Poisoned Hollow: A Mystery-Psychological Thriller

by Susan Specht Oram

A writer rents an island cottage, expecting peace and quiet. But hostile locals want her to leave the hollow. And a controlling former boyfriend is hunting her down.

Leni flees the city and rents a cottage on an island, planning to write a new book. But her vision of living in an idyllic setting near the beach is shattered when residents in the hollow down a dead-end dirt road conspire against her, seeking to drive her out.

Locals surround the cottage, banging pots and pans together and howling in the dark, intent on sending her running away. The head of the road association knocks on her door, complaining she drives too fast and that the cottage should be used as a clubhouse and a community park.

When Leni turns on the faucet, rusty-brown well water gushes out. A strange man watches her from up in a tree and sings eerie songs. Worst of all, her stalking former boyfriend is determined to find her and bring her back where she belongs.

Will Leni stay or run for her life?

Read Poisoned Hollow, a gripping mystery-thriller with multiple points of view!

Genres: Horror, Mystery

254 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 4, 2026

About the author

Writing mysteries-thrillers and creative nonfiction. Author of SHORE LODGE, THE THIEVES, CABIN EIGHT, THE MOTHER's THREAT, SECRETS AT THE CAFE, UNDER JACKSON BRIDGE, MISSING MAN, BY MIDNIGHT, THE WINTER STORM, THE COLD NIGHT, AVALANCHE, THESE LIES, THE GAS STATION MOTEL, WEDDING NIGHTMARE, POISONED HOLLOW, A CHILLING CHRISTMAS EVE, THE WOODS NEXT DOOR, and STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (a memoir). I live in a windy part of the Pacific Northwest with my husband and rescue dog.
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Reviews

[Rachel Browning]

“Poisoned Hollow” by Susan Specht Oram is a suspenseful addition to the Isolated Island series. This third installment follows Leni, an author on the run from her ex-boyfriend, who escapes to a secluded island cabin in search of safety. But the island isn’t the refuge she hoped for. The locals are hostile toward short-term renters, and unsettling events begin to unfold, making it clear she may not be welcome.
The tension builds steadily as Leni struggles to stay hidden while navigating increasingly strange and threatening circumstances. I couldn’t put it down and kept questioning whether the real danger was her past catching up to her or the people surrounding her. A gripping, fast-paced read that keeps you on edge.

[Babs Langille]

I hate to say this about any book, but this one is not very good. Maybe it's more of a tween book but I thought it was kind of lame. There were too many people who were not important, too much curtain drawing (there was no thriller aspect or mystery aspect), and very stilted conversations that were repetitive and not important. There were too many perspectives which completely ruined the plot. I didn't see anything creepy or ominous in the writing and was pretty disappointed with how it all turned out. To be fair, I have not read book 1 or 2, so I'm sure the other characters are more important elsewhere but there are ways to better integrate other people into the current story without feeling like they were shoved in there. So many people never crossed paths with the main story which made the book feel disjointed.

[Tracy]

Definitely not thrilling, and the reader was horrible with all the fake voices, PS, I listened to the audio, which Goodreads doesn't have listed. Ugh!
However there was a very big mystery in this book. Let me explain.
Leni (sp) rents a cabin in the woods to write. I think this is supposed to be the main part of the story because that's what the excerpt said it was about. No mystery there except, when is her ex boyfriend going to show up, because you know he will.
Franchesca, she works at a nursery and bought an ex hoarders house. That's it. That's all you hear about her, she has nothing else to do in the book, nothing to do with the writer. Mysterious.
Meg, she owns/runs a catering/event venue in a barn, there's talk about starting up a cafe in the barn also, her son runs a bakery and helps his mom out with the catering business. You hear about a couple of bad weddings and catering events but nothing to do with the writer, however Meg does know the nursery worker because she was previously an employee.
There's your mystery, why all the filler about people that don't have anything to do with each other? If they entertwined somehow besides by the troubled boy that sings in the woods, I might understand, but I don't, - the 2 people have nothing to do with the one person so therefore, ZERO stars.
After reading other reviews I see that this is supposed to be part of a series, Goodreads needs to make that clear, but my review stands

[ADHD Book ✨Gal]

15% through and like 8 different POV is confusing me.

[Susan]

Once again, Susan Specht Oram returns to past characters in this new story.
THE Farm, an event facility, is continuing to thrive, with Meg as the caterer. On the horizon, new ventures are being considered, such as a Farm Cafe, and the Island facility will grow.

On another part of the island is a new renter,an aspiring author, who is escaping from a toxic relationship. However, she finds no peace with the other residents of the Hollow, and their strict requirements.

Both story lines in this book are engaging, and easy reading, along with the promise of future story lines!
I always look forward to the continuation of characters in Ms. Specht Oram’s books.

[Denise Little]

Leni is escaping am abusive relationship and heads to rent a cottage to hide and write her novel. But she may regret it. The neighbors want her gone and it seems they’ll stop at nothing to make it happen. I love the multiple points of view, and this was a great read! I saw some characters I’ve met before and some I haven’t. I couldn’t put this one down!

Release date May 4, 2026

[Judy Morris]

This book was so awesome! I loved it! It was very well written and I just love the way this author writes her books.

I have read all of this authors book! I can tell you that she gets better and better every time she has written another great book!

Thank you

[Luna Fox]

Very boring. I listened to this on audiobook. Nothing happens till the very last 20 minutes in this five hour book. We get pov’s from a ridiculous amount of people and their personal life who have no real impact. I literally forgot this story claimed to be a thriller. Every person is extremely surface level. A book about stalking and escaping an “abusive” Ex should focus on that. I put abusive in quotations since at most he doesn’t like her ordering the same thing as him at dinners and deleted her manuscript at some point. There’s barely much focus on the two. Rather we get to hear about some random locals debacle on possibly opening a cafe on top of a struggling catering business. Wouldn’t recommend.

[Emily C.]

Leni is heading to a secluded island cottage to start fresh and break free from her controlling and stalking ex-boyfriend, Mike.

However, she immediately discovers that she is actually leaping out of the frying pan and straight into the fire! Her short-term stay is anything but peaceful - the neighbors are hostile, the atmosphere is unnerving, and every corner of this island seems to hide something foreboding! Welcome to POINSONED HOLLOW, where danger lurks in the shadows.

Susan Specht Oram delivers another gripping page-turner in POISONED HOLLOW, a suspense thriller that keeps you tense, and fully invested until the very last page.

[Carol Nauss]

Running away from an abusive relationship, Leni relocates to an island cottage where she expects to find peace and quiet to write her novel. Instead she finds residents of the Hollow making her life a living hell. Fearful her controlling boyfriend will find her, has her wondering if staying is worth the risk. What an exciting and suspenseful thriller! The plot held my attention from beginning to end. The residents are quirky and Leni is relatable. I also loved the setting of an island in the Pacific Northwest. I look forward to more books taking place on the island.

[Theo Honey]

Sometimes a Bonus Borrow on Hoopla is a hit and sometimes it is a miss. Oh boy was this a miss.

Writer looking for some quiet time after fleeing her controlling ex rents a cottage on an island with the worst nosy-parker neighbours that you can imagine.

The other low reviews are accurate, not a lot happens in this. One dimensional characters, lots of POVs that don't drive the story. Fastest conclusion to a story since Dracula.

[Anita]

Leni is looking for a secluded, quite place for 3 months to write her book. Also while trying to escape a crazy ex boyfriend. The secluded cabin and people around are not what she was expecting at all. Will she find the peace and quite to write her book? Will her ex look for her? Find out in this intriguing thriller. Thanks to the author, Susan for letting me read the ARC of this new thriller.

[Lisa]

I found this book boring

[Ericka Lange]

Anticlimactic. I wouldn't call this a thriller.

[Jillian]

I kept waiting for something thrilling to happen. 😅

[Ronda Smith-stoddard]

Listened to on audio

[Meg]

The narrator was really bad, and it was badly written...

[Katie Baldwin]

It’s good but also kinda plain. The storyline was pretty interesting but then it just got like… boring. I did like the switching POVs!

[Heidi Normand]

This book was all over the place

[Elizabeth]

Leni is an author and she rents a cottage to work on her book. Her boyfriend is verbally abusive and controlling so she leaves him. The cottage will be perfect for the peace and quiet that she requires to write her book. When she arrives at the cottage and tries to settle in, the residents begin doing strange things to drive her away. Making strange noises, banging pots and pans and doing all that they can to scare her away. Apparently, the head of the road association feels that the cottage should be used as a clubhouse and he wants her to leave.

This book was amazing. I could feel Leni’s emotions and picture the cottage. She was living in fear but she was strong and would not under any circumstances let them drive her away.

Her biggest fear was that her ex boyfriend would stalk her and find her.

This book is a must read. I enjoyed the book and look forward to Ms. Oram’s next book.