The Great Houses of Pill Hill

Praise for The Great Houses of Pill Hill

“There’s a lot going on in this ambitious novel . . . The author can really write, and Cookie is a fascinating character.”
—Crime Fiction Review

“An actual locked-room murder in a story that, ironically, reads more like a literary novel than a whodunit. Josefowicz’s writing is crisp and adroit . . . Engaging.”
—Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

“A contemporary take on classic noir, this is a deliciously chilling tale.”
—Deborah Goodrich Royce, Providence Monthly

“A full-blown conspiracy yarn featuring a most unlikely heroine.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“An entertaining mystery that skewers the traditions of the locked-room story.”
—Library Journal

“A lively mix of locked-room mystery, historical fiction, New England noir and doomed romance… Art and architecture aficionados who like their mysteries quirky and unpredictable will enjoy visiting The Great Houses of Pill Hill and pondering, as Cookie does, ‘How does a place shape those who live there?’”
—BookPage

“The Great Houses of Pill Hill is a witty, engrossing mystery with an immersive sense of place. Atmospheric and smart, this fresh take on the locked-room whodunit will keep you wonderfully off-balance until the very end.”
—Danielle Trussoni, New York Times bestselling author of The Puzzle Box

“Perplexing, playful, and perfectly wild, The Great Houses of Pill Hill is a wonder of a novel, one that manages its mysteries with singular style. Cookie’s way of seeing the world will upend your sense of what knowledge looks like, and of how often we know what we don’t know and don’t know what we do. Josefowicz has assembled an uncanny delight.”
—Rivka Galchen, author of Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch

“The Great Houses of Pill Hill crackles with historicity, jerry-rigged electricity, and unspent secrets between the walls. Keen, cutting, haunting, for fans of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, with a cast of unforgettable characters, Josefowicz spins socio-noir into gold at every twist and dark turn.”
—Kirstin Allio, author of Double-Check for Sleeping Children and winner of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 Award

“Hannah ‘Cookie’ Cooke might prefer to hide her smarts, but in Josefowicz’s deft prose her acid-sharp observations practically leap from the page. The Great Houses of Pill Hill is a deliciously twisty whodunit, a tale of cold marriages, colder betrayals, and the murderous histories that can hide behind a well-painted façade.”
—Helene Wecker, author of The Golem and the Jinni

“In this marvelously fun and sharp whodunnit, Josefowicz gives us a showstopper of a heroine in Cookie Cooke, with her talent for reshaping spaces of all kinds—and a sense of place so deep and multidimensional I felt like I was walking around New Preston alongside her. I loved every minute I spent inside this novel.”
—Clare Beams, author of The Garden

“In Diane Josefowicz’s electrifying novel The Great Houses of Pill Hill, interior designer Hannah ‘Cookie’ Cooke’s efforts to restore a Gilded Age mansion trap her in a fatal circuit of deceit and desire. Josefowicz illuminates the darkest corners of the human soul with the searing clarity of a pyromaniac’s torch and maps the architecture of emotion with the precision of a skilled draftsman. Part literary thriller, part psychological mystery, The Great Houses of Pill Hill is all one could ask for in a novel—elegance, passion, and intoxicating flame.”
—Jacob M. Appel, author of Einstein’s Beach House

“Josefowicz’s tightly braided crime tale flirts with cozy mystery and builds to dynamite action as her spirited protagonist tackles the moribund with the same plucky determination as her interior design and crime scene miniatures. Move over, Jessica Fletcher, Cookie Cooke is on the case.”
—LJ Pemberton, author of Still Alive

“If you are in the mood for a mystery with noir-ish heroines, psychoanalysts gone bad, old home restoration and shifty clients, Lizzie Borden, and why not, let’s throw in an ancient Egyptian burial objet – buckle down for The Great Houses of Pill Hill. Martha Stewart Entertaining meets The Maltese Falcon. Loved it!”
—Karen Corvello, RJ Julia Booksellers

Praise for Diane Josefowicz

“Josefowicz finds the large truths in our smallest state, leaving an indelible mark on our broader literary landscape. A stunning debut.”
—Jacob M. Appel, author of Einstein’s Beach House

“Josefowicz brings humanity, warmth and disarming humor to lovable, struggling characters, exploring their affinities and conflicts.”
—Hannah Pittard, author of Listen To Me