Stone Mad

by D.M. Pulley

From the bestselling author of The Dead Key and No One’s Home, comes a thriller about a haunted mansion, a missing girl, and the woman who connects them.

Life fell apart for Mannie Wallace after her daughter’s best friend was abducted from the playground right under Mannie’s nose. Six years later, Mannie is working as an engineer turned insurance investigator and barely holding the pieces of her family together. When an eccentric developer hires her to survey an infamously haunted Gilded Age mansion, Stone Mad Castle, it could be just the thing she needs to get her career and life back on track.

But once inside the abandoned castle, her dream job becomes a nightmare when the motley crew of investigators discovers a dead body in the basement and Mannie starts seeing ghosts. Probing deeper into the mansion, she begins to suspect that Stone Mad’s sinister past may be connected to the little girl she lost. Her daughter, now fourteen and obsessed with true crime, is convinced that girls have been mysteriously disappearing near the haunted house at an alarming rate for more than a century.

Twist follows twist, like the hidden passageways that honeycomb the castle, as Mannie risks everything to unravel the mansion’s secrets and uncover the fate of her daughter’s missing friend. In the end, Mannie must solve the mystery of Stone Mad once and for all … or become the next chapter in its haunted story.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Mystery Thriller

418 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 13, 2026

About the author

D.M. Pulley lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband, two children and dog, Hobo. Before becoming an Amazon best-selling author, D.M. Pulley worked as a Professional Engineer rehabbing historic structures and assessing building failures. Her survey of a vacant building in Cleveland, Ohio inspired her debut, THE DEAD KEY, the winner of the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.

Since then, she has published four more thriller inspired by true crime and real buildings, and she has sold over 800,000 books worldwide. Her thriller NO ONE'S HOME was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award and named one of the “Best of Horror” by Suspense Magazine. The abandoned buildings, haunted houses, and buried past of the Rust Belt continue to inspire her work. Her latest Gothic thriller, STONE MAD, is the story of a haunted house, a missing girl, and the woman who connects them.

Reviews

[Nikki Lee (Nikkileethrillseeker) · Rating 5 out of 5]

‼️‼️BANGER ALERT‼️‼️
‼️BANGER ALERT‼️

Stone Mad is an all-explosive-outright BANGER! It’s the best hidden gem I’ve come across for 2026 and I’m willing to bet you haven’t even laid eyes on it before.

Well, I’m about to change that! However, my recommendation is to go in completely blind! Honestly, I wasn’t even ready for what this novel was about to deliver.

The story has multiple timelines and at the center of it is an abandoned haunted castle. Missing girls spanning back decades, hidden rooms, and the occult. This book gets DARK y’all and there’s something terribly evil lurking within. You have no idea!

GO BUY THIS BOOK NOW! It’s guaranteed to blow your mind! Part psychological thriller, historical horror, and terrifying! Available on KU and I even used an Audible credit to get through it faster. Narration is fantastic.

Stone Mad is the perfect spooky season read and deserves all the ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SOMEONE PLEASE GO READ THIS BOOK SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT!

Thank you to Blackstone for the gifted copy!

["Avonna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out all my reviews at: https://www.avonnalovesgenres.com

STONE MAD by D.M. Pulley is an atmospheric horror/thriller featuring a haunted historic Cleveland Gilded Age mansion, called Stone Mad, and the architectural engineer, Mannie Wallace, who is hired to evaluate it. With stories of decades of paranormal hauntings, madness and death, and missing young girls, can Mannie survive Stone Mad?

Mannie Wallace’s life fell apart on the day her daughter’s best friend disappeared on a trip to the beach under her supervision. Six years later, after a breakdown, a divorce, and moving with her two children to her grandparents’ old home in Cleveland Hts., Mannie is trying to get her life and reputation back on track. Mannie receives a call from an eccentric developer who wants a survey of the mysterious Stone Mad mansion to turn it into a boutique hotel. This is just the chance she needs.

As Mannie works in the mansion, she discovers hidden stairs and spaces in walls, as well as room measurements that do not add up. Mannie also begins to see ghosts of young girls who all remind her of her daughter’s missing friend and is worried she may be having another breakdown, but then a real girl is discovered dead in the basement. Mannie’s true crime obsessed daughter believes young girls have gone missing from around the mansion for more than a century. When she and her friend go on their own to investigate, they disappear, and Mannie is now in a race to discover all the secrets of Stone Mad once and for all.

This story would be a good horror/thriller read at any time of the year, but it has all the spook factor and chills you really want for the Halloween season. Mannie is a complicated protagonist who you can find difficult to like, but you also can feel empathy for her. The story has flashback chapters at the beginning of each section that give the reader more history of the mansion and the girls who disappeared. While I felt the beginning dragged a bit, it continued to pick up speed as more of the history and the present came together to a gripping climax. I love this author’s books and how they pull from actual locations in my hometown, not just the historic buildings, but also the restaurants and neighborhoods. The story also includes many interesting architectural facts, as well as historical facts.

I recommend this eerie horror/thriller that keeps you guessing while you are on the edge of reality, sanity, and the paranormal.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wunderbare Erzählkunst! This story is full of heartbreaking horrors and mysteries. It has about as many layers as the house the story is about. There were times my mind and imagination couldn’t keep up 😳

This was like going on the best ride at a creepy carnival at night and lights are flashing everywhere. I was deeply intrigued and for that I say….thank you very much!

[Paula Monsees]

Stone Mad continues to deliver D.M. Pulley’s signature style: another haunted Cleveland building with a dark history and plenty of secrets waiting to be uncovered. I especially enjoyed the nod to The Dead Key, her first book, with the appearance of a skeleton key. I love these little connections to her earlier work! Pulley has a knack for making buildings feel like characters in their own right, with histories that are just as intriguing as the mysteries unfolding inside them. If you enjoy atmospheric mysteries, haunted places, and secrets buried in the past, Stone Mad is another satisfying addition to her collection.

[Michelle · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

Mannie is a natural protector who in the opening scene, in a moment of distraction, fails to protect. This moment shapes and nearly destroys her, so when she is offered a job involving a mansion rumored to have a ghost of a dead girl, everyone wants her to run in the other direction.

But it's not in her nature.

Her job is as an engineer -- a person who makes sure places are safe -- and her focus is hidden spaces, something that is almost guaranteed at this giant castle in the middle of Cleveland. For one thing, no one can find the original plans and the original architect died before the place was even finished. And what the outside promises in terms of a floor plan doesn't match the interior.

What unfolds is a mystery around missing girls with the disappearances manifesting close to Stone Mad, and Mannie's inability to let it rest. Even when what she discovered changes her understanding of her own family.

The patriarchy, man.

Overall, nicely down. Mannie is a sympathetic and consistent character who doesn't believe she can share her burdens. She can't help but what to help, save, rescue, understand. The mystery is heartbreaking. The house is just the kind of house I look for in a gothic. An impressive house that was never a home or built to be anything other than a house of secrets.

I found some of the material to be really emotionally dark in terms of the harm done to girls and the sense of the men at the heart of this story finding them disposable.

To quote Marge in Fargo, And for what? For a little bit of money. There's more to life than a little money, you know. Don't you know that?

[Kellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stone Mad is a Must-Read Thriller

I knew I’d be up way past my bedtime just pages into D.M. Pulley’s latest gothic thriller. This mystery set inside a haunted Cleveland mansion kept me reading late every night until I finished it. If you enjoy a fast-paced, high-suspense story that weaves structural engineering expertise with ghosts and true-crime lore, you’ll love Stone Mad.

One thing that makes Stone Mad stand out from typical haunted house stories is D.M. Pulley’s incorporation of her architectural and engineering expertise. Pulley worked as a professional engineer rehabbing historic structures, so the technical details are fascinating and smart. She has the unique ability to bring a haunted house to life and make it feel like a living, breathing character in this story.

Also, the main character, Mannie, feels entirely human and relatable. She carries grief, guilt, and substantial flaws that make her instantly sympathetic. Watching her navigate her work and relationships while processing her trauma grounds this fiction in reality.

Stone Mad was unputdownable and gets 5/5 stars from me.

[Mary Kerschbaum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a fan, too many weird details about a haunted house. Thought it would be a good Halloween read but not a fan of kidnapping kids stories.

[Sandy Pavick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cleveland has its share of spooky buildings, but none is more infamous than the structure on Franklin Avenue in Ohio City. D.M. Pulley uses this history and adds to it to craft a spooky, intriguing thriller that will keep you reading way past your bedtime. As with all of her books, Pulley makes the structure, in this case, Stone Mad Castle, the main character in the book, adding insights that only someone trained in structural engineering can. It's fascinating and compelling...and spooky, a perfect read for this Halloween--or any--season.

[Jaime K · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

Six years ago, Mannie brought her two children (Sally and Tiny) to the park with Sally’s friend, Nicol. Then Nicol went missing. Neither Mannie nor Nicol’s parents forgave Mannie.

Her husband, Hugh, is a real jerk. He didn’t care that, as a female, she had to work harder than the males in the engineering department. He didn’t help much care for the children. He did enough to frustrate her that, in the interim 6 years, she swung at him at work and lost her job. Basically blacklisted from engineering jobs.
Doesn’t help that she skipped meetings, harassed the police to find Nicol, checked into rehab and got a therapist, and ended up having enough paranoia that Tiny also became neurotic in ways.
And Hugh pretends to be a father to the kids, but neither wants to spend time with them.

Now she lives with her father (who has early dementia) and kids, and works for Forest City Investigations, an independent forensic engineering firm to survey the safety of homes and other buildings. She doesn’t make friends with some contractors, and is randomly contacted by a Devon Lonardo who wants her to help him with a full forensic investigation of damages on the Hans Becker House. The Stone Mad Castle.
The one where Hans Becker’s daughter, Annalise, died at the age of 7 from a mysterious illness in the late 1800s, and the house has been deemed haunted since. Worse, a woman bought the house and had renovations made in the 1970s, all of which have an aura of mystery. Kids have dared each other to go in, and a fire in 1999 left four teenagers near-comatose and two cops with just-as-serious issues. The officers at Cleveland Police Department won’t even investigate anymore.
Neither her boss nor her father are happy she took the job.

On top of EVERYTHING, young girls who look like Annalise…like Nichol…have gone missing throughout the years. Because her mother is working on the house, Sally dives into her own investigation on these girls. As Mannie uncovers more secrets about the house, she sees girls who look like Annalise and Nichol in the house too…and at least one is most definitely real.

Are there ghosts? Not ghosts? A mixture of both? Is it the house? The occult? Nazi blood magick (magic with a K because it’s special for some reason)? A secret society? All or none of the above?

- I like how each part begins with a past event linked to Annalise and/or the missing girls.
- I like seeing Mannie’s relationship with the police department, whether through her father, Nichol’s disappearance, and/or with romance. I think it provides a link between events that may not have been *needed* but adds more substance to the story.
- I realized at least one of the secrets about the house well before Mannie (and Lonardo & his researcher friend, Glenda) did, and not only from Annalise’s interlude.
- I like the locksmith. He has a very minor role, but I liked that he was added.
- Some of Mannie’s mental commentary (including Right? Right) became either overused (with that phrase) or irritating, if only because i felt some of them were among the prose most poorly written in the book. Some of it felt clunky for me, for lack of a better word.
- I wonder how much Tiny was needed. He didn’t seem to have a large role, ad most scenes with him made the character feel almost like an afterthought.
- As a heterosexual female who has worn cargo shorts since I was 13 or 14, I take umbrage at the fact that some people feel that a teen female wearing cargo shorts means she’s gay.
- Mannie makes some very stupid illegal decisions throughout the book that make me wonder how likable of a character she is.
- The end is wonderfully creepy but also has a satisfying conclusion, while still leaving the reader wondering.

[Jennifer M. · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Review of advance copy received from NetGalley

D. M. Pulley’s 2026 novel Stone Mad is a suspenseful thriller with elements of mystery and supernatural horror. From its opening pages, the novel draws the reader into the troubling history of an abandoned Gilded Age mansion and the disappearances linked to it. Overall, the novel succeeds because of its steadily escalating tension, glimpses into the past and a potentially unstable, yet determined protagonist.

The story follows Mannie Wallace, an engineer turned insurance investigator whose life was shattered when her daughter’s best friend disappeared six years earlier. Mannie sees a chance to rebuild her career when she is hired to survey Stone Mad Castle, an infamous and supposedly haunted mansion. The assignment soon becomes dangerous after a body is discovered and Mannie begins to suspect that the castle’s history may be connected to the missing girl. This setup establishes both a professional mystery and a deeply personal reason for Mannie to keep searching.

Pulley builds tension through hidden passageways, disturbing discoveries, and the uncertainty surrounding the castle’s apparent hauntings. The pacing begins deliberately steady as Mannie studies the mansion’s structure and history, then accelerates as connections between past and present emerge. Foreshadowing and red herrings keep several explanations in play, allowing the mystery to remain uncertain without feeling random. The castle itself functions almost like a character: its sealed spaces, its supposed movement, confusing design, and accumulated legends create a strong sense of danger.

Mannie is an effective protagonist because her investigation is shaped by guilt, determination, and concern for her family and young women, in general. Her engineering knowledge gives her a practical way to interpret the building, while the strange events around her and her questionable past repeatedly challenge that practical outlook. Her daughter’s interest in true crime adds another perspective and helps widen the mystery beyond the immediate investigation. Mannie’s need for answers also becomes a vulnerability, since it can push her past reasonable caution.

The novel explores guilt, obsession, family strain, and the difficulty of separating facts from urban legends. Its suspense depends on a central question: whether the castle’s danger is supernatural, human, or some combination of the two. This ambiguity strengthens the atmosphere and reflects Mannie’s struggle to trust both the evidence around her and her own perceptions.

The book’s greatest strength is the way its physical setting and central mystery reinforce each other. Its detailed attention to the mansion makes each new discovery feel plausible, even when the story moves toward the uncanny. Some readers may find the early investigation slower than the later action, but the gradual buildup gives the final stretch greater urgency. Without revealing the conclusion, the ending provides a satisfying payoff.

In the end, Stone Mad succeeds as a suspense novel because it combines an eerie setting, a layered mystery, and meaningful personal stakes. Readers who enjoy haunted-house stories, investigative thrillers, and plots that blur the line between supernatural and rational explanations will likely appreciate it. The novel shows how a building can hold not only hidden rooms, but also the unresolved fears of everyone drawn inside.

[Jo A. Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Haunting Mystery Full of History, Suspense, and Unexpected Twists!

D.M. Pulley has done it again! Stone Mad brings together everything I love about a great mystery—fascinating history, an eerie setting, intriguing characters, and plenty of twists and turns.

What makes this story particularly interesting is how the history of Stone Mad Castle becomes such an important part of the mystery. The connection between the mansion’s dark past, the missing girls, and Mannie’s own personal tragedy adds an emotional depth that makes the story much more than a typical haunted-house thriller.

One of Pulley’s greatest strengths is her ability to bring old buildings and their histories to life. Her background in engineering and historic structures adds a unique authenticity to her storytelling, and this book is another wonderful example of that talent.

I especially appreciate the combination of historical mystery, psychological suspense, and just enough of the supernatural to keep you questioning what’s really happening.

Stone Mad is a wonderfully intriguing story for anyone who enjoys mysteries with history, atmosphere, and a little haunting along the way. Another terrific book from a very talented storyteller!

[Anya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner from one of my favourite authors!
Stone Mad had everything I am looking for when I choose a new novel to read. A strong plot, good prose, likeable characters, well drawn, that it's easy to root for, and and even pace, that starts with a bang and than pushes the reader slowly at the beginning, then faster and faster toward an explosive ending. Especially the second half was completely unputdownable, I wish I had an audio version to slower my reading because while I was enjoying every word, I also wanted to read faster because I couldn't wait to see what would happen next.
I don't usually speak a lot about plots, the blurb is there for it, but let's just point our this book has ghosts, dark magic, abducted children, nazis, a cult... and it's not too much, it's just the perfect amount of thrill. I was never bored.
I am happy D.M. Pulley has finally published another novel, and I hope many others will follow soon.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me ARC of that book in exchange for an honest review.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books that I have read in a long time.
Missing girls, a haunted house, a woman haunted because a little vanished while under her care.

Amanda "Mannie" Wallace is a forensic engineer. She examines buildings to check if they are structurally sound, have mold problems etc. She is hired by a man who has just purchased a infamous house on the west side of Cleveland. It is reported to be haunted. Mannie jumps at the chance to explore the house. And her adventures begin.

I was hooked from the first page until the very end. Well written, spooky with some twists. Read it now!

[Jennifer Katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved D.M. Pulley’s latest thriller! I couldn’t put it down. The story of Mannie Wallace is riveting, with all the twists and turns and incredible pacing of Pulley’s other books. Stone Mad is at times heartbreaking, at times laugh out loud funny, and at all times brilliant and thrilling! The abandoned mansion feels alive and reads like an amusement park haunted house ride. I absolutely want to ride it again now that I know all of the house’s secrets! 5 stars!

[Amy]

YES: A book I borrowed from the library to try before I buy (tired buying hundreds books and hating halt)

I read first ch or more -first 10-100 pages skim around at times. I read many of my GR friend's reviews. This is what I did and didn't like:

Love the cover.

Haunted castle missing kids ghosts…Mannie needs a new start is called to evaluate it to turn it into a hotel. Yessss
The writing is wonderful. Plot interesting! Yes

[Tom W. Milne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first D.M Pulley book and it won’t be my last. I really enjoyed the complexity of this story- historical events, architectural info, family dynamics and a decades old mystery intertwined with a current one. You really root for Mannie as she tries to unravel all the threads and get to the bottom of what’s been happening in her town.

[Doreen Jackson · Rating 4.75 out of 5]

It's been a long time since I couldn't put a book down. Best read...literally a page turner. More fun than Spooky.
Will go on my "read it again" shelf! Stone Mad

[Mark Bruketta Bruketta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this author!

I have not been disappointed by a D. M. pulley book yet! She is adept at setting a story in a perpetual tone of dread and creepiness. If you love spooky thrillers then her books are a great choice. And I love that she bases her stories in true crime and real history. That fact just adds to the creepy tension she builds so masterfully.

[Shannon L Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did not disappoint

Well worth the wait! Less than 24 hours to finish and let’s just say I had very little sleep because I couldn’t put it down! Just get ready!

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 Stars – A Brilliantly Twisted Mystery That Will Keep You Hooked!

What an incredible read! This book has everything you could want in a great thriller—mystery, suspense, family drama, a haunted Gilded Age mansion, and twists that keep you guessing until the very end!

The story of Mannie Wallace is captivating, blending a mother's determination to uncover the truth with the dark secrets hidden inside Stone Mad Castle. The setting is absolutely fascinating, and the combination of historical intrigue, ghostly encounters, and a decades-old mystery makes this a truly unique page-turner.

What makes this book even more impressive is the author's background as a civil and forensic engineer with a passion for historic buildings. That expertise brings an incredible level of authenticity to the story. The architectural details, hidden passageways, and mysteries buried within the mansion's walls make the castle feel like a character of its own. You can tell the author has a genuine love and appreciation for old buildings, and that passion shines through the storytelling.

This is the kind of book that makes you say, "Just one more chapter," until suddenly it's the middle of the night! A fantastic combination of suspense, history, and mystery that I would highly recommend to anyone who loves a great thriller.

[Rebecca Holt · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Stone Mad by D.M. Pulley was such a beautiful, atmospheric read. At its heart, it’s the story of a Midwestern woman who feels incredibly real and relatable from the very beginning. I found myself connecting with her fears, her hopes, her curiosity, and even the thoughts she wrestled with throughout the story. There was something so human about her that made me feel completely invested in what happened to her.

What I loved most was how effortlessly this book wove so many different elements together. It’s historical fiction, but it’s also filled with architectural history and knowledge, suspense, mystery, and just the right amount of paranormal activity. The history and architecture gave the story so much depth and atmosphere, while the darker elements kept me questioning what was really happening.

The suspense slowly builds, and before I knew it, I was turning the pages faster and faster because I needed to know what would happen next. There’s something especially compelling about a story that can make you feel immersed in a place while also making you uneasy about what might be hiding beneath its history.

D.M. Pulley created a story that felt intelligent, haunting, and deeply atmospheric without losing the emotional heart of the characters. I loved the combination of history, architecture, mystery, and the paranormal, but it was the relatability of the main character that truly made this book stand out for me.

A beautiful, eerie, wonderfully layered story that completely pulled me in. Definitely a five-star read for me.