--- title: Sharons Bookshelf-Nine Nail Biters description: There are so many remarkable books that never make the ReadWithSharon monthly book club list. Sharon's Bookshelf is where she share those discoveries. --- [![info.sharonvirts.comhs-fshubfsSharon Virts Monogram\_white\_Small-2](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hs-fs/hubfs/social-suggested-images/info.sharonvirts.comhs-fshubfsSharon%20Virts%20Monogram_white_Small-2.png?width=90&height=69&name=info.sharonvirts.comhs-fshubfsSharon%20Virts%20Monogram_white_Small-2.png "info.sharonvirts.comhs-fshubfsSharon Virts Monogram_white_Small-2")](http://www.sharonvirts.com) # Sharon Virts # Sharon Virts - [ABOUT SHARON](https://theartoflivinghistory.com/about) - NOVELS - [BARGAINS OF FATE](https://theartoflivinghistory.com/books/6a2f1ace5a83ac928168485a) - [MASQUE OF HONOR](https://theartoflivinghistory.com/books/6a2f1ace5a83ac9281684859) - [THE GRAYS OF TRUTH](https://theartoflivinghistory.com/books/6a2f1ace5a83ac9281684860) - [VEIL OF DOUBT](https://theartoflivinghistory.com/books/6a2f1ace5a83ac928168485f) - [FIELD OF HONOR SERIES](https://theartoflivinghistory.com/series-world) - [BOOK CLUB](https://theartoflivinghistory.com/book-club) ![Sharons Bookshelf logo](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf%20logo.png?width=600&height=300&name=Sharons%20Bookshelf%20logo.png "Sharons Bookshelf logo") [Join My Book Club!](https://share.hsforms.com/1SsFRdk5KSPuh0LLgQlmFJQ3sm67) --- ![January 2026 (7)](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/January%202026%20(7).png "January 2026 (7)") Amazon 4.6 Goodreads 4.22 Sharon 5 Bookmarks ![Sharon Pick 5 of 5](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/Sharon%20Pick%205%20of%205.png?width=380&height=200&name=Sharon%20Pick%205%20of%205.png "Sharon Pick 5 of 5") [BUY THE BOOK HERE!](https://amzn.to/4xiJONF) #### The Grays of Truth by Sharon Virts ###### **Genre:** Historical Fiction • Mystery • Thriller ###### Summary: Winner of the 2025 International Book Award for Best Historical Fiction. In Reconstruction-era Baltimore, members of the city’s elite are dying under mysterious circumstances. When Jane Gray Wharton’s husband dies unexpectedly, she initially has no reason to question his death. But after Jane and her daughter become gravely ill while visiting the same house just weeks later, she begins to suspect that someone may be poisoning members of her family. Jane is a trained chemist and former nurse, but a history of delusion, loss, and institutionalization causes others—and Jane herself—to question what she believes. As the deaths multiply and her grip on reality begins to falter, Jane must determine what is real, who she can trust, and whether she can uncover the truth before it is too late. Inspired by true events involving one of Baltimore’s most prominent families, *The Grays of Truth* blends murder, mystery, and a haunting chapter of American history. ###### Why I recommend this book: I’ll admit I’m a little partial to this one! I first discovered the story behind *The Grays of Truth* while researching my second novel, *Veil of Doubt*. As I delved into nineteenth-century forensic science, I stumbled upon the trial of Baltimore socialite Ellen Wharton—and once I began reading the court transcripts, I was hooked. The case had so many of the elements I look for in a story: wealth, power, politics, multiple unexplained deaths, a botched investigation, early forensic science, and a cast of complicated real-life characters, each with a possible motive for murder. At the center of it all was a woman whose history made it difficult for others to believe her—and sometimes difficult for her to believe herself. What more could I want in a story? ###### Perfect For Readers Who... - Love historical mysteries inspired by extraordinary true events - Are fascinated by early forensic science and criminal investigations - Enjoy unreliable narrators who make you question what—and whom—to believe - Appreciate stories filled with wealth, power, scandal, politics, and murder --- ![January 2026-2](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hubfs/January%202026-2.png "January 2026-2") Amazon 4.5 Goodreads 4.08 Sharon 4 Bookmarks ![Sharon Pick 4 of 5](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/Sharon%20Pick%204%20of%205.png?width=380&height=200&name=Sharon%20Pick%204%20of%205.png "Sharon Pick 4 of 5") [BUY THE BOOK HERE!](https://amzn.to/4w1JPUX) #### Sarafina by Philip Fracassi ###### **Genre:** Historical Fiction • Horror • Supernatural Fiction ###### Summary: In the midst of the Civil War, three brothers make a desperate choice: abandon their posts and risk execution rather than die fighting a war they believe is already lost. Their journey home is grueling, as they battle hunger, injuries, dangerous terrain, and the constant threat of being discovered. Then, deep in the woods, they come upon what seems like salvation—a remote cabin occupied by a beautiful woman named Sarafina and her young son, Titus. She welcomes the brothers, feeds them, and gives them a place to recover. But one of the brothers senses that something isn’t right. A mysterious creek, a hidden cavern, and the strange land surrounding the cabin suggest that the horrors they escaped on the battlefield may be nothing compared with what is waiting for them in the woods. ###### Why I recommend this book: Historical fiction and horror are two genres I love, so when I discovered a story that brings them together against the backdrop of the Civil War, I was immediately intrigued. Three brothers fleeing the horrors of battle, only to stumble upon something even more terrifying deep in the woods? I had to know what happened next. What drew me in was the way Philip Fracassi takes an already dark and dangerous period in American history and layers something sinister and supernatural over it. *Sarafina* is unsettling, atmospheric, and full of mounting dread—exactly the kind of story that makes you wonder whether the greatest danger is the one you can see coming or the one you never imagined was there. ###### Perfect For Readers Who... - Enjoy historical fiction with a terrifying supernatural twist - Are drawn to dark stories set during the Civil War - Love isolated settings where nothing is quite what it seems - Appreciate survival stories that explore loyalty, fear, and the lengths people will go to make it home --- ![A Penance for Crows](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/A%20Penance%20for%20Crows.png "A Penance for Crows") Amazon 4.5 Goodreads 3.72 Sharon 4 Bookmarks ![Sharon Pick 4 of 5](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/Sharon%20Pick%204%20of%205.png?width=380&height=200&name=Sharon%20Pick%204%20of%205.png "Sharon Pick 4 of 5") [BUY THE BOOK HERE!](https://amzn.to/4vWqLXW) #### A Penance for Crows by Shannon Morgan ###### **Genre:** Supernatural Fiction • Horror • Thriller ###### Summary: Forty years ago, Grizela Urquhart fled Glasgow for Beanna Dubh, a remote island off the coast of Ireland, hoping to escape a painful past. But even after decades there, the eccentric painter remains an outsider in an isolated community governed by the church, old superstitions, and a deep-seated belief that the island’s thousands of crows are harbingers of disaster. When Grizela discovers the body of a young priest marked with a sinister symbol, suspicion quickly turns toward her. Then she begins hearing demonic whispers that no one else can hear, forcing her to question her own mind. Determined to protect four young girls she has taken under her wing, Grizela begins uncovering secrets that connect the island’s present darkness to the past she has spent decades trying to escape. ###### Why I recommend this book: A remote Irish island, thousands of ominous crows, a murdered priest, and a community filled with secrets—there was no way I could resist *A Penance for Crows.* I was especially intrigued by Grizela. She’s an outsider in a place that already feels cut off from the rest of the world, and when she begins hearing voices no one else can hear, you’re left wondering how much of what she experiences can be trusted. Add in old superstitions, buried secrets, and the wonderfully Gothic setting of a windswept island, and this had all the makings of the kind of dark, atmospheric mystery I love. ###### Perfect For Readers Who... - Love dark, atmospheric stories set in remote locations - Enjoy mysteries steeped in folklore, superstition, and religious secrets - Like complicated, potentially unreliable protagonists - Appreciate Gothic fiction where the past refuses to stay buried --- ![Carry Me to My Grave](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/Carry%20Me%20to%20My%20Grave.png "Carry Me to My Grave") Amazon 4.3 Goodreads 3.78 Sharon 4 Bookmarks ![Sharon Pick 4 of 5](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/Sharon%20Pick%204%20of%205.png?width=380&height=200&name=Sharon%20Pick%204%20of%205.png "Sharon Pick 4 of 5") [BUY THE BOOK HERE!](https://amzn.to/4w40XJR) #### Carry Me to my Grave by Christopher Golden ###### **Genre:** Supernatural Fiction • Horror • Thriller ###### Summary: Growing up, Malcolm and his siblings endured a cruel childhood chant accusing their mother, Maggie Wise, of being a witch. Now Maggie is dying, and before taking her final breath, she makes Malcolm promise to return her body to her birthplace in Shediak, Maine. But Maggie’s death seems to awaken something. A mysterious figure watches from beneath a willow tree, ancient evils begin to stir across the country, and forces determined to prevent Maggie from reaching her final resting place close in. As Malcolm and his sister-in-law Violet begin the journey to Maine aboard the Imperial Limited, violence erupts and long-buried horrors emerge. Whatever Maggie did in her past, something has been waiting a very long time to make her pay for it. ###### Why I recommend this book: A dying mother with a mysterious past, a childhood chant accusing her of witchcraft, and a final request that unleashes something evil—*Carry Me to My Grave* had my attention immediately. I love a story where you know from the beginning that the past is hiding something terrible, but you have to keep reading to discover exactly what it is. Christopher Golden layers family secrets, witchcraft, and supernatural horror into a journey where the danger grows with every mile. And when long-buried things start waking up because one woman has died, you know her secrets are going to be worth uncovering. ###### Perfect For Readers Who... - Love supernatural horror rooted in family secrets - Enjoy creepy folklore, old promises, and long-buried evil - Like stories where an ordinary journey becomes increasingly terrifying - Appreciate dark, atmospheric tales that blend family history with the supernatural --- ![Hell is a Farm](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/Hell%20is%20a%20Farm.png "Hell is a Farm") Amazon 4.3 Goodreads 4.50 Sharon 4 Bookmarks ![Sharon Pick 4 of 5](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/Sharon%20Pick%204%20of%205.png?width=380&height=200&name=Sharon%20Pick%204%20of%205.png "Sharon Pick 4 of 5") [BUY THE BOOK HERE!](https://amzn.to/4xcKaoK) #### Hell Is a Farm by J.T. McNair & J. LeMay ###### **Genre:** Mystery • Suspense • Thriller ###### Summary: Rural Alabama, 1958. Sisters Rose and Violet Martin have already endured a brutal foster care system when they are sent to live with Eunice and Cleo Duke, respected foster parents in a deeply religious community near Huntsville. But Rose immediately senses that something about the isolated Duke farm—and the family living there—is terribly wrong. Meanwhile, local officer Michael Houston is investigating a string of disappearances that increasingly seem connected to the farm. As buried secrets begin to surface and Michael finds himself targeted by someone determined to frame him, Rose realizes she may be the only person who can protect her younger sister. To save Violet from becoming the next child to disappear, she must find a way to expose the monsters hiding in plain sight. ###### Why I recommend this book: Sometimes the most frightening stories don’t need ghosts or supernatural forces—the monsters are frightening enough on their own. That’s what intrigued me about *Hell Is a Farm*. The isolated Alabama setting, the missing children, and a young girl who realizes long before the adults around her that something is terribly wrong create the kind of slow-building dread that keeps me turning the pages. I was especially drawn to Rose and her fierce determination to protect her little sister. There’s something particularly chilling about a story where evil is hiding behind a perfectly respectable facade. ###### Perfect For Readers Who... - Enjoy dark historical fiction inspired by real social issues - Like stories about seemingly ordinary people hiding horrifying secrets - Appreciate courageous young protagonists fighting to protect those they love - Prefer suspense where human monsters can be more frightening than supernatural ones --- ![Seance Garden](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/Seance%20Garden.png "Seance Garden") Amazon 4.6 Goodreads 4.06 Sharon 4 Bookmarks ![Sharon Pick 4 of 5](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/Sharon%20Pick%204%20of%205.png?width=380&height=200&name=Sharon%20Pick%204%20of%205.png "Sharon Pick 4 of 5") [BUY THE BOOK HERE!](https://amzn.to/4wvNF9I) #### The Seance Garden by Juliet Blackwell ###### **Genre:** Mystery • Supernatural Fiction • Historical Mystery ###### Summary: Professor Harper Grae has devoted her academic career to studying the history of witchcraft, ghosts, and the occult—but she doesn’t believe in any of it herself. When a lost bet lands her on a nighttime ghost tour through historic Monterey, her skepticism is put to the test when the group discovers the body of a local artist on the grounds of the nearly two-hundred-year-old Perles Mansion. The murder bears an eerie resemblance to the death of another woman in the same garden nearly two centuries earlier. As Harper investigates the mansion’s history and searches for a connection between the two crimes, she begins encountering evidence she can’t easily explain. Could the ghost stories surrounding the Perles Mansion actually be true? ###### Why I recommend this book: A skeptical historian, a centuries-old mansion, two murders nearly two hundred years apart, and a possible ghost? This one checked all the boxes for me. I was especially drawn to the idea of a woman who has spent her career studying the supernatural without actually believing in it—only to encounter something that challenges everything she thinks she knows. Add in a historical mystery and an old mansion with secrets of its own, and *The Séance Garden* was hard to resist. ###### Perfect For Readers Who... - Love a good murder mystery with a ghostly twist - Enjoy skeptical protagonists forced to reconsider what they believe - Are intrigued by mysteries that connect crimes across centuries - Appreciate atmospheric historic settings, old mansions, and supernatural secrets --- ![House of Splinters](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/House%20of%20Splinters.png "House of Splinters") Amazon 4.3 Goodreads 3.99 Sharon 4 Bookmarks ![Sharon Pick 4 of 5](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/Sharon%20Pick%204%20of%205.png?width=380&height=200&name=Sharon%20Pick%204%20of%205.png "Sharon Pick 4 of 5") [BUY THE BOOK HERE!](https://amzn.to/4blMrpa) #### House of Splinters by Laura Purcell ###### **Genre:** Supernatural Fiction • Historical Fiction • Horror ###### Summary: When her father-in-law dies, Belinda Bainbridge sees an unexpected opportunity for a new beginning. She, her husband Wilfred, and their children move to The Bridge, his remote ancestral estate, where Belinda hopes to finally create the happy family home she has always wanted. Instead, they find a neglected estate with financial troubles, unsettling stories about a servant who died there years earlier, and a collection of strange wooden figures known as “silent companions” that seem to fascinate their young son. Then Wilfred’s brother arrives with a very different version of the family’s history, forcing Belinda to question what she has been told—and whether the secrets of The Bridge might put her own children in danger. ###### Why I recommend this book: Give me a remote ancestral home with a mysterious past, a family with secrets, and some seriously creepy wooden figures, and you know I’m going to be intrigued. What drew me to *House of Splinters* was the sense that something is wrong almost from the moment Belinda arrives at The Bridge. The deeper she digs into the house and its history, the less certain she becomes about the family she married into—or what might be lurking within her new home. Dark, Gothic, and wonderfully unsettling, this is exactly the kind of old-house mystery I love. ###### Perfect For Readers Who... - Can’t resist a crumbling old house filled with secrets - Love Gothic mysteries centered on troubled families and dark histories - Enjoy historical fiction with an unsettling supernatural edge - Like slow-building suspense where it becomes difficult to separate imagination from reality --- ![A Box Full of Darkness](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/A%20Box%20Full%20of%20Darkness.png "A Box Full of Darkness") Amazon 4.2 Goodreads 3.70 Sharon 4 Bookmarks ![Sharon Pick 4 of 5](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/Sharon%20Pick%204%20of%205.png?width=380&height=200&name=Sharon%20Pick%204%20of%205.png "Sharon Pick 4 of 5") [BUY THE BOOK HERE!](https://amzn.to/4xaXXft) #### A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James ###### **Genre:** Mystery • Thriller ###### Summary: Strange things have always happened in Fell, New York, but for siblings Violet, Vail, and Dodie, nothing compares to the day their little brother Ben disappeared during a childhood game of hide-and-seek. He seemingly vanished without a trace, leaving behind a family shattered by unanswered questions. In the years that followed, the siblings experienced terrifying visions and unexplained events that eventually drove them away from Fell. Violet, in particular, has never escaped the spirits that haunted her childhood. Twenty years later, the siblings are drawn back to the town they tried to leave behind for an impossible reason: Ben has returned. And he may finally have the answers they’ve spent decades both searching for and fearing. ###### Why I recommend this book: Simone St. James is one of my favorite modern writers of haunted tales, so of course *A Box Full of Darkness* caught my attention. A childhood disappearance, three siblings haunted by what happened, and a brother who suddenly returns twenty years later? I needed to know where she was taking this story. I love the way St. James blends a good mystery with the supernatural, leaving you wondering which secrets belong to the living and which belong to the dead. And returning to Fell, New York—the setting of *The Sun Down Motel*, another favorite of mine—made this one even harder to resist. ###### Perfect For Readers Who... - Enjoy suspense with a historical mystery at its core - Love atmospheric settings and isolated locations - Appreciate stories about old Hollywood and filmmaking - Like books that blend history, mystery, and just a touch of the supernatural --- ![If Walls Could Talk by Jean Grainger](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/If%20Walls%20Could%20Talk%20by%20Jean%20Grainger.png "If Walls Could Talk by Jean Grainger") Amazon 4.8 Goodreads 4.5 Sharon 5 Bookmarks ![Sharon Pick 5 of 5](https://info.sharonvirts.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Sharons%20Bookshelf/Sharon%20Pick%205%20of%205.png?width=380&height=200&name=Sharon%20Pick%205%20of%205.png "Sharon Pick 5 of 5") [BUY THE BOOK HERE!](https://amzn.to/4pLffxb) #### If Walls Could Talk by Jean Grainger ###### **Genre:** Mystery • Thriller ###### Summary: When Orla retreats to Dunmara, a County Clare house that has stood since 1689, its walls begin to surrender their stories one room at a time—the loves, the losses, and the lives lived long before her own. As past and present intertwine, Jean Grainger crafts a beautifully layered novel that reminds us that old homes are more than brick and timber—they are keepers of memory. ###### Why I recommend this book: This book spoke to me in a deeply personal way. Many people ask why I wrote *Masque of Honor*. The answer is simple: the house came first. When Scott and I restored Selma, I became captivated by the lives that had unfolded within its walls over nearly two centuries. Every room seemed to hold a story waiting to be discovered. As I uncovered letters, newspaper accounts, and forgotten pieces of history, I found myself wondering about the people who had walked those halls before me. Those questions eventually became *Masque of Honor*. Today, many visitors to Selma believe its former residents still make their presence known. Whether you believe in ghosts or simply in the enduring imprint of history, there is something undeniably powerful about an old home that has witnessed generations of joy, heartbreak, triumph, and loss. Jean Grainger captures that feeling beautifully. She reminds us that houses are more than places where we live—they become silent witnesses to the lives lived within them. If you've ever walked through a historic home and wondered what stories its walls could tell, this novel will feel wonderfully familiar. ###### Perfect For Readers Who... - Love historic homes and forgotten stories - Enjoy dual-timeline historical fiction - Believe places can hold memories long after people are gone - Appreciate atmospheric novels with heart and history © 2026 Sharon Virts Author |  Learn More About [Sharon Virts](http://sharonvirts.com)