Review: All the Dead Lie Down by Kyrie McCauley

I would like to start by thanking NetGalley and HarperCollins for giving me the opportunity to read this book. I received an ARC in return for an honest review.

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Days after a tragedy leaves Marin Blythe alone in the world, she receives a surprising invitation from Alice Lovelace—an acclaimed horror writer and childhood friend of Marin’s mother. Alice offers her a nanny position at Lovelace House, the family’s coastal Maine estate. 

Marin accepts and soon finds herself minding Alice’s peculiar girls. Thea buries her dolls one by one, hosting a series of funerals, while Wren does everything in her power to drive Marin away. Then Alice’s eldest daughter returns home unexpectedly. Evie Hallowell is every bit as strange as her younger sisters, and yet Marin is drawn in by Evie’s compelling behavior and ethereal grace.  

But even as Marin settles in, she can’t escape the anxiety that follows her like a shadow. Dead birds appear in Marin’s room. The children’s innocent pranks escalate. Something dangerous lurks in the woods, leaving mutilated animals in its wake. All is not well at Lovelace House, and Marin must unravel its secrets before they consume her.

All the Dead Lie Down is a haunting Gothic romance about a dark family lineage, the ghosts of grief, and the lines we’ll cross for love.

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We follow our main character through a summer working as a live-in nanny for a writer. The idea there was pretty interesting to me. I didn't think that I'd have any interest in following someone's nanny as they just did their normal day-to-day routine. Was I ever wrong. 

The children were so strange. Like I understand the younger girls were used to being just the two of them or quickly scaring off any other nurse-maids and nannies that their mother hired. They had no idea what they were getting into with Marin. She was not as easily swayed as those others were. She had a much different life than most of those other nannies probably did. 

The dog was odd. Like, I've never met another animal that had such a pronounced consciousness (I'm sure there's a word that is escaping me for what I mean) where Thisbe seemed almost human-like.

I loved the reveal at the end over what was actually going on with the girls and their mother. All the things that the cook knew but couldn't bring herself to talk about. The ending was beautiful and worth the read. I never would have guessed anything that came about at the end of the book. 

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All the Dead Lie Down by Kyrie McCauley is available for purchase through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers as of 16 May 2023