WINTER HAVEN, by Athol Dickson

Winter Haven has all the ingredients for a suspenseful read--an isolated setting, a woman alone, and strange happenings--apparently supernatural. The characters are as rock-ribbed as the island they inhabit. Only one person shows the protagonist, Vera Gamble, any kindness, but she's been warned away from him by all of the villagers. Is he who he says he is, or part of a conspiracy to prevent her from learning what happened to her long-missing brother?

I have to admit the first third of Winter Haven pushed my limits for scary. I don’t like to be so frightened by a plot that my sleep is disturbed, as some of Stephen King’s books have done. The factor that kept me reading was the knowledge that Athol Dickson writes for Bethany House, an inspirational publisher, so he wasn't going to go too far afield. Or was he?

The plot concerns Vera Gamble, who goes to an island off the coast of Maine to claim the body of her brother, Siggy, whom she hasn't seen for thirteen years. When she’s shown the body, she's stunned to find Siggy unchanged from the boy he was when he ran away from home all those years ago. Dickson weaves one mysterious happening after another to thwart Vera from discovering the truth about her brother’s death.

As Winter Haven speeds to a conclusion, Dickson neatly explains each of the phenomena in ways I'd never have guessed. I loved the ending, and recommend this story. Just don't start it late at night.