The Bookshop of 99 Doors | A Dual-Timeline Gothic Suspense Novel
The Bookshop of 99 Doors is another chilling dual-timeline Gothic novel from Christian author Jaime Jo Wright, this time featuring a crazed Civil War captain and two young women searching for answers.
Main Themes
In the modern day timeline, Triss Bellamy takes a job at the Ambrose Fields bookshop as she tries to make a life for herself outside of her family’s business. But when her brother’s paranormal investigation team comes to the mansion to investigate the rumored ghosts, she finds herself desperate to find the cold, hard truth behind the weird occurrences. Triss has a healthy respect for the supernatural, but doesn’t want to live in fear anymore. Maybe God has the answers she is looking for, but she’s not sure if she can trust him.
In the 1880’s timeline, Minnie Tipton is the new mistress of the Ambrose Fields mansion, but she’s definitely not the person in charge of the estate. The housekeeper is keeping secrets, and her father is rapidly losing his mind in a terrifying descent into madness. She wants to figure out what everyone is hiding from her, but the truth is worse than anything she could have imagined.
Some of the main themes were loyalty to friends (or lack of loyalty), finding the truth in God, the danger of dabbling too deeply into demons/spirits, and the risks of addiction and finding comfort in worldly things.
Faith Elements
Both Triss and Minnie are searching for the truth. Minnie wants to know why her father told her to never be like her mother. Triss wants to know if God is more powerful than the supernatural stuff her family is involved in. So, while there are many scenes talking about ghosts and spirits, there are also a lot of conversations about God being stronger and having authority over the supernatural realm.
Family Friendly Considerations
One of Wright’s trademark writing styles is delivering a thrilling story about ghosts that have natural explanations in the end and always point back to Jesus. In this particular novel, the deep dive into the supernatural went a little deeper than I was comfortable with.
In the modern timeline, Triss is trying to get away from her family’s business of dabbling in the supernatural, and there were some detailed descriptions of the processes used to hunt for ghosts and talk to spirits that I found myself not wanting to read or know more about. I wouldn’t recommend it for younger readers; some things are better left alone.
The romance was very small, but the relationship between Triss and Beck was just weird. Beck was emotionally manipulative, blaming Triss for his faults and not taking accountability for his own hurtful actions. There was some violence, but nothing super graphic.
Interested in Similar Reads?
While Jaime Jo Wright is in a masterful category in his own, these are some similar suspense novels you might enjoy:
- The Liar’s Treasure by Connie Mann
- Edge of Truth by Janice Cantore
- When Justice Comes by Colleen Coble
