Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Minotaur Books, #partner for the advanced copy of Brimstone Hollow in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Minotaur Books / Macmillan Audio
Published: August 11, 2026
Summary:
Following her powerful debut in The Witch’s Orchard, private investigator Annie Gore returns in Brimstone Hollow, bringing readers back to the mountains that author Archer Sullivan, a ninth generation Appalachian, knows so well.
There isn’t much that happens in the Appalachian Mountains that Private Investigator Annie Gore hasn’t seen. Before she joined the Air Force, she was born and raised in those rolling hills, and lately Annie’s cases have called her away from her Louisville office and closer to the small towns of her youth than she ever anticipated. But when her newest client asks if she’s ever been to a snake-handling church, Annie knows she’s about to enter unknown territory.
Katie May has been estranged from her father―one of Appalachia’s last infamous snake handling preachers―for twenty years. But when Katie finds out he’s been fatally bitten, and a funeral was held within twenty-four hours, she questions whether someone deliberately rushed the process. Despite Annie’s doubts, she takes the case. After all, when she looks at Katie, she sees a version of herself: a girl who needs to understand her father in order to understand herself.
As she navigates the hidden hollers and dangerous secrets of this insular Eastern Kentucky town, Annie works fast, hoping to find the truth in record time for her client―and before too many memories from her own childhood surface. But it soon becomes apparent that someone wants Annie’s investigation to stop―by any means necessary.
My thoughts:
I absolutely loved the first book in this series, The Witch’s Orchard, and was hoping when I finished that one that it would be the first in a series, so I was thrilled to find out we had another Annie Gore series to look forward to and boy did it deliver again!
These books are so incredibly atmospheric, suspenseful and captivating! And what I love is that once again, we have another mystery that completely kept me spell-bound the entire time. The way the author is able to take the Appalachia folklore and weave it into an original mystery is uncanny. Last time it involved the applehead dolls and this time it involves snake-handling…I wasn’t much of a snake before and now I definitely am even less of one!
I love Annie Gore and I love how determined she is to help her client get the answers she is looking for. But I also love that this book takes a deeper look at the relationships of fathers and father figures. There is a bit of religious fanaticism involved but I was there for it all. The deeper Annie looked into what was going on in this small town, the more secrets she uncovered. It sure kept me guessing as to where things would lead here, with a few great twists surprising me at every turn!
This is such a great series and I do hope there is more of Annie Gore to come!
Audio thoughts:
I once again listened to this one and was thrilled to see that Emily Pike Stewart was back as the narrator. She really does an amazing job bringing this story to life, infusing just the right tone and emotion into her voice as needed.
Books in this series:
- The Witch’s Orchard
- Brimstone Hollow
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