Linda Griffin

The new improved Stonebridge is now available for pre-order and will be published by the Wild Rose Press on November 1, 2023. An earlier version was published by Winston-Derek Publishers, Inc., in 1994. 

After the death of her mother, Rynna Dalton comes to live with her imperious great-grandmother and her bookish, disabled cousin Ted at Stonebridge Manor. Almost immediately she is aware of a mysterious presence, which she believes is the spirt of her mother's murdered cousin, Rosalind. Rynna is charmed by Rosalind's lawyer son Jason Wyatt, and he begins to court her. But Stonebridge holds secrets that will profoundly affect her future. Why is Ted so opposed to the match? Why does Rosalind seem to be warning Rynna? And how far will Jason go to possess Stonebridge--and the woman he professes to love? 

   An inexplicable chill ran down her spine. She saw nothing, heard nothing. She didn't even have a definite sense of someone else in the room. She was simply unnerved for no reason. For a few seconds more she stayed in the shadows of the music room and then, with an almost physical sensation, her composure shattered.

   Rynna fled. She ran for the stairs and clambered up them, slipping and stumbling in the dark, half-choked by terror and gasping for breath. At the top of the stairs, she ran full tilt into someone hurrying down the hall, and before she had time to register who it was, she screamed. 

   "The novel tackles domestic violence in a way that never lingers on, revels in, or exploits the somber subject matter. Just as impressive is the book's depiction of Ted, a fully realized character whose disability is neither his lone distinguishing trait nor a tool for Rynna's own growth. The story isn't afraid to be cutting toward its characters or their entanglements in a fun, cathartic way, and the wit of Rynna and Ted's banter lends moments of lightness to the dark narrative. The supernatural elements are relatively low-key until the novel's end, where each spooky note builds to an exciting crescendo that recalls a tradition of gothic storytelling usually reserved for the endings of Hammer horror films.

   A heady blend of the serious and the supernatural, with a dark humor that uncannily undercuts neither." ~ Kirkus Reviews

   "Griffin's tale abounds in atmosphere, with a compelling supernatural element, a sense of out-of-time mystery, and delicious scheming about bloodlines and inheritances. The growing friendship between Ted and Rynna develops with compelling warmth over the course of a story whose twists are heavily foreshadowed early on...The story edges into the gothic: scenes of Jason's eventual abusive treatment of Rynna and of her reactions are detailed and painful, but readers open to the supernatural elements will enjoy how Griffin imbues ghosts, staircases, and dark secrets with conviction." ~ BookLife