Dread the Night: A Dear Celeste Novel

by J.R. Erickson

A year ago, a hit-and-run nearly killed Celeste Cleary. Instead, it left her with a chilling the ability to see the dead. She uses her new power to unravel the mysteries behind the missing and murdered.

But now it's time for her to return home to West Virginia, where her own life began, and where her mother abandoned her family decades before.

Celeste is about to confront her darkest fears. And some of them might lead her right to the truth about her own past—a truth buried deep, waiting to be unearthed.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Paranormal

378 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 26, 2025

About the author

J.R. Erickson writes novels that blend murder mysteries with haunted houses. Her Northern Michigan Asylum series are novels of paranormal suspense inspired by a real former asylum in Traverse City. Her current books, the Troubled Spirits series, are all inspired by real crimes, which she covers in her true crime podcast, Bitter Endings.

Jacki is a lifelong lover of all things spooky, and started penning scary stories in childhood. She grew up in Mason, Michigan and is a graduate of Michigan State University with a B.A. in Psychology. These days, Jacki resides near Traverse City, Michigan with her husband, son, and three cats.

Reviews

[Samantha Moran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn! That's all I have to say about this book. You need to read it. I knew "whodunit" for most of the novel, but that didn't stop me from being sucked in and enjoying every second of it. Just another reason why JR Erickson is one of my favorite authors.

[AmBerGUR · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is a hidden gem!! Highly recommend!!!

[Myranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Celeste story in the books (no pun intended)! This truly had my head spinning from the get go. We started right where book 2 left off which I loved so much! I loved who our second POV was in this round. It was perfect. I'm struggling to find words to say that won't give anything away except that I was shocked. At times I had wanted to cry, sometimes I yelled out loud my response, and times my jaw was in my lap!

Full review on my website on 4.1.25 (don't read into that...it just happens to be the next Tuesday).
www.mommodeloading.com

[Hannah Ruth Hawley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dread the Night: A Dear Celeste Novel, by JR Erickson was fast-paced, gritty, and filled with just enough twists to keep me on my toes.

The third installment in the Dear Celeste series picks up where book two, The Worst Kind, left off. Celeste isn't given a moment of rest until the end of the book. She is on the hunt to solve her family's past and has to deal with many unexpected and unpleasant truths. A great whodonit.

[Marie Wikle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is absolutely fabulous! The mystery along with the paranormal element couldn’t be more perfect together.

I love tagging along with my book bestie Celeste as she explores her new found abilities as well as helps herself and others unravel the mysteries that burden them.

I Highly recommend it!!

[Tish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how this author keeps doing it, I'd love to spend the day inside of her head.

This is the best one so far, I probably have said that last time but I mean it now.

It was a nail biting, edge of my seat exciting ride from beginning to end.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each Book Gets Better

Somewhere along the way, reading this series, I really started being interested in Celeste’s story. I enjoyed this one the most, because it was about Celeste herself.

[Kris Gordon Oliphant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great series

Not sure why I'm so surprised at how much I am enjoying this series. I'm guessing its because I hadn't heard about it before. Characters are believable, setting is well thought out. Would recommend

[Simona Lock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have come to love this author! Celeste takes a step away from her column to dredge up her own haunted past. She finally decides to figure out what happened to her mother. But as her present life crumbles around her, she may discover too late that some things are better left buried.

[Ishi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Every Dear Celeste book just keeps getting worse. Honestly, I don't think I would have finished this one if it wasn't for book club. Part of it is definitely due to the poor plot construction and writing (and the very poor narration in the audiobooks), but maybe I just couldn't connect to this story because it wasn't for me. I dislike Celeste and don't care about her personal problems - I just want spooky ghost mystery-solving stories! And I don't have a close relationship with my own mother, nor do I have a yearning for one, so I didn't connect with the central plot of this story.

So much of this book was just blatantly predictable. Spencer was clearly going to betray her in some way for money, but not be the bad guy because he's Celeste's friend and she needs to collect a new friend in every book. The mysterious, sexy, and shallow neighbor that has a strange interest in Celeste and the house was obviously going to be Hannah, and it was immediately clear that she killed Celeste's mom.

A lot of the things that happen are so unrealistic that it took me out of the story. Your daughter angrily calls you saying that she wants to visit the house where the dead body of a lost boy and evidence leading to your wife's murder are hidden. Do you assume that she is going to go anyway and take some precautions, like inform the local police that someone is likely to break into your home and to check on it? No, just ignore it, I'm sure it's all fine! There's another man that I met in town who has been sleeping with teenagers with my dad. I talked to him and he knows I'm digging into the history. Do you think he might be involved in trying to keep things quiet? Of course not, just ignore it!

Other annoyances:

- Everyone that Celeste dislikes is cartoonishly evil. Her dad: a pedophile that cheated on her mom. Her husband: cheated on her and likely plotted her murder. Her dad's girlfriend: a murderous evil stepmother. There's no nuance or complexity - bad guys are bad.

- The very light-touch references to discussions about the afterlife. The one conversation about it that took place in this book happened out of nowhere and came just as a dump of what feels like the author's personal beliefs. They're established as facts (at least in Harris' mind, who is positioned as an authority on this topic) and never touched on again. Without fully exploring this, it's just a frustrating add-on.

- "I had a bad night of drinking, so now I'm cured of alcoholism."

- Randomly pregnant at the end of the book for convenient cliffhanger purposes.

[Josette Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mystery just deepens in this third book about Celeste and her affinity with ghosts. This book begins with finding out what the reader’s already knew; that Jonathan had a part in Celeste’s hit and run accident. I think Celeste was beginning to come to terms with this realization but having this horrible truth exposed must have been heartbreaking. No wonder she decided to leave and go to her old home. Sure she wanted answers about her mother but mostly she needed space to cope with her new life, such as it was. Once Celeste began looking into her mother’s disappearance, she began to have eerie experiences within her childhood home and the surrounding property. What I did not expect, as with Celeste, was finding out the complete betrayal done by her father. No wonder he shut Celeste down whenever she tried to ask about her early life and why her mother just suddenly left. He was not a good man. He had made a huge mistake but did nothing to correct that mistake. This author has such a deep sense about the emotions people feel when exposed to life changing or terrible experiences. I wanted to hug Celeste so many times. She was really hurting by both actions done by Jonathan and her father. How does one recover from these acts. The ending to the book just opened a whole new line of questions. The wait for the next book will be the hardest.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in 2 sittings over 24 hours. I love J.R. Erickson's books. I first found her with the Troubled Spirits books and I thought they were brilliant. At first with the 'Dear Celeste' books I didn't think they were as good, but now having read book 3 and knowing there's a book 4 I'm come to realise that they are just as good, but also completely different too.

I won't go into the story as in honesty these books must be read in order and I'd end up giving spoilers which I NEVER do. I will add that I liked that Celeste got some closure in this one, it really was about time. I wished that we got more from the 'side story' I'll call it that and did enjoy this mystery even though I worked it out. The epilogue chapter I saw coming a mile off after 1 sentence earlier in the book. Plus the 'baddie' I'll call them that, I also saw a mile off too. But no, it did not take away from my enjoyment of this book at all! Celeste is such a complex character. I adore her brother and her cats. But really have a soft spot for Harris.

This was a solid 4 star read, I can't wait till October now for She Writes in Red (Boy, that's going to suck waiting that long)!!. This was a kindle unlimited read, so free to read if you subscribe to the service.

[Deb Barringer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dread the Night, by JR Erickson, is a chilling tale that will leave you with a haunted feeling well after you finish reading it. As part of the Dear Celeste collection, I assure you this is the best book I've read from that amazing set. Celeste sets out for her childhood home in West Virginia, not really sure what she is looking for. Before she is done, she has far more answers than she ever expected. In some cases, more questions and answers than she ever wanted.

As per this author's style, the storyline is fast-paced and well-written, filled with questions about her past, unexpected answers, ghosts, betrayal, subterfuge, determination and grit. There's so much more that you just need to read to experience it. The characters are all well-developed and engaging. Celeste is so real to me at this point, that I feel as if I'm riding in her truck along side her, ready for the next leg of her adventure.

Overall, Dread the Night is well worth reading. I highly recommend it and anything else from JR Erickson!

[Megan Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dread The Night by J.R. Erickson
Subject: Great read! I could not put it down.
Main:
Celeste has spent two books solving cold cases for others, but now it's time to head home to West Virginia to solve her own mystery. Years ago, her mother abandoned her children and husband and disappeared. Celeste and her brother have (mostly) dealt with the complicated feelings brought on by their missing mother and distant father. But after a hit and run nearly killed Celeste, she has come back with psychic gifts. And she's determined to use them to figure out what happened to cause her mother to leave her family.
What follows is a story filled with family secrets, deceptions, and darkness.
As she learns the truth about her mother, she finds that her recent troubling life and her mother's were quite similar.
Prepare to stay up and read Dread The Night in one sitting. If you're like me, you won't be able to sleep until you know the truth.
Fantastic read. I love all her books.

[Becka · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I can say is, wow! This is the third book in the Dear Celeste series, and it was by far my favorite. Celeste faces her most challenging case yet, uncovering the truth about her mother's past. During this journey, she discovers that her father isn't the man she thought she knew, tainting her childhood memories and bringing painful revelations to light. As if these new discoveries weren't hard enough, her personal life reveals secrets she had sensed but didn't want to believe. I wanted to be a friend to Celeste, to hug her and help her through all of this. Her emotions felt so genuine that I had a strong urge to step into the pages and support her. The hardest part now, is having to wait to see what happens next. I am thankful to the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action-packed sequel

This is the third book in the “ Dear Celeste” series, and this time Celeste is investigating her own life. She returns to her childhood home to try to find out what happened to her mother, Nettie, who disappeared when Celeste was three. Her father has always insisted that Nettie simply left the family. But Celeste is being visited by many apparitions, including one of her mother, and doubts that story. The book is very suspenseful, with many surprising twists that turn what could be a straightforward, typical story about a philandering husband with a conveniently missing wife into quite a thriller. Paranormal events are more prominent in this book than in the previous ones, which could signal that Celeste is getting better at understanding and interpreting messages from beyond the grave. A very good read.

[Red Book Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dread the Night is A Dear Celeste Novel that you do not want to miss. This time Celeste returns home to West Virgina and it is where her mother abandoned her family decades before. She is about to face her fears and it might lead her to the truth of her own past. The author wrote this so well and the mystery, but also the paranormal in this was so good. All of the characters in this were great and I liked Celeste so much. I will be eagerly awaiting the next book in this series. This is one that I loved a lot and would recommend to any reader especially to those you love a good mystery. Thank you to the author for this ARC read in exchange of my honest review of Dread the Night.

[Lyndsey Gollogly · Rating 5 out of 5]

J.R. Erickson has completely smashed it out the park with this one!

This was kindly gifted to me as an ARC from the author.

This is book three of the Dear Celeste series and this one just about broke me. We pick up after Celeste gets news of who has tried to kill her so she’s now trying to put some distance between them so the police can do their job. She goes on a personal mission to discover what’s happened to her mother and to say this book broke me is an understatement I didn’t want to put it down and yes we end with another shocking reveal. Just love this series and the authors work!

[Doreen Fernandes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Celeste learns some disturbing facts about her husband being involved in her accident and leaves the house. Celeste is also determined to find out why her mother left them and goes to Moon Lake to visit her home but her father refuses to let her stay there? Is her mother alive and if so why has she not been in contact. As Celeste probes further she discovers that her father has some skeletons in his closet. A gripping psychological thriller which is heart wrenching. The eerie atmosphere surrounding Moon Lake and Celeste's spectral encounters are aptly described. An absolutely riveting page turner.

[Kris Frisk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another 5 star review for this author. I appreciate the way the book hooked me immediately, and kept me hooked through to the end, and then wanting more. I finished it in 24 hours - I happened to be sick from work and ended up staying in bed all day reading. I love the mix of paranormal and real mystery involved. This one really made me sad for Celeste though. Happy that she gets closure, but sad that she has had a pretty rough go of things thus far in her life. I do hope that her and Harris eventually get together but I like their relationship as it stands right now. And I found my last name in the book unexpectedly so that was a great surprise! Keep em coming!

[Kristi Schatz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!!! What an amazing paranormal, thriller, mystery book this is. Yes all of that is in this book. Best book so far in the Dear Celeste Novels. Celeste is solving her own mystery in this book, what happened to her mom. I love how Celeste pushes the limit to find out what happened to her mom and also learning about a little boy who went missing a few years after. I was in shock to find out the truth. This book is mind blowing, it keeps you wanting more, you can't turn the page fast enough. A definite must read!!

[Stefanie Silvestri]

First off I’m gonna say that J.R. Erickson is one of my favorite authors.
This book is the third in the Dear Celeste series and offers a blend of paranormal and mystery elements. Celeste returns to her hometown in West Virginia to investigate the disappearance of her mother. She discovers that a few people close to her have been dishonest with her. This book was a thrilling page-turner that kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. I couldn't put the book down and finished it in less than a day because I wanted to find out what happened next.

[Mrs. Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to read a book that grabs you instantly, one you cannot put down...THIS is the one. Dear Celeste is a fairly new series for this extremely talented author, and she has endeared this character to her readers quickly. I hate books that I can predict by end of first page. This author is not one of those. You get pulled in instantly and you will never be disappointed. I almost...'dread' getting to the end, because then I have to wait for next great adventure Celeste finds. I could not put this book down, you need to add this book to your 'must reads', you won't be disappointed.

[Kai White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh man 😲

I was on the edge of my seat the further I got into the book because I was so damn curious that I couldn't stop

I am huge paranormal mystery fan but what I love about this author is how the paranormal ties into real world and the emotional toll it has on the people involved

It was such an interesting story and that twist at the end I didn't see that coming, there's also another twist I won't spoil but for that one I am curious to find out what happens next.

Recommend 💯

[Sheri Corriero · Rating 5 out of 5]

After being in a serious accident, Celeste is saved and now has the ability to see spirits. This is book 3 of 4 of the Dear Celeste series. Celeste has been helping people using her special skill and now it’s time to go home to West Virginia. Her mother had abandoned her family decades before and it’s time to check things out. She is faced with finding the truth about her past. I love these types of stories.

[Alexis Flinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic book from JR Erickson. I love her writing. I love Celeste.

I really felt for her, discovering who her father really is, and what happened to her mother.

I felt so incredibly bad for her mom, Nettie. She was such a sweet soul, and she lost everything, eventually even her life.

I can't wait for the next installment!

[J. Galliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the Dear Celeste Novels

I absolutely love J.R. Erickson's Dear Celeste collections - as well as her Northern Michigan Asylum Series - each book blends supernatural elements with haunting emotion, creating stories that are both eerie and impossible to put down. Highly recommended & I automatically get her new novels as soon as they are out.

[Suki Rickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 3

Book 3 was an interesting read. Some information was repeated and had errors throughout. The plot and characters are developed well. The overall was somewhat predictable, but had some interesting twists. There was a lot of overlap from the other books and repetitive information not needed.

[Amber Fink · Rating 5 out of 5]

love these novels

I literally just found one of her books and said why not and got hooked and I devastated yet anticipating the last novel in dear Celeste but look forward to checking out more by J.R.
Absolutely amazing and gripping and very suspenseful but also might be a little spark of romance possibly and I can’t believe the end and I’m so excited to continue.

[Julie R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic story!

Celeste on the run from her husband who along with his lover tried to kill her, decides to find out once and for all what happened to her mother. Many twists and turns later, in her family home memories surface. Celeste finds out that her mother never left her and her father committed the ultimate betrayal!