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Dark Secrets #5
The Back Door of Midnight
Psychic...or psychotic?
Anna knows her family is crazy. But when she goes to visit her aunt and uncle for the summer and learns that her uncle’s charred body has been found, her life reaches a new level of insanity. Her erratic aunt’s “psychic” abilities are exaggerated by her grief, and have become borderline violent. Alone in an unfamiliar town, Anna struggles to pick up the pieces and establish any sense of normalcy. She desperately wants to trust Zack, the cute boy next door, but even he might know more about the incident than he is letting on.
But when Anna starts feeling an inexplicable pull to the site of her uncle’s murder, she begins to believe that her family’s supernatural gifts are real after all. Torn between loyalty and suspicion, Anna is certain of only one thing: she must discover who killed her uncle or she could be next....
Anna knows her family is crazy. But when she goes to visit her aunt and uncle for the summer and learns that her uncle’s charred body has been found, her life reaches a new level of insanity. Her erratic aunt’s “psychic” abilities are exaggerated by her grief, and have become borderline violent. Alone in an unfamiliar town, Anna struggles to pick up the pieces and establish any sense of normalcy. She desperately wants to trust Zack, the cute boy next door, but even he might know more about the incident than he is letting on.
But when Anna starts feeling an inexplicable pull to the site of her uncle’s murder, she begins to believe that her family’s supernatural gifts are real after all. Torn between loyalty and suspicion, Anna is certain of only one thing: she must discover who killed her uncle or she could be next....
299 pages, Paperback
First published November 16, 2010
89 people are currently reading
4742 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Chandler
71 books2,322 followersElizabeth Chandler is a pseudonym for Mary-Claire Helldorfer. She currently lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 239 reviews
November 3, 2013
This book was crazy. There were so many secrets and it was mysterious and suspenseful. Such a thriller. It was just as good as the other Elizabeth Chandler books.
August 23, 2020
AAAAHH (screaming!!!!😂😂)
this book is just crazy,a suspenseful thriller mixed with mystery it was quite strong psychic and dark .
this book talks about a girl Anna she's 18 years old she was adopted by a family in Baltimore and her birth mother killed in robbery when Anna has three years, after receiving the letter from her uncle (e-mail I guess I'm not sure hhhh😅)which he asked her to visit him in order to discuss some family stuff in Wisteria,she was shocked by finding him died in fire after being murdered.In a unfamiliar town with her psychic aunt Aris she was lost in a complex maze ,struggling to find a connection between the strange events she is living.
with her OBEs Anna start suspecting herself being a psychic as her mother o her aunt were,however she considered this point as the beginning and a good tool to discover the truth .
With Zack too that was hard to trust and mysterious ,sometimes he is using her,sometimes ,he cares about her .
besides he was hard to avoid or neglect (handsome 😂😎)
I love this book as the previous books in this serie (I still don't understand why this serie is not hyped it's great) ,I love the style of Elizabeth Chandler her words her way of catching your attention,just perfect. but in this whole serie "DARK SECRECTS"(a part of me sad because I ended it 😢😢) I loved so much the first the fourth and the fifth of course.
I highly recommend this serie because I fall in love with reading the time I read the first book of this serie LEGACY OF LIES (I have a copy of it that I reread for the second time, just cool)
giving 5 stars in not enough the book worth more .
I couldn't put it down 🤩🤩
highly recommended.
this book is just crazy,a suspenseful thriller mixed with mystery it was quite strong psychic and dark .
this book talks about a girl Anna she's 18 years old she was adopted by a family in Baltimore and her birth mother killed in robbery when Anna has three years, after receiving the letter from her uncle (e-mail I guess I'm not sure hhhh😅)which he asked her to visit him in order to discuss some family stuff in Wisteria,she was shocked by finding him died in fire after being murdered.In a unfamiliar town with her psychic aunt Aris she was lost in a complex maze ,struggling to find a connection between the strange events she is living.
with her OBEs Anna start suspecting herself being a psychic as her mother o her aunt were,however she considered this point as the beginning and a good tool to discover the truth .
With Zack too that was hard to trust and mysterious ,sometimes he is using her,sometimes ,he cares about her .
besides he was hard to avoid or neglect (handsome 😂😎)
I love this book as the previous books in this serie (I still don't understand why this serie is not hyped it's great) ,I love the style of Elizabeth Chandler her words her way of catching your attention,just perfect. but in this whole serie "DARK SECRECTS"(a part of me sad because I ended it 😢😢) I loved so much the first the fourth and the fifth of course.
I highly recommend this serie because I fall in love with reading the time I read the first book of this serie LEGACY OF LIES (I have a copy of it that I reread for the second time, just cool)
giving 5 stars in not enough the book worth more .
I couldn't put it down 🤩🤩
highly recommended.
March 6, 2011
Good story, interesting and quiet spooky :P
November 15, 2025
Rounded up to five stars.
A real breath of fresh air after my last reading experience but still took a while to read but not for lack of plot.
#Mom Life #IYKYK
The fifth and I believe final book in Chandler's Dark Secrets series. Still takes place in the Maryland town of Wisteria like the others and only connected by places and not people mentioned in previous books.
Anna was adopted when she was about five years old. Eighteen years ago, her mother Joanna was taken in by her Great Uncle Will and his sister, Iris, when Joanna was pregnant. When Anna turned three, her mother was killed in a robbery while everyone else was out.
The woman she calls her mom, Kathryn, adopted a little boy and a set of twin girls who are seven and six. This is the only family Anna has ever known but she always has received letters from Uncle Will keeping in touch but barely remembers her birth mother except for pictures and having the same chestnut hair.
The latest letter has Will asking Anna to visit Wisteria as Iris is not doing well and he has things to tell Anna about her mother before he fears he starts going senile at his age. Her mom and siblings have gone on vacation so Anna agrees to go since she is eighteen, has her own car and will be going to college when the summer is over.
Anna arrives and learns that Uncle Will is dead but the way he died is strange and unnerving. His body was locked in the trunk of a car and set on fire at another farm nearby and the coroner still has most of his ashes. Aunt Iris is very off the deep end and insists that Will is still talking to her and she keeps calling Anna by her mother's name.
Everyone in town believes that all of the O'Neill women are psychics or psychotic. Aunt Iris use to read fortunes and visions for people but now strictly deals with animals and Anna learns her mother did Tarot card readings before her death. Anna knows it is insane, but the night Uncle Will was murdered, she had a dream about fire and teenagers laughing and Uncle Will calling out to her.
Anna is determined now to find out what really happened to her great uncle but doesn't know who to trust in a small town where everyone else has known each other for years...outsiders aren't privy to their secrets. Anna also knows that she is all Aunt Iris has with her brother gone but her fear and grief are making her angry and violent, some things still sharp as a tack but most of her words hinting at danger.
A young man named Zack lives at the house next door and despite his good looks, Anna feels as if he is hiding something from her. His friends are not as welcoming of Anna and the girl named Erika seems to be really interested in Zack as more of a friend, they seem to share a secret of their own...
Anna soon begins to have suspicion of everyone in town when connections are made between the death of Uncle Will tying into the unsolved mystery of just who murdered Joanna O'Neill. Was it some random burglary or was it someone in this town keeping a dark secret that could land Anna in her own grave?
Very suspenseful and dripping with supernatural sprinklings and a summer romance that could be worth dying for. Anna is a very strong-willed protagonist, and she doesn't put up with Zack's charm despite clearly being into him. Despite that, Zack does have manners that his father taught him raising him alone and he has a dog named Clyde.
The reveal of who murdered Uncle Will is a shocking one that I did not expect but Chandler was very good at making even the most well-intentioned characters seem unlikely to be psychopaths.
The Back Door of Midnight has a very bittersweet tone to its ending because it ruined people's lives but opened up the possibilities of finding true happiness.
A real breath of fresh air after my last reading experience but still took a while to read but not for lack of plot.
#Mom Life #IYKYK
The fifth and I believe final book in Chandler's Dark Secrets series. Still takes place in the Maryland town of Wisteria like the others and only connected by places and not people mentioned in previous books.
Anna was adopted when she was about five years old. Eighteen years ago, her mother Joanna was taken in by her Great Uncle Will and his sister, Iris, when Joanna was pregnant. When Anna turned three, her mother was killed in a robbery while everyone else was out.
The woman she calls her mom, Kathryn, adopted a little boy and a set of twin girls who are seven and six. This is the only family Anna has ever known but she always has received letters from Uncle Will keeping in touch but barely remembers her birth mother except for pictures and having the same chestnut hair.
The latest letter has Will asking Anna to visit Wisteria as Iris is not doing well and he has things to tell Anna about her mother before he fears he starts going senile at his age. Her mom and siblings have gone on vacation so Anna agrees to go since she is eighteen, has her own car and will be going to college when the summer is over.
Anna arrives and learns that Uncle Will is dead but the way he died is strange and unnerving. His body was locked in the trunk of a car and set on fire at another farm nearby and the coroner still has most of his ashes. Aunt Iris is very off the deep end and insists that Will is still talking to her and she keeps calling Anna by her mother's name.
Everyone in town believes that all of the O'Neill women are psychics or psychotic. Aunt Iris use to read fortunes and visions for people but now strictly deals with animals and Anna learns her mother did Tarot card readings before her death. Anna knows it is insane, but the night Uncle Will was murdered, she had a dream about fire and teenagers laughing and Uncle Will calling out to her.
Anna is determined now to find out what really happened to her great uncle but doesn't know who to trust in a small town where everyone else has known each other for years...outsiders aren't privy to their secrets. Anna also knows that she is all Aunt Iris has with her brother gone but her fear and grief are making her angry and violent, some things still sharp as a tack but most of her words hinting at danger.
A young man named Zack lives at the house next door and despite his good looks, Anna feels as if he is hiding something from her. His friends are not as welcoming of Anna and the girl named Erika seems to be really interested in Zack as more of a friend, they seem to share a secret of their own...
Anna soon begins to have suspicion of everyone in town when connections are made between the death of Uncle Will tying into the unsolved mystery of just who murdered Joanna O'Neill. Was it some random burglary or was it someone in this town keeping a dark secret that could land Anna in her own grave?
Very suspenseful and dripping with supernatural sprinklings and a summer romance that could be worth dying for. Anna is a very strong-willed protagonist, and she doesn't put up with Zack's charm despite clearly being into him. Despite that, Zack does have manners that his father taught him raising him alone and he has a dog named Clyde.
The reveal of who murdered Uncle Will is a shocking one that I did not expect but Chandler was very good at making even the most well-intentioned characters seem unlikely to be psychopaths.
The Back Door of Midnight has a very bittersweet tone to its ending because it ruined people's lives but opened up the possibilities of finding true happiness.
January 28, 2025
I disliked this series so much. NOW, her Kissed by an Angel Series is a 5 star read! However, these novellas were just not my taste. I don’t believe in the physic abilities. Which just made me dislike it that much more. It took me months to read and the only reason I finished is because I refuse to DNF a book.
July 22, 2021
It’s nostalgic. Don’t judge.
January 20, 2013
Anna O’Neill Kirkpatrick is a teenaged girl about to enter college; She lost her mother in a robbery at their home when she was very young. She now is adopted by a family and lives in Baltimore and she is 18 years old. When school is just getting out she gets a letter from her uncle Will saying “Dear Anna, Would you visit us this summer? The sooner the better. Aunt Iris is doing poorly, and there are things I must tell you about your mother and out family. I want to do so while I am still clear-minded. –Uncle Will”(pg 3). When she arrives she soon finds that her family is well known around town to be crazy psychics and people are a little afraid of them. When she gets there she learns from her crazy Aunt Iris that her uncle Will had died a few nights before in a fire. The weird thing is the night of the fire Anna had a dream she was at a fire with her uncle and there was a lot of police men and firetrucks. She soon meets the boy next door and doesn’t know whether or not she can trust him so she is very hesitant around him. Anna learns a lot of new information just by talking to people and looking around the house at her uncles old papers and articles. She gets a bad feeling that all of the unfortunate events that have happened in the past years in the small town of Wisteria were not accidents. She goes snooping around and tries to figure out what is actually going on but she may be getting herself into danger that she does not know about.
I would say that my favorite character throughout the whole book is Anna. Anna is the main character and narrarator of the story and she is the girl trying to solve the mystery. The character did evolve throughout the story in the beginning of the story she believed many things like that her Aunt Iris was crazy and that she could trust certain people but she was all wrong. I think it was intended for you to like Anna because she is just a very level headed calm person who kept at things even though her life was in danger. Also, she was very cautious around some people she was careful who she put her trust in. In conclusion, I think it was intended for you to like Anna as a character and I think she is a very good role model.
Overall, I thought this book was amazing I could not put it down and and enjoyed every word of it. I loved everything the author did I especially liked how she made some people seem so innocent throughout the book and then in the end they were actually the bad guys. There was nothing I didn’t like about this book. I would recommend this book to anybody who like mystery/crime books and likes to be left in suspense because this book is very suspenseful. Overall, this is one of my favorite books that I have read so far.
I would say that my favorite character throughout the whole book is Anna. Anna is the main character and narrarator of the story and she is the girl trying to solve the mystery. The character did evolve throughout the story in the beginning of the story she believed many things like that her Aunt Iris was crazy and that she could trust certain people but she was all wrong. I think it was intended for you to like Anna because she is just a very level headed calm person who kept at things even though her life was in danger. Also, she was very cautious around some people she was careful who she put her trust in. In conclusion, I think it was intended for you to like Anna as a character and I think she is a very good role model.
Overall, I thought this book was amazing I could not put it down and and enjoyed every word of it. I loved everything the author did I especially liked how she made some people seem so innocent throughout the book and then in the end they were actually the bad guys. There was nothing I didn’t like about this book. I would recommend this book to anybody who like mystery/crime books and likes to be left in suspense because this book is very suspenseful. Overall, this is one of my favorite books that I have read so far.
June 4, 2015
Reread June 3rd 2015!
I loved this one as much as I loved the previous two Dark Secrets collections.
Anna O'Neill Kirkpatrick has come to Wisteria to visit her great Uncle at his request, on the grounds that he wished to tell her something about the O'Neill family, only to find that he had died several days before. Instead she finds herself in the company of her crazy great Aunt Iris, who according to the O'Neill family is either psychic or psychotic. Anna doesn't yet believe she's psychic. However the circumstances around her Uncle's death are strange enough for her to want to hang around. But the longer she stays and the more she delves into her families secrets, the more she discovers. And if she isn't careful, she'll end up the same way as her mother and uncle Will. Dead.
Chandler has once again plotted a believably twisted plot that has so many turns and bends, that the ending will surprise you. As for the romance, it really is quite refreshing. There's none of that oh I love you, no I love you, no I'm sorry I left but I still love you crap or the whole love triangle thing. It's just simple and plain, even though you can't tell for 88% of the novel whether he is using her or not. But it's still good. The best part of Chandler's series is that she never entirely focuses on the 'relationship' part. She aims her focus to solving whatever dark secrets that the protagonists family has to hide. I think that is what makes the series so brilliant. And as the series is generally mystery aimed as young adults who are female, not that males can't read this too! But that is the general idea, that little bit of romance or love, since it's not over the top and painful to read, is just in enough doses to keep the reader interested, particularly if the reader is not a normal fan of mystery.
Sooooo....if you loved Dark Secrets 1 and Dark Secrets 2, then you'll love this one too. I certainly did!
I loved this one as much as I loved the previous two Dark Secrets collections.
Anna O'Neill Kirkpatrick has come to Wisteria to visit her great Uncle at his request, on the grounds that he wished to tell her something about the O'Neill family, only to find that he had died several days before. Instead she finds herself in the company of her crazy great Aunt Iris, who according to the O'Neill family is either psychic or psychotic. Anna doesn't yet believe she's psychic. However the circumstances around her Uncle's death are strange enough for her to want to hang around. But the longer she stays and the more she delves into her families secrets, the more she discovers. And if she isn't careful, she'll end up the same way as her mother and uncle Will. Dead.
Chandler has once again plotted a believably twisted plot that has so many turns and bends, that the ending will surprise you. As for the romance, it really is quite refreshing. There's none of that oh I love you, no I love you, no I'm sorry I left but I still love you crap or the whole love triangle thing. It's just simple and plain, even though you can't tell for 88% of the novel whether he is using her or not. But it's still good. The best part of Chandler's series is that she never entirely focuses on the 'relationship' part. She aims her focus to solving whatever dark secrets that the protagonists family has to hide. I think that is what makes the series so brilliant. And as the series is generally mystery aimed as young adults who are female, not that males can't read this too! But that is the general idea, that little bit of romance or love, since it's not over the top and painful to read, is just in enough doses to keep the reader interested, particularly if the reader is not a normal fan of mystery.
Sooooo....if you loved Dark Secrets 1 and Dark Secrets 2, then you'll love this one too. I certainly did!
February 17, 2011
I absolutely love the romance in this book. I love how you don't know it Zack is using Anna or actually trying to help her up until the end. I thought it was interesting how instead of Anna's crazy aunt decided to help Anna instead of her daughter that ended up being even more crazy than her. This book had a lot of thought in the after world and in spirits people supposedly leave behind when they die. Aunt Iris had this ability to talk with dead people. But since it was a small town she lived in, people just thought she was crazy. With sudden mood swings when she can't stop the voices in her head, they thought that that violence was what made her kill Uncle Will. It wasn't until the end that Anna found out all the truth about her wicked family and how broken they all really were.
I didn't like Zack's Girlfriend/friend was using Zack so Zack could use Anna. She didn't respect how much pain Anna has been all her life and even more when she found out the only family member she still trusted was murdered. I thought it was extremely creepy when Erik's (Zack's girlfriend/friend) dad was walking towards Anna's house in the middle of the night because he never really got over Anna's mom, Joanna. To be honest i thought he was either going to kidnap Anna or try to rape her. But it was really breathe taking when I read that Zack was outside her house protecting her. That's when i knew that Zack really did care about Anna.
At the end when they ended up together, it just warmed my heart at how Zack told her he was in love with her.
Right now Elizabeth Chandler is one of my favorite author's I really hope she keeps on writing her amazing breathe taking novels.
I didn't like Zack's Girlfriend/friend was using Zack so Zack could use Anna. She didn't respect how much pain Anna has been all her life and even more when she found out the only family member she still trusted was murdered. I thought it was extremely creepy when Erik's (Zack's girlfriend/friend) dad was walking towards Anna's house in the middle of the night because he never really got over Anna's mom, Joanna. To be honest i thought he was either going to kidnap Anna or try to rape her. But it was really breathe taking when I read that Zack was outside her house protecting her. That's when i knew that Zack really did care about Anna.
At the end when they ended up together, it just warmed my heart at how Zack told her he was in love with her.
Right now Elizabeth Chandler is one of my favorite author's I really hope she keeps on writing her amazing breathe taking novels.
April 17, 2011
I’ve read a majority of Elizabeth Chandler’s work, and I truly love her writing style and her characters. So I was very, very excited to read this installment in the Dark Secrets series. But to be honest, it wasn’t anything extraordinary. I feel as though it was a rehash of the previous Dark Secrets novels. I knew who the killer was long before it was revealed, and that ruined the ending of the story for me.
Elizabeth Chandler still has her distinct writing style, and her unique way of building characters and setting up a plot. But The Back Door of Midnight fell flat for me. There were some plot twists that I didn’t see coming, and those took me quite by surprise, though.
If you’ve read the first few books in the Dark Secrets series, then I do recommend reading The Back Door of Midnight. It’s not a bad book by any means, just a little predictable. I give this novel 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Elizabeth Chandler still has her distinct writing style, and her unique way of building characters and setting up a plot. But The Back Door of Midnight fell flat for me. There were some plot twists that I didn’t see coming, and those took me quite by surprise, though.
If you’ve read the first few books in the Dark Secrets series, then I do recommend reading The Back Door of Midnight. It’s not a bad book by any means, just a little predictable. I give this novel 3.5 out of 5 stars.
December 31, 2010
If I could I would give this book another 1/2 star. I wasn't too sure if I was going to like this book until about chapter six, but I ended up really liking it.
Chandler weaves a story with interesting characters. Right up until the end, I did not know what all the secrets were. I can usually figure out what is going to happen at the end of the book, but Chandler doesn't give away her secrets until she is ready to.
Chandler weaves a story with interesting characters. Right up until the end, I did not know what all the secrets were. I can usually figure out what is going to happen at the end of the book, but Chandler doesn't give away her secrets until she is ready to.
October 3, 2011
A mystery involving a crazy aunt and a murdered uncle with a closet full of family skeletons. Highly suspenseful with a likeable main character. However, the explanations of "out of body" experiences were out of place. I think it could have been an even better book with one more edit to tighten up the plot.
July 9, 2012
I saw this book at our school book fair and it looked interesting. i bought it and fell in love with Elizabeth Chandlers work. after that i went to books a million and got her Kissed by an Angel trilogy (1-4). However after reading The Back Door of Mindnight i discovered it was the 3rd book in the series :(... hope you enjou her books too!!
April 28, 2013
I love reading Dark Secrets because it makes you really think and guess who the killer is. And it ends up as somebody totally unexpected that you wouldn't even guess. if you did, good for you. lol but that's what suspense is all about right?
January 26, 2025
Ugh maybe I should’ve kept the book how i remembered, because 12yr old me thought this was the most insane shit, but 25yr old me kept getting annoyed with aunt iris and the plot didn’t leave me speechless like it used to :((((
June 8, 2015
I've read every Dark Secrets book and loved them. This one was no exception. The plot, the characters, the details, everything was perfect. I was riveted from the very beginning. And I never guessed who the killer was until it was right in front of my face! Such a good book.
January 9, 2011
Another great one by Chandler! I didn't even see the ending coming on this one.
January 16, 2012
Love her work.....Can't wait for the next Kissed By an Angel book.....
January 30, 2017
Read this in a day, I couldn't put it down!
Read
November 2, 2017This book is about a girl named Anna whose mother died from an alleged robbery when she was just a baby. Anna was then adopted by her new family who live in Philly. One summer day, Anna receives a letter from her Uncle Will asking her to come for a visit and that he has some "things [he] must tell [Anna] about [her] mother and [their] family" (3). However, when she arrives at her Uncle's house she comes to find that he is now dead from arson and her Aunt Iris has gone quite crazy. Anna sets out to figure out who did this to her Uncle by creating friendships with locals and snooping around the crime scene, oh and did I mention... she's psychic.
The author of The Back Door of Midnight uses the name Elizabeth Chandler as a pen name. She has written a few children's books where she uses her real name, Mary Claire Helldorfer. She won the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel and has written 4 other books in this series along with many other series of books. I believe she is more than qualified to write this book because her prior novels and her Edgar Award speak for themselves.
The Back Door of Midnight was full of suspense, mystery, and drama. I enjoyed reading it but it was not as difficult as I would have liked. There was not any challenging vocabulary or complicated concepts. This novel was also out of my comfort zone in terms of genre and content because it was mystery with a major twist. I gear more towards historical fiction or romance and this book had a little bit of romance so that kept me hooked at some points. A couple aspects I enjoyed about this book were the scenic details and the dynamic characters.
While reading this book it was very easy to envision the scenes and actions of characters. This is because of the meticulous writing style throughout the book. One example of of Chandler’s attention to detail is when the main character, Anna, is being pinned down in the woods when her attackers' "Laughter was drowned out by a crack of thunder and a sound like wood splitting. The pressure lightened on [her] for a second, then [she] was shoved facedown again. It was raining hard even under the trees, turning the road beneath [her] into a river of grit" (203). This quote clearly displays a good use of detail because it sets the scene with sound, touch, and sight. It makes the scene into a picture that is easily painted in the mind.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an easy read that does still have exciting twists and turns. The book keeps you hooked with every new clue Anna finds along the way. Reading this book really opens the reader’s eyes to how one event could change a their lives forever.
The author of The Back Door of Midnight uses the name Elizabeth Chandler as a pen name. She has written a few children's books where she uses her real name, Mary Claire Helldorfer. She won the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel and has written 4 other books in this series along with many other series of books. I believe she is more than qualified to write this book because her prior novels and her Edgar Award speak for themselves.
The Back Door of Midnight was full of suspense, mystery, and drama. I enjoyed reading it but it was not as difficult as I would have liked. There was not any challenging vocabulary or complicated concepts. This novel was also out of my comfort zone in terms of genre and content because it was mystery with a major twist. I gear more towards historical fiction or romance and this book had a little bit of romance so that kept me hooked at some points. A couple aspects I enjoyed about this book were the scenic details and the dynamic characters.
While reading this book it was very easy to envision the scenes and actions of characters. This is because of the meticulous writing style throughout the book. One example of of Chandler’s attention to detail is when the main character, Anna, is being pinned down in the woods when her attackers' "Laughter was drowned out by a crack of thunder and a sound like wood splitting. The pressure lightened on [her] for a second, then [she] was shoved facedown again. It was raining hard even under the trees, turning the road beneath [her] into a river of grit" (203). This quote clearly displays a good use of detail because it sets the scene with sound, touch, and sight. It makes the scene into a picture that is easily painted in the mind.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an easy read that does still have exciting twists and turns. The book keeps you hooked with every new clue Anna finds along the way. Reading this book really opens the reader’s eyes to how one event could change a their lives forever.
May 14, 2020
once i became entangled in Anna's story, THE BACK DOOR OF MIDNIGHT was un-put-downable. that didn't mean it wasn't without its flaws, and perhaps since it was the last of three Chandler mysteries that I had read in the past few days, i held on to those flaws more tightly.
after receiving a letter from her uncle Will, inviting her to spend the summer with him and her Aunt Iris (his sister), Anna arrives to learn her uncle has died a few days earlier. her aunt, a woman she recalls from childhood as "a bit strange," is mentally unstable, talking to people Anna cannot see and going off in fits of rage.
it's a classic mystery novel premise: pitch a mentally unstable character as a likely candidate for a crime. i understand the appeal—it's frightening to see someone hold a conversation with themselves. how easy is it for an author to take that next step and ease the reader into thinking, "Ah! Well this person clearly could have snapped and killed a person!" but it's that ease that enables the stigma around mental illness, which made me completely uncomfortable with Aunt Iris' portrayal. Even while the majority of the characters in the book who knew Iris insisted she was "odd but not violent," it did little to change that our protagonist feared her and that at the end of the book, Aunt Iris was not shown receiving any help for her condition (which was not named beyond "she's psychic not psychotic.")
to the story itself, as i said, i was hooked on the mystery element. Anna's psychic abilities were well described and lent an interesting angle to her interactions with other characters in the novel. many suspicious characters come into the picture, and we realize that her uncle's death may be more involved than the accident the police initially believe. the ending included a bit of a cat-and-mouse chase scene, and i was actually stressed during my read—Chandler's writing of Anna's panic and attempts to escape had me nervously flipping the pages. she knows how to create atmosphere, I'll say that.
a good book that sadly lost its way when dipping into the overdone "mentally ill killer" trope.
after receiving a letter from her uncle Will, inviting her to spend the summer with him and her Aunt Iris (his sister), Anna arrives to learn her uncle has died a few days earlier. her aunt, a woman she recalls from childhood as "a bit strange," is mentally unstable, talking to people Anna cannot see and going off in fits of rage.
it's a classic mystery novel premise: pitch a mentally unstable character as a likely candidate for a crime. i understand the appeal—it's frightening to see someone hold a conversation with themselves. how easy is it for an author to take that next step and ease the reader into thinking, "Ah! Well this person clearly could have snapped and killed a person!" but it's that ease that enables the stigma around mental illness, which made me completely uncomfortable with Aunt Iris' portrayal. Even while the majority of the characters in the book who knew Iris insisted she was "odd but not violent," it did little to change that our protagonist feared her and that at the end of the book, Aunt Iris was not shown receiving any help for her condition (which was not named beyond "she's psychic not psychotic.")
to the story itself, as i said, i was hooked on the mystery element. Anna's psychic abilities were well described and lent an interesting angle to her interactions with other characters in the novel. many suspicious characters come into the picture, and we realize that her uncle's death may be more involved than the accident the police initially believe. the ending included a bit of a cat-and-mouse chase scene, and i was actually stressed during my read—Chandler's writing of Anna's panic and attempts to escape had me nervously flipping the pages. she knows how to create atmosphere, I'll say that.
a good book that sadly lost its way when dipping into the overdone "mentally ill killer" trope.
September 17, 2025
This book will always be a reset book for me. Even knowing how it ends I still get sucked into the characters lives. I love how it’s just simple: nothing is being forced into the plot, there’s no fancy writing/flowery prose except in the psychic reading/poem Anna stumbles upon from her dead birth mother Joanna.
For me personally, I read it for the swoony love interests and the pets they own. I always find it sweet when the love interest is all I know you can handle yourself, but let me help. I mean Zach didn’t exactly take no for an answer and still it takes me out every time I read that scene where she thought he went home, but he only did to get supplies to watch over the house so nobody else comes to hurt her. If that doesn’t make you want to read it then how about a tenacious FMC who might lash out if her feelings are hurt and can be a bit petty at times, but isn’t afraid to do whatever it takes to find out who killed her beloved Uncle Will. How about a psychic aunt who may resort to violence on mirrors to get the voices to be quiet for even a brief second of peace like Aunt Iris does? How about Clyde the beagle with his love for ducks and will nearly capsize the rowboat in an attempt to be with his feathery friends? How about freaky O.B.E. moments shaped like dreams that are clues to the uncle’s killer?
I just adore the dark secrets world and how it might be the same town but you’ll get to explore different parts of it in every book.
1000% recommend.
⭐️5
💧8
For me personally, I read it for the swoony love interests and the pets they own. I always find it sweet when the love interest is all I know you can handle yourself, but let me help. I mean Zach didn’t exactly take no for an answer and still it takes me out every time I read that scene where she thought he went home, but he only did to get supplies to watch over the house so nobody else comes to hurt her. If that doesn’t make you want to read it then how about a tenacious FMC who might lash out if her feelings are hurt and can be a bit petty at times, but isn’t afraid to do whatever it takes to find out who killed her beloved Uncle Will. How about a psychic aunt who may resort to violence on mirrors to get the voices to be quiet for even a brief second of peace like Aunt Iris does? How about Clyde the beagle with his love for ducks and will nearly capsize the rowboat in an attempt to be with his feathery friends? How about freaky O.B.E. moments shaped like dreams that are clues to the uncle’s killer?
I just adore the dark secrets world and how it might be the same town but you’ll get to explore different parts of it in every book.
1000% recommend.
⭐️5
💧8
May 30, 2021
After Anna receives a letter from her Uncle Will, she goes to Wisteria to visit him. But she gets the shock of her life when she arrives - Uncle Will passed away a few days ago & her Aunt Iris is going crazy. Anna soon learns that her family has a bit of a reputation around town & they are known as the crazy psychics. She also learns that her uncle didn’t die of natural causes. He was murdered & his killer has not yet been caught.
Even though Aunt Iris scares her, Anna decides to stay. She wants to know who murdered her uncle & she starts her own investigation. But as she snoops around, Anna is unknowingly putting herself in mortal danger & if she is not careful, she could end up like her uncle….
When I started this book, I wasn’t too sure about it. It somehow felt a little different compared to the other books in the series. But as I continued on, it started to become more familiar & I ended up enjoying my (last) time in Wisteria. I really liked the spooky, mysterious town & all of its intuitive visitors (Megan, Lauren, Jenny, Kate & Anna).
Cheers Chandler! :-)
Even though Aunt Iris scares her, Anna decides to stay. She wants to know who murdered her uncle & she starts her own investigation. But as she snoops around, Anna is unknowingly putting herself in mortal danger & if she is not careful, she could end up like her uncle….
When I started this book, I wasn’t too sure about it. It somehow felt a little different compared to the other books in the series. But as I continued on, it started to become more familiar & I ended up enjoying my (last) time in Wisteria. I really liked the spooky, mysterious town & all of its intuitive visitors (Megan, Lauren, Jenny, Kate & Anna).
Cheers Chandler! :-)
March 5, 2018
This was quite a different read. There was a lot of mystery and there is a murder to solve, or rather 3 murders. Anna finds herself involved in things she never thought she would and it is all very strange. This book is easy to read and draws you into the story as the mystery element really keeps you guessing, though some people may have guessed some of it (I'm quite bad at guessing what is going to happen).
I thought that even though there was a lot going on it spent a long time setting up the story and didn't really get into the gripping events that kept me reading until half way through the book. Though I haven't read many mystery books and so that might be a standard with these types of books.
It has been a few years since I read the other books in the series and I might have to go back and read them as I enjoyed this book.
I thought that even though there was a lot going on it spent a long time setting up the story and didn't really get into the gripping events that kept me reading until half way through the book. Though I haven't read many mystery books and so that might be a standard with these types of books.
It has been a few years since I read the other books in the series and I might have to go back and read them as I enjoyed this book.
February 25, 2019
Anna's family history is complex. Father unknown, biological mom murdered when she was three, cared for by older uncle and aunt until she was adopted. Now in the summer before college, she gets a mysterious invitation to visit her uncle and aunt. Uncle Will says he needs to tell her things in the brief note inviting her to the old house on a Maryland river. When she arrives, Her Aunt Iris is borderline psychotic, talking to nothing and answering Anna's questions cryptically or refusing to do so at all. If that wasn't bad enough, she discovers Uncle Will was murdered, found partially burned in an abandoned car, one of several random fires recently set. Stir in a hot teen neighbor, some astral projection, people who aren't as they seem, another girl with a touch of pyromania, Anna nearly getting killed and some decent red herrings and you have a pretty satisfying mystery read.
November 28, 2017
Elizabeth Chandler does it again! Any young reader is going to love this story. Her choice to include two books in one binding makes readers excited for their ability see two different stories. Much like her other books there is a strong female leads and when she kinds herself in an unfamiliar town how is she supposed to know who to trust. This book is fantastic for young female readers as it embodies the feel of a female version of the Harvey Boys. The mystery allows for readers to guess who may be helping and who may be out to get her. Students can take away a great amount of confidence and learning to stand up for yourself. Chandler does a fantastic job of making the reader feel incorporated into the mystery.
February 28, 2022
Anna knows her family has a sort of crazy and complicated history. But she wasn't expecting when she visited her aunt and uncle for the summer to find out her uncle had died. His remains were found in the trunk of a car.
Anna decides to stay to take care of her aunt, who seems to have some mental problems. And soon, she finds herself drawn to the site of her uncle's death. She wants to find out why killed him and why.
I've loved all the other Dark Secrets books and this one is no different. It has a story that draws you in with a great lead character. I really liked Anna and the story. A lot of mystery. It's not my favorite of the series but still really good and I had a hard time putting it down.
Anna decides to stay to take care of her aunt, who seems to have some mental problems. And soon, she finds herself drawn to the site of her uncle's death. She wants to find out why killed him and why.
I've loved all the other Dark Secrets books and this one is no different. It has a story that draws you in with a great lead character. I really liked Anna and the story. A lot of mystery. It's not my favorite of the series but still really good and I had a hard time putting it down.
August 15, 2021
Elizabeth Chandler is one of my favorite authors, ever sinceI read “Kissed by and Angel” in high school, so when I found this book at our local flea market I just had to buy it.
The Back Door of Midnight follows young, Anna as she travels to Wisteria to visit her great Uncle Will and Aunt Iris, but not all is as it seems when she arrives. Uncle Will has been murdered, now its up to Anna to solve his murder.
This book is full of twists and turns, edge of you seat mysteries. It is a quick read and hard to put down, I could wait to uncover all of the secrets right along with Anna. This definitely high on my recommendation list.
The Back Door of Midnight follows young, Anna as she travels to Wisteria to visit her great Uncle Will and Aunt Iris, but not all is as it seems when she arrives. Uncle Will has been murdered, now its up to Anna to solve his murder.
This book is full of twists and turns, edge of you seat mysteries. It is a quick read and hard to put down, I could wait to uncover all of the secrets right along with Anna. This definitely high on my recommendation list.
March 20, 2023
This was the best book from the series, in my opinion. The start of the book really grabbed me, and had me questioning Aunt Iris' sanity.
Anna travels back to Wisteria, under the impression she is meeting up with her uncle. Upon arrival her Aunt informs her, in her own way, that he is no longer with them. Wanting to learn the secret behind her Uncles death, Anna delves back into the previous deaths in the down, including her own mother's. Can Anna uncover the truth or will this small towns secrets remain buried?
Anna travels back to Wisteria, under the impression she is meeting up with her uncle. Upon arrival her Aunt informs her, in her own way, that he is no longer with them. Wanting to learn the secret behind her Uncles death, Anna delves back into the previous deaths in the down, including her own mother's. Can Anna uncover the truth or will this small towns secrets remain buried?
July 19, 2018
honestly my favourite book out of all the books she had written. good plot, nice characters and unexpected killer (or maybe I'm just dumb idk man). it's hard to find a book these days with a love line yet without sex, but this book delivered!
on an unrelated sidenote, i recommended this book to my friend and she said that it was for 15 year olds (meaning it's for kids)
on an unrelated sidenote, i recommended this book to my friend and she said that it was for 15 year olds (meaning it's for kids)
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