THE ABANDONED HEART by Laura Benedict

Exclusive Excerpt

Copyright © 2016 by Laura Benedict

www.laurabenedict.com

Reprinted with permission by Pegasus Books LLC


“Murder, sexual obsession, and misogyny explode in the final scenes, bringing all the simmering evil to the surface in a shocking finale, that, like all good horror stories, is probably not the end. You just can’t look away from this bomb site—nor forget it. Dripping with southern gothic atmosphere.”

Booklist, starred review, on CHARLOTTE’S STORY


“Set in 1957 in southern Virginia, Benedict’s suspenseful, atmospheric follow-up to 2014’s Bliss House finds housewife Charlotte Bliss devastated by the death of her four-year-old daughter… A satisfyingly creepy tale for a rainy night.”

Publisher’s Weekly on CHARLOTTE’S STORY


“An evocative, frightening and flawless gothic, CHARLOTTE’S STORY is guaranteed to send a delicious chill down your spine. Nobody does more for the modern southern gothic than Laura Benedict.”

–J.T. Ellison, New York Times bestselling author of WHAT LIES BEHIND


“Benedict writes with passion and authority. CHARLOTTE’S STORY is not to be missed.”

–Carolyn Haines, author of the Sarah Booth Delaney Bones Mysteries, including BONE TO BE WILD