Lost Among the Living

Name: Lost Among the Living
Brand: Penguin Random House
Availability: InStock
Author: Simone St. James
ISBN: 9798217167197

Author: Simone St. James

Narrator: Justine Eyre

Unabridged: 10 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 02/25/2025

Categories: Fiction, Ghost, Gothic

Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling author of Murder Road comes a gripping novel that “is the perfect blend of history and mystery, with a little paranormal activity and romance thrown in for the ride” (Suspense Magazine).

England, 1921. Three years after her husband, Alex, disappeared, shot down over Germany, Jo Manders still mourns his loss. Working as a paid companion to Alex's wealthy, condescending aunt, Dottie Forsyth, Jo travels to the family’s estate in the Sussex countryside. But there is much she never knew about her husband’s origins…and the revelation of a mysterious death in the Forsyths’ past is just the beginning…

All is not well at Wych Elm House. Dottie's husband is distant, and her son was grievously injured in the war. Footsteps follow Jo down empty halls, and items in her bedroom are eerily rearranged. The locals say the family is cursed, and that a ghost in the woods has never rested. And when Jo discovers her husband’s darkest secrets, she wonders if she ever really knew him. Isolated in a place of deception and grief, she must find the truth or lose herself forever.

And then a familiar stranger arrives at Wych Elm House…

About The Author

Simone St. James is the award-winning author of The Haunting of Maddy Clare, which won two RITA Awards from Romance Writers of America and an Arthur Ellis Award from Crime Writers of Canada. Her second novel, An Inquiry into Love and Death, was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel from Crime Writers of Canada. She wrote her first ghost story, about a haunted library, when she was in high school, and spent twenty years behind the scenes in the television business before leaving to write full-time.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Chris on March 27, 2016

Romantic suspense was just kicked up a notch in my book. When I was asked to do this review, I thought it was just another historical fiction romance with a twist of suspense. I could not have been more wrong. This book is a fabulous combination of so many genres. It is truly one that romance lovers......more

Goodreads review by Magdalena aka A Bookaholic Swede on July 23, 2022

England, 1921. Jo Manders husband Alex, was shot down over Germany three years before and disappeared. In need of money to support her and her sick mother did Jo agree to be a paid companion to Alex's wealthy albeit condescending aunt Dottie Forsyth. Now they are returning home to England, to the Fo......more

Goodreads review by Mlpmom (Book Reviewer) on March 31, 2016

I love it when a book can take me by surprise and before I know it, I'm completely immersed inside the pages. Lost Among the Living was the perfect blend of genres. Historic with a slight touch of the paranormal and a dash of swoon worthy romance, it truly was a winner in its category. With the righ......more

Goodreads review by Sheila on April 06, 2017

3.5 stars--somewhere between "liked" and "really liked." If you want to read an English ghost story set during wartime (either WWI or WWII or immediately before, between, or after), Simone St. James is who you should read! She writes romantic ghost stories that will also appeal to readers of historic......more

Goodreads review by Holly in Bookland on October 21, 2018

I love Simone’s writing, so I knew this wouldn’t disappoint me. Everything about her books I love.......more

Quotes

Praise for Lost Among the Living

“Though all of St. James’s books are splendid, this is her finest since The Haunting of Maddy Clare. The suspense level is top-notch, and the romance is one of the author’s very best.”—Library Journal

“Readers who enjoyed the classic Rebecca or even witnessed the Alfred Hitchcock film version, will absolutely love this story…A book that could very well one day become its own classic…This is the perfect blend of history and mystery, with a little paranormal activity and romance thrown in for the ride.”—Suspense Magazine

Praise for the Award-Winning Novels of Simone St. James

“Downright scary and atmospheric. I flew through the pages.”—Lisa Gardner, New York Times Bestselling Author of Crash and Burn

“Chilling romantic suspense that evokes the lost era between the world wars.”—Susanna Kearsley, New York Times Bestselling Author of A Desperate Fortune

“Drips with atmosphere and emotion.”—Publishers Weekly

“Psychic Ellie Winter and her partner, war-damaged James Hawley, have terrific chemistry.”—Susan Elia MacNeal, New York Times bestselling author of the Maggie Hope Mysteries

“A 21st-century version of Mary Stewart...St. James layers the atmosphere with the requisite dread, and one can’t help but read on...Just the right mix of suspense, creepiness, and empathy.”—National Post (Toronto)