she can talk to spirits. I loved the writing style of Crin Claxton. However this is the 3rd in the series and you can read them as stand alones. I still think you should read the previous 2 books...

Lori Clendenin via NetGalley

The Haunting of Oak Springs by Crin Claxton is a supernatural detective narrative with an interesting cast of characters. The mystery is only part of the story and the telling of the lovers, Red and Chris and their attachment to the Women's Farm is well done. When the detective Tony goes to the farm at the bidding of a ghost she runs into more trouble than she was prepared for. I hope there are more books in the series to come.

Becky Abbott via NetGalley

...In The Haunting of Oak Springs, supernatural detective Tony visits a farm that formerly housed a woman's land/lesbian separatist commune. At the time, some of the villagers of Wooly Mill banded together to commit hate crimes and property theft against the commune. In modern day, the two remaining members of Oak Springs, Red (butch/nonbinary, they/them) and Chris (she/her), live with the scars of these traumatic events. In addition, the ghost who brings Tony to Oak Springs is the recently deceased long-term partner of Chris...

The mystery of the book felt second fiddle to the intense story of Oak Springs' residents' fight for acceptance. That may be because of my own personal struggles, but I was not particularly interested in that aspect of the story. The ending of the mystery was a bit of a shock, but still didn't affect me as much as the resolution to the homophobic attacks (especially the butch lesbian threatening to beat the homophobe with a bat)...

I would recommend it as long as any readers with traumatic experiences similar to the CWs know these before diving in. It would also be great for straight and cis people to read, to get a feel for the kinds of things LGBTQ+ folks deal with.

Jex Roberts via NetGalley