Review: Daughters of Darkness by Meg Hafdahl

 Disclaimer: I received e-book versions of Daughters of Darkness and it's predecessor, Her Dark Inheritance, from Author Meg Hafdahl in exchange for honest reviews. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Daughters of Darkness is our second trip to the bucolic town of Willoughby, Minnesota, where nothing is as it seems to be.  Two years have passed since our last trip, and much has changed. Daphne Forest, our protagonist, and her boyfriend Edwin Monroe have left Willoughby in the aftermath of the violent attack that left them both for dead.  Now settled in Uptown, Minnesota, with Edwin,  Daphne has grown in confidence and is working to make peace with her mother's past and her own. Just when they are starting their happy new life together, a phone call pulls them back to Willoughby, and the darkness still lingering there.

Beloved town eccentric and philanthropist Doris Woodhouse has passed away, leaving Edwin and Daphne her fortune, her mansion, the town library, and  Daphne's ancestral home and site of the grisly murders of her family. More importantly, she has left Daphne what she has needed most in the two years since she last left, a purpose and path back to Willoughby.

Just when they believe it might be safe to return and begin their future, a new darkness has taken over the town, possessing the residents to commit the most heinous acts upon each other and themselves. Daphne, Edwin, and their friend Beverly, work to solve this new mystery before the town is engulfed in evil that has been awaiting to possess Willoughby for centuries and may change the future of the town and its residents forever.

Much like it's predecessor, Her Dark Inheritance,  Daughters of Darkness is told from two viewpoints: Daphne Forest in current day Willoughby, and Doris Woodhouse in the 1960s. This is one of my favorite plot devices used in Ms. Hafdahl's books. The transitions between the two characters' stories is smooth and not jarring, and is effective in giving you the full story of the evil haunting Willoughby in the present and how it came to be in Doris's time. 

Also, like the previous book in the Willoughby Chronicles, the character development and the development of the town is extremely effective.  To me, Willoughby is a mash-up of Stars Hollow, Derry, Maine, and Twin Peaks. The town is full of eccentric characters that you will remember and want to visit again.

The third novel and final novel in The Willoughby Chronicles, The Darkest Hunger, will reviewed in a future post.

5/5 Stars