Witch - Keeper Shelf Review

Goodreads:  Witch by Barbara Michaels

Rating: Really Liked It
Source: Purchased

Description:  A silent stranger moves in twilight shadows...It was more than her dream house. For Ellen March, buying the secluded old house nestled in the pine woods marked the start of a new life. Now she could put her failed marriage behind her, enjoy the quiet solitude of small town life, and get to know her worldly new neighbor, handsome Norman McKay... But strange visions began to cloud her mind - the shadowy figure of a woman, a ghostly white cat - and Ellen's safe haven slowly became her prison. Had she buried the past? Or had a dark legend come back to haunt her...?

Genre:  Suspense

Why I Picked This Book:  I'm re-reading all my Keeper Shelf books to see if they still deserve their place.

My Impression:  Another Michaels that will keep its place on my Keeper shelf but probably not one I will reread often.  In most ways I like this one a lot.  Ellen is a good character who I found interesting and likable.  She's trying to find her own identity after living in a family style situation with her daughter, her late sister's husband and his sons.  She is incredibly fond of all the children and has found herself uncomfortably fond of her late sister's husband.  Since it sounds like late sister has been dead for many years there's nothing inappropriate in this other then that she fears her affection is unreturned.  And so with her family scattered to various ends of the earth she buys a house in rural Virginia and begins to attempt to make a life of her own.

It doesn't go quite the way she expected. She knows the house was occupied by the town "witch" over a hundred years ago but she's not prepared for the stigma that is still attached to the house and its occupants and she's definitely not prepared for the attitude of the townspeople.  The end is quite page turning and definitely page turning with one of the (to me) most terrifying villains Michaels has ever created.

Now what will keep this from being a regular reread?  I'm very sensitive to animal cruelty of any kind and this one edges towards that line for me.  There are absolutely no details given and Ellen's cat comes through the book completely fine and untouched (though she is occasionally indignant as she is a cat AND Siamese) but the mentions were enough for me to not find this reread very comforting. 

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  Absolutely!  Barbara Michaels is a favorite and I really want to read more under her other pen name - Elizabeth Peter.  

Would I Recommend this Book?  I would if you like mild psychological thrillers and don't mind the caveat I mention above.