MIDNIGHT AT EBERLY MANOR

In Gillespie’s thriller, a ruthless attorney becomes an unwilling participant in a life-or-death game orchestrated by a vengeful judge.

Cassandra Thompson ambitiously worked her way up from a small town in Pennsylvania to become a senior attorney at a prestigious Philadelphia law firm, but her success has come at a steep moral cost. When a high-stakes case threatens her position, she desperately pursues an anonymous witness offering crucial evidence. The witness’s invitation lures her to Eberly Manor, a decaying, Gothic estate, where she finds herself trapped in a twisted competition alongside five strangers, all forced to play deadly, elaborate games at the whim of Judge Robert Haskins. The stakes are high, as losers face execution. As Cassie battles through challenges involving locks, riddles, and literary puzzles, she realizes these games aren’t random. They’re all part of psychological warfare, designed to unravel a dark secret that connects them all—one that Cassie is desperate to hide: “I intend to right the wrongs I once allowed,” states the judge. Gillespie constructs an intricate thriller blending Saw-style death games with the parlor mystery traditions of Agatha Christie’s work. The games themselves are cleverly designed—particularly the literary challenges involving classic fiction. The dual timeline, alternating between Cassie’s deadly present and flashbacks revealing her compromised past, gives the story psychological depth. However, the contemplative pacing in the flashback sections slows the momentum during time-sensitive challenges. The plot mechanics occasionally strain credulity, including the logistics of Judge Haskins’ elaborate setup and the unexplained resources at his disposal. Cassie’s character arc feels earned, despite some heavy-handed moral messaging, and Eberly Manor’s Gothic atmosphere provides appropriately sinister ambience, although the Edgar Allan Poe references become too obvious.

A compulsively readable, if occasionally overwrought, novel about justice, redemption, and moral compromise.