Barbara Dullaghan’s Secrets in the Hollow is a haunting, emotionally charged mystery that lingers long after the last page. Set in the atmospheric town of Sleepy Hollow, the novel follows forty-year-old Carrie Peters as she returns home grappling with the weight of unresolved guilt, buried secrets, and a past that refuses to stay buried.
Dullaghan masterfully crafts a complex protagonist in Carrie—flawed, relatable, and deeply human. Her return to Sleepy Hollow after her parents’ death sets the stage for a slow-burning unraveling of truth. With the ghost of a high school tragedy looming and a best friend who happens to be a homicide detective growing suspicious, tension builds steadily. The stakes climb even higher when Carrie is forced to face the only person who shares her devastating secret—her ex-boyfriend.
What sets this mystery apart is its emotional depth. The narrative explores themes of guilt, redemption, and the terrifying freedom of confession. Dullaghan’s prose is evocative, painting Sleepy Hollow not only as a physical setting but as a metaphor for Carrie’s haunted soul.
Winner of the Firebird Book Award (1st Place in Mystery) and a Distinguished Favorite in Women’s Fiction from the NYC Big Book Awards, Secrets in the Hollow is both a gripping psychological mystery and a powerful portrait of one woman’s fight to reclaim her life. Readers who enjoy suspense laced with emotional complexity and richly drawn characters will be captivated by this unforgettable novel.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – A spellbinding story of secrets, sorrow, and second chances.
Secrets in the Hollow
Carrie Peters is a forty-year-old riddled with guilt and secrets, struggling to understand how she and her ex-boyfriend could have gotten things so wrong. Carrie’s life is complicated when she returns to her hometown of Sleepy Hollow after her parents die. She still feels tremendous guilt for the deaths of her high school friends as a result of her indiscretions. Her best friend, a homicide detective, grows increasingly concerned about her erratic behavior.
Carrie has no one to turn to except her ex-boyfriend because he shares her secrets. But she finds it too painful to connect with him. He is a constant reminder of the life she lived and tried to leave behind. Carrie needs to deal with her guilt, but to do so she may have to confess her part in a life-changing incident and possibly risk her freedom.
