The Resting Place by Camilla Sten

Deep rooted secrets.

A twisted family history.

And a house that will never let go.

Eleanor lives with prosopagnosia, the inability to recognize a familiar person's face. It causes stress. Acute anxiety.

It can make you question what you think you know.

When Eleanor walked in on the scene of her capriciously cruel grandmother, Vivianne’s, murder, she came face to face with the killer—a maddening expression that means nothing to someone like her. With each passing day, the horror of having come so close to a murderer—and not knowing if they’d be back—overtakes both her dreams and her waking moments, thwarting her perception of reality.

Then a lawyer calls. Vivianne has left her a house—a looming estate tucked away in the Swedish woods. The place her grandfather died, suddenly. A place that has housed a chilling past for over fifty years.

Eleanor. Her steadfast boyfriend, Sebastian. Her reckless aunt, Veronika. The lawyer. All will go to this house of secrets, looking for answers. But as they get closer to uncovering the truth, they’ll wish they had never come to disturb what rests there.

Publisher: Macmillian Audio | Narrator: Angela Dawes | Length: 10 hrs 30 min | Genre: Mystery. Thriller, Suspense  | Source: Libby App | Rating: 2.5 

Camilla Sten is an author that I’ve wanted to read for a while. I’ve had The Lost Village on my TBR for eons— it’s even one of my 23-in-23 books—but I’ve been a little apprehensive, so when The Resting Place was selected as a local book shops book club pick, I decided to give the author a go. Sadly, I found the book to be a little meh but still an okay read.

Here’s a quick recap. When Eleanor witnesses her grandmother’s murder, unfortunately, due to her face blindness, she’s unable to identify her grandmother’s killer. When a lawyer calls, five months later, informing Eleanor that she’s inherited Solhöga an isolated country estate, and needs to complete an inventory, she’s a bit apprehensive but also curious as to why her grandmother never mentioned the estate. When Eleanor, Sebastian (her boyfriend), and her estranged aunt Veronika arrive, strange things start happening and a hidden journal is found. When someone dies and others are injured, they know they need to leave but find themselves stranded as a murderer is on the loose.

In this one, we have dual timelines. Eleanor is the present narrator. Eleanor has some issues, not only does she have face blindness, she witnessed her grandmother’s murder, and she’s suffering from anxiety all while dealing with issues from her past and reconnecting with an estranged aunt at a location foreign to her. Anushka is the past narrator. She’s a maid from Poland that’s related to Eleanor’s grandmother. She’s trying to settle into her new life, in a new country, while being treated rather poorly.

I had a hard time finding Eleanor likable. I felt that she was overly paranoid but her actions didn’t match up to the way she was acting. She kept secrets that would have cleared things up and made questionable decisions. Anushka was a bit more interesting, to a point, but, again, her actions and choices were questionable and I didn’t feel like we got her entire story.

While the premise was interesting, this one fell a bit flat with the delivery. So much page time was given to Eleanor discovering this diary and trying to decipher it but, unfortunately, she keeps the discovery to herself and then seems to lose interest when the answer she’s seeking is contained within. I also wanted an explanation as to why one of the characters made such a drastic personality change. Unfortunately, this book ended with several plot holes.  

I also had an issue with the pacing. The book opens straight into a flurry of activity, which should have set the pacing for the entire book but, sadly, the pacing slowed as the plot progressed. While there was a lot going on, it was one of those cases where nothing really happened for chunks of time.

The mystery in this one fell a bit flat for me and I ended up figuring most of it out before the middle of the book. I was expecting Eleanor’s face blindness to come into play a bit more rather than it just being something randomly mentioned. While it was said that she recognized people by their markers, she was quick to identify people, especially when she was so paranoid.

I think I went into this book expecting a bit more seeing as this is being labeled, “Crimson Peak meets The Sanatorium”. While I’ve not read The Sanatorium (it’s on my TBR list), I loved the mix of gothic, horror, and romance in Crimson Peak, so I was expecting to see that in The Resting Place and none of that was delivered. Honestly, I’m not even sure why it’s being compared to Crimson Peak. I wouldn’t classify this as horror and I would only say that it’s a light thriller or thriller adjacent. This one mostly felt like a family drama with a bit of suspense.

I enjoyed Angela Dawe’s narration. At times she was a little overly frantic but still enjoyable. I did end up adjusting this to 2x speed.

Overall, this was just a bit meh for me. I don’t think it delivered the story that it promised. I was expecting the house to come into play a bit more or a paranormal element, which wasn’t the case. I ended up borrowing the audiobook from Libby and I was happy with that choice because I don’t think this would be a book I’d want to own.

Prosopagnosia (face blindness), an isolated winter setting, and someone terrorizing the characters are very reminiscent of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Feeney. Out of the two, I’d have to recommend Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Feeney.