The Haunting of Oak Springs is the third book in a paranormal mystery series by Crin Claxton. Released 12th Sept 2023 by Bold Strokes Books, it's 254 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout.

This is a very well written and engaging mystery with a protagonist who can communicate with ghosts. She's drawn into investigating a suspicious disappearance by the recently departed partner of a woman who is one of the two last members of a women-only collective farm. From the beginning, the story is atmospheric, from the creepy, downtrodden, hopeless farm setting to the poignant (sometimes surprisingly humorous) dialogue with Bryony, the ghost of the recently departed.

It's emphatically not a cozy mystery. The author deeply explores some disturbing themes: elder abuse, child abuse, deeply objectionable homophobia (which is maybe more disturbing for being so realistically depicted), emotional trauma, gender violence, psychological trauma. It's depressing in places.

Despite being the third book in the series, it works fine as a standalone. The author is quite adept at providing the necessary backstory without info-dumping. That being said, there are numerous subplot elements which happen concurrently, and some of them are not resolved completely, and the overall impression is sometimes quite chaotic and confusing.

Four stars. Strong narrative, good pacing, very disturbing in places.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This book was extremely entertaining. Despite being part of a series, this was easy to follow, though I definitely want to read the rest of the series. There is a child abuse and homophobia, but they weren't there just for shock value, they served a purpose of painting a very real picture of what people have lived through. I felt like there were two story lines, the ghost story and the residents of Oak Springs struggle for acceptance. Both are intertwined and balanced, drawing us along with Tony in a spooky tale with a very satisfying conclusion.

I really enjoyed this book. I love they murder mystery that they had to solve and I especially like that she can talk to spirits. I loved the writing style of Crin Claxton. However this is the 3rd in the series and you can read them as stand alones I still think you should read the previous 2 books.
I just reviewed The Haunting of Oak Springs by Crin Claxton. #TheHauntingofOakSprings #NetGalley
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Tony Carson is a supernatural detective who both sees and speaks with ghosts.  Jade, her best friend can hear ghosts as well. Tony gets pulled to Oak Springs Farm which used to be a bustling women’s only farm. Chris and Red are now the only ones left to run the farm. Chris’ recently deceased partner seeks out Tony’s help to find a woman who used to be at the farm. Starting her search from Oak Springs Tony runs into a myriad of lies, deception and blatant destructive homophobia. All is not as it seems way back on the farm.

This is book three in the Supernatural Detective series yet it can easily be read as a standalone. I can picture the author with a large map of the region with coloured stick pins and yarn running from pin to pin. At least that is what I would have done to keep all the players and their associations straight in my head. The story centres around the farm and out to the surrounding villages. Claxton’s descriptive writing has me seeing the rolling hills, smelling the unique farm odours and living in the ‘past the best due date’ of a farmhouse.  

Claxton cobbles together a number of different storylines which could be triggers to some readers including child abuse, homophobia, transphobia and violence against women.

The story unfolds at a runner’s pace. There is so much happening all the time that I was loathe to put the novel down. The conclusion of the mystery is totally unexpected and very satisfying.
If you enjoy mysteries with a touch of paranormal this book is calling your name.

I received an advance review copy from Bold Strokes Books through NetGalley.  I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Ghost stories are not normally my go to novel, but this one was a pleasant surprise and may have opened me up to trying new things.

I was not prepared for the child abuse and homophobia, but sadly that made the story more true to life.
Its was very eerie and creepy, while not scaring me off (because I am a scaredy cat), I actually finished it in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down. There were a few times were there were lots happening all at once but it wasn’t overwhelming.

I had no idea that it was the third book in a series, which was nice - so I wasn’t lost and was able to immerse myself.
Overall this was a good book and I will be going back to start the series from the beginning.

The Haunting of Oak Springs by Crin Claxton is a supernatural detective narrative with an interesting cast of characters. The mystery is only part of the story and the telling of the lovers, Red and Chris and their attachment to the Women's Farm is well done. When the detective Tony goes to the farm at the bidding of a ghost she runs into more trouble than she was prepared for. I hope there are more books in the series to come.

I always jump at the chance to read anything with ghosts in the story, but this book was just ‘okay’ for me. Quite a few traumatic experiences are mentioned in the story too, which can be upsetting for the readers, so take that into account. I didn't realise that this is a series, I may have enjoyed it more if I'd known that this is book 2.

All in all, it's Okay, struggled to finish, just not for me. I've given it a 2.6

CW: child abuse, homophobia, transphobia, emotional abuse, gender-based violence, death, elder abuse

In The Haunting of Oak Springs, supernatural detective Tony visits a farm that formerly housed a woman's land/lesbian separatist commune. At the time, some of the villagers of Wooly Mill banded together to commit hate crimes and property theft against the commune. In modern day, the two remaining members of Oak Springs, Red (butch/nonbinary, they/them) and Chris (she/her), live with the scars of these traumatic events. In addition, the ghost who brings Tony to Oak Springs is the recently deceased long-term partner of Chris. On top of all of this, similar events begin to occur, as certain members of the community try to drive out the lesbians of Oak Springs. Unfortunately, there's also the dead body of an abuser on the property that only Tony and the ghostly Bryony know about -- if discovered, it could cause huge problems for the residents.

The mystery of the book felt second fiddle to the intense story of Oak Springs' residents' fight for acceptance. That may be because of my own personal struggles, but I was not particularly interested in that aspect of the story. The ending of the mystery was a bit of a shock, but still didn't affect me as much as the resolution to the homophobic attacks (especially the butch lesbian threatening to beat the homophobe with a bat).

Overall, with all the CW, this book was a struggle to finish. I wanted to keep reading, but it was rough, considering the political climate in the U.S. (and England, where the book is set). I would recommend it as long as any readers with traumatic experiences similar to the CWs know these before diving in. It would also be great for straight and cis people to read, to get a feel for the kinds of things LGBTQ+ folks deal with.

I received an ARC from Netgalley for this review.

Chilling adventure

Tony arrives at Oak Springs farm tasked with solving the mystery of a missing woman. With her best friend, Jade, and Red and Chris who are living on the farm, Tony must find the accomplice of the ghost who has surfaced, but facing homophobic behaviour from a returning old enemy of the village, the past also threatens the successful solving of the case.

With plotting and scheming happening all around, Tony was managing more than just a case this time. Desperate to uncover the truth without implicating anything further that could result in actions that could have dire consequences, history repeating itself even, time pressures make this one of Tony’s most intense cases. I love the supernatural settings for Crin’s stories because the mystery is always one with layers and unexpected circumstances, only Tony can really sense and pick up on. As usual, the ghosts were colourful and unique, and provide those comedic moments to a dark and chilling story.

The homophobic attacks and enemy who has returned really took the story up a level. Each threat surrounding the case had its own level of urgency, but it was that enemy that had the higher danger level. Identifying them wasn’t easy but when the pieces started to fall into place, Tony, Jade, and everyone at Oak Springs, both living and spirit, were brave and dealt with the situation with courage. I didn’t figure any of it out, or get any of the clues, so when all was revealed, I was completely shocked and it was far beyond what I could have imagined.

Another great supernatural story from Crin, and I am excited to join Tony on her next case!

This was a supernatural mystery set on a Derbyshire farm.

As soon as I started reading it, I felt its eeriness. There was something quite sinister and creepy about it, but at the same time, something about the setting gave it a cosy, comforting quality for me. I felt it was a nice length, not too long, so if you're looking for a spooky read that's fairly short, this could be ideal.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗦: 𝚂𝙰𝙿𝙿𝙷𝙸𝙲. 𝙲𝚁𝙸𝙼𝙴. 𝙼𝚈𝚂𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚈. 𝙿𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙾𝚁𝙼𝙰𝙻. 𝚄𝚁𝙱𝙰𝙽 𝙵𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰𝚂𝚈.

📚ᴀʀᴄ📖⁠ - 👻👻👻

The paranormal part is good. The detective part is also good. It is the story line that was kind of weird. Here is why, that ghost that had Tony on this weird journey, I am so mad at her, may she never have peace. Tony could have been hurt. That selfishness of hers was not the way to go about saving someone. PS: Where did that storyline with that evil father end? Did they move his skeleton, or WHAT HAPPENED? And please, I am curious, why did Lisa want to ruin Tony? I still don't get that and Eve being involved in it all... Like what caused that deep hatred? Was it wanting to frame her.. which I get but why? How did Lisa choose just Tony?


It was weird all around but I was still curious that I stayed up all night to finish the book.


𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣 𝘼𝙍𝘾 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙫𝙞𝙖 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬.

✨Netgalley ARC review ✨

The Haunting of Oak Springs by Crin Claxton ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Publication Date: September 12th, 2023. Available for pre order now!

The ghosts are increasing at Oak Springs and the detective on the case needs to unravel the mystery while two remaining lesbians are living on old women’s farmland with secrets.

While the book was entertaining, I feel there was too much going on at times and I wish the paranormal mark was hit a bit higher based on the title. I did enjoy the end though! I hate cliffhangers and it came off as more of a feel good ending in my opinion which I like. This isn’t my typical read, but overall I do suggest the book if you enjoy a good mystery and don’t mind the triggers listed below.

Triggers: violence, abuse, homophobia

#netgalleyreview #netgalley #netgalleyreviewer #crinclaxton #hauntingofoaksprings #bookreview #paranormal #mystery

There’s a niche for everything, and this fits into the niche of “lesbian cozy crime with a supernatural bent” and it fulfils its remit quite well. It’s written in a light, conversational tone with a broad cast of characters including obvious homophobic villains, both dead and alive, and more sympathetic ghosts and living women and men alike.

This is not the first in the series, and readers of the first book will obviously be more familiar with the main cast, but I don’t think it really matters if you haven’t read the books in order. It’s all fairly straightforward and you pick it up quite quickly.

In the end, this was not really my thing. I’ve apparently read books that are classed as cozy crime, but I’m not sure I believe in it. There’s always a darkness underneath, and the darkness here involves not just homophobia but violence and abuse too. I find the contrast between the light bickering and jokes and the darkness a bit jarring. Whistling in the dark, I suppose, but not my niche.

This isn’t my usual type of book but I really enjoyed it!! I stayed up late flipping though pages. It had enough “typical” elements that the supernatural stuff seemed more believable (from someone who doesn’t typically read anything supernatural)
4/5